They have no effect on the skin, says this study. Fairness creams: Are skin lightening creams any good for you at all? A new study by the Boston University has concluded that they barely have any effect in improving skin tone and the results are even worse for those using over-the-counter creams.
Extreme use of fairness creams can lead to severe skin damage. Fairness creams usually contain harmful bleaching agent such as hydroquinone and metals like mercury, lead, nickel, chromium. Some creams may have high-levels of steroids that can cause the following problems: Thinning of skin.
Side effects of skin fairness products containing hydroquinone, steroids, or mercury can include irritation, inflammation, thinning of skin, scarring, abnormalities among newborn babies if used during pregnancy and breast-feeding, and kidney, liver, or nerve damage (14, 15).
A lightening agent (for dark spots) like hydroquinone, mulberry, licorice, or kojic acid can begin to work in days, but it usually takes weeks to see an appreciable reduction in pigment. If you see no difference in three or four weeks, it's probably not going to work.
Kojic acid is not cytotoxic (that is not harmful to living cells) and therefore cannot permanently lighten your skin tone. However, you can enjoy the results as long as kojic acid or kojic acid dipalmitate are used.
Fake fairness product
Here I want to share my personal experience with "Fair and Handsome" cream. Product claims that it gives you fairness in just 3-4 weeks. Honestly, I used this product from last 5 months and doesn't see any improvement on my face. Instead of fairness on skin it gives you a pimples.
1. Lightens spots. Fairness creams are enriched with a lot of skin-brightening ingredients that help in evening out your complexion by reducing the appearance of dark spots, pigmentation and textured skin.
Definition. Skin lightening creams are products designed to bleach and lighten the skin. They target skin cells to decrease the level of melanin. Melanin is a pigment produced by skin cells.
Both creams come in tubes which are travel friendly. However Ponds is more reliable because the list is twist-open instead of Fair & Lovely which is pull open. Both claim to give whitening effect, Ponds says “BB+ fairness cream” and Fair & Lovely says “Foundation + fairness cream”.
Our experts recommend that Fair And Handsome Radiance Cream for Men should be used twice daily - once in the morning and once in the evening or night, just after cleansing or shaving your face.
Product description
New Anti Marks Cream by Fair & Lovely is a dermatologically tested formula that is 100% effective* as a hyper-pigmentation solution. It has been clinically proven to reduce dark spots, blemishes and pimple marks.
There are several benefits of using Fair and Lovely Cream, enriched with SPF15 it gives enhances your complexion, protects it from harmful rays of the sun, dust, and pollutants controls un-even skin tone, and several others.
Kojic acid was deemed a “quasi-drug” and banned from the market in Japan by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in 2003 and subsequently in Korea and Switzerland due to safety concerns stemming from animal test results suggesting mutagenicity.
Yes, kojic acid is safe to use everyday. Depending on your skin's sensitivity, it can be used twice a day. Just remember, don't use kojic acid more than 3 months at a time because that can be damaging to your skin.
Skin will eventually shift back to its natural state once you discontinue use, and trying to avoid that by using excess amounts of the ingredient can cause some serious irritation.
Why is my face darker than my body? Our face skin produces more melanin compared to the rest of the body parts, so our face skin is generally a bit darker. The harmful rays of the sunlight can damage the melanin cells and as the face is more exposed to sunlight, it is the first to be impacted.