A common result of skin bleaching is a condition called ocronosis in which the pigment drops into the dermis making it almost impossible to remove.

Many women who have had flawless complexions prior to using the creams develop this persistent, stubborn acne on their face with large papules and nodules.

Various types of allergic reactions to many of the ingredients can also leave the skin irreversibly damaged.

So, what’s safe and what’s not in the world of skin whitening?

Islamabad, Pakistan – November 9, 2007 – Actress Maneesha Naghshineh in a recent interview publicly admitted that she has been using SW+SS skin whitening products to get over the preconceptions that were acting as an impediment to her career advancement.

“In Pakistan, the darker your skin, the lower your perceived status and caste” she said.

When she was first launching her career as an actress, she quickly realised that fair skin sells more that dark skin. The producers and directors were always selecting the light skinned actors and actresses over their dark skinned peers.

Skin whitening industry in Asian and African countries is booming, with a plethora of skin whitening products to select from.

Skin whitening in Asia has its origins in China and Japan, where white complexion was seen as noble and aristocratic. Those rich enough could afford to stay indoors, while peasants that had to work outdoors got a dark complexion. In Africa can be traced back to the time of the African slave trade. Light-skinned slaves were usually given preferential treatment compared to their dark-skinned peers.

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Source: ArticlesBase.com

by Andrea

Amira Magic Skin Whitening Cream is completely safe even under the sun. Though, dermatologist  advise an added application of a sunblock or sunscreen products with a minimum of SPF  15 especially if you need to stay under the sun a little bit longer. When used daily, you can see visible improvements in your skin tone after a week of treatment. You might experience the earlier results than the others since this depends on one’s skin type and tolerance. Amira Magic Skin Whitening Cream has an off-white to ivory white hint when freshly prepared. When exposed to direct heat, air and light, the cream turns darker due to oxidation of its elements..

Skin whitening products have grown in demand as the response for uneven pigmentation such as age spots, freckles, dark underarms, knees, elbows, acne scars or inner thighs. Here are a few factors for a whiter skin.

Look for a sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB rays, because not all sunscreen have both. Avoid overexposure to the sun particularly between 10am-3pm. Wearing sunscreen is a must, whether you’re using skin lightening products or not. Another one is to use your favorite moisturizers plus skin lighteners. Skin whitening procedures needs hydration to give a flushed, whiter result. Lastly, take your Vitamin C supplement, a daily dose of this vitamin is a great antioxidant that helps promote healthy skin and reduces the production of melanin.

Earlier this year, I was asked by the editor of an international biomedical journal to write a review article on the effects of mercury exposure on children, an area in which I have conducted scientific studies for the past seven years. I was surprised by the results.

Mexico and Nigeria and the border states of California, Texas and Arizona all show extremely high rates of mercury poisoning.

In clinics in Arizona, for example, doctors had observed more than 300 patients who had toxic levels of mercury in their urine. I found medical reports of similarly high levels of mercury poisoning among patients in Saudi Arabia, Senegal, West Africa, and in Tanzania in East Africa. Even among newly arrived Bosnian and Albanian refugees in Germany, doctors have found patients with toxic levels of this same type of mercury.

One of my first clues to unraveling this mystery turned out to be basic geography: Most of the reported mercury-poisoning cases were found in nations in the lower latitudes.

The second clue: In Mexico, as in other countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, most of the patients with clinical evidence of mercury poisoning were women. Even in the Southwestern Unites States, 96 percent of the more than 300 patients found to have abnormal mercury levels were female.

In every case, clinical questioning revealed that the women had used skin-whitening creams — many for years. In other words, these women had tried so desperately to whiten their skin color that they had poisoned their bodies by applying mercury-based “beauty creams.”

Learn more: boston.com

Skin whitening products have grown in demand as the response for uneven pigmentation such as age spots, freckles, dark underarms, knees, elbows, acne scars or inner thighs. Here are a few factors for a whiter skin.

Look for a sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB rays, because not all sunscreen have both. Avoid overexposure to the sun particularly between 10am-3pm. Wearing sunscreen is a must, whether you’re using skin lightening products or not. Another one is to use your favorite moisturizers plus skin lighteners. Skin whitening procedures needs hydration to give a flushed, whiter result. Lastly, take your Vitamin C supplement, a daily dose of this vitamin is a great antioxidant that helps promote healthy skin and reduces the production of melanin.

Some skin whitening products can be bought over the counter without a prescription from a doctor; some are injected for a much faster result, while others are just home-made. Aside from that, manufacturer’s release almost every month a new product that lightens your skin, from lotions, soaps, to facial scrubs, to those taken orally.

If you really want a whiter complexion, you can opt to go for skin whitening treatments. Just make sure that you check your skin first and it’s becoming dull and has lost its glow, then its time for you to consult a dermatologist for advice.

Vitamin C can also be effective at inhibiting melanin production. However, the tests that show it to be effective have used a concentration of over 5%, which is much more than what is usually used in cosmetic products. Vitamin C is also notoriously unstable, which means that by the time a cosmetic product containing it gets home to you it may have broken down and become useless. For this reason, Vitamin C is a last resort skin whitening treatment for those who can’t use the other topical treatments for one reason or another. It is also the cheapest product since you can also get it from extracts.