| The three top skin bleaching tips are: | | | | skin. Yet skin lightening takes repeated use over |
| 1. Stick with natural products. | | | | significant periods of time. |
| 2. Just say no to chemicals. | | | | 4. There's a really scary side effect. It may cause |
| 3. Give skin lightening time. | | | | ochronosis. The skin becomes dark and thick. |
| What You Really Need to Know About Skin | | | | 5. You can't buy it in The European Union or |
| Lightening | | | | Japan. It's banned because it's dangerous. In the |
| Skin bleaching has to inhibit melanin. This is the | | | | US, only doctors know how to use it safely. But |
| pigment that makes skin darker. | | | | it's still sold in do-it-yourself creams for skin |
| 1. Natural products | | | | bleaching. |
| People in Asia were taking an herbal medicine | | | | Another chemical to watch out for is mercury. It's |
| called arbutin. They took it for general good health. | | | | in bleaching products made overseas. Mercury |
| Much to their surprise, they discovered it lightened | | | | poisoning is known to cause neurological and |
| their tone. | | | | kidney damage and may also lead to psychiatric |
| Doctors in Japan wanted to know why. They | | | | disorders. |
| performed two different tests of Alpha Arbutin, | | | | Remember, you have to leave this stuff on your |
| which is a form of the herb. (You might see it | | | | skin a long time for it to work. Your pores are |
| called by its scientific name, 4-hydroxyphenyl | | | | soaking up mercury, or hydroquinone. |
| alpha-glucopyranoside). | | | | 3. Give it time |
| In the first study, it reduced pigmentation in | | | | Our final skin bleaching tip logically springs from |
| cells by 25 percent. | | | | the first two tips. You must use any skin-lightener |
| In the follow-up test, they knew more about | | | | daily, consistently, and for many weeks or |
| how to apply it. This time they got a 40% | | | | months. That's why you want to know what's in |
| reduction in melanin. That means the cells were | | | | it. That's why you want to stick with natural |
| nearly half as dark. | | | | products and refuse to use chemicals. |
| Alpha Arbutin got a safety stamp of approval. | | | | A rule of thumb: |
| Cells grew with less melanin. But they otherwise | | | | You eat it. You smear it. It's safe. |
| grew normally. | | | | Some kojic acid comes from rice. It's left over |
| Another natural ingredient to look for is kojic acid. | | | | when the Japanese make saki. It's all-natural. It's |
| It's very gentle and safe. It comes from rice. | | | | totally safe. You can eat it. It's also found in a |
| Combined with alpha arbutin it becomes a | | | | plant and extracted. |
| one-two punch of natural skin lightening. | | | | Alpha arbutin comes from the leaves of the |
| 2. Just say no to chemicals. | | | | Bearberry plant. Bears eat it. Herbalists use the |
| 1. The worst is hydroquinone. It comes from | | | | juice. Years ago they began to notice that when |
| benzene, which is cancer-causing. | | | | they smeared it on a wound to keep it moist, the |
| 2. Animals developed cancer when scientists put | | | | skin around the wound lightened. Bear in mind |
| hydroquinone cream on them. | | | | wounds absorb anything. But there are no side |
| 3. Hydroquinone is unsafe in products left on the | | | | effects to arbutin. |