How to Make Your Skin Fairer

Have you ever longed for fairer, brighter skin? Strange isn't it? How some very fair ladies feel they look sickly and bask in the sun for a so called healthy tan. They were healthier pale than browned because a tan is a sign of sun damage. If you are born brown, then you would be the envy of these women. Then again, the grass is always greener on the other side. Dark girls often want to be fair.

Modern technology is amazing. A pale girl can get tan skin without even stepping out in the sun. Thanks to self tanners in the form of lotions or even pills.

Likewise, dark girls can go fairer. Going to a plastic surgeon for skin bleaching can give you very drastic results. Your best bet is to stay out of the sun and use sun protection and wear long sleeves and pants by day to allow your skin fade to the color you were born with.

An old home remedy to fade away the freckles and dark spots with lemon juice. It is a risky thing because lemon juice is very acid pH2. Sulphuric acid is just 1 point away at pH1, so you can imagine how acidic lemons are. You could end up burning or irritating your skin with lemon juice. At very least, it would make your skin more sensitive to sunlight. UV exposure triggers off melanin production. If your skin is continuously irritated, not just by sunlight, but by pollutants and allergens, your skin will react by producing more melanin and darkening even further.

Basically, your skin gets dark because melanin is produced by your skin, to shade it from the sun. The freckles, dark spots and even the even tan is due to melanin clustering together to protect your skin.

To get fair, you slowly exfoliate off the darkened skin over time and prevent the new skin from darkening. As the darkened dead skin cells are rubbed off, younger,lighter skin is revealed. It takes time no doubt, but the results are worth the wait.

There are several things commonly used to lighten the skin.

Hydroquinone is one of them but in higher concentrations, it can cause irritations and may even be carcinogenic. It makes skin lighter by preventing melanin from being formed.

Alchemilla a plant popular amongst the alchemists in the Middle Ages, slows the release of melanin pigments to your skin, hence slowing down the darkening of your skin.

Kojic acid is used to to prevent melanin formation.

Black-Out Yeast Complex, a formula by clinique, used extensively in its Derma White range breaks down the melanin clusters so that these can be disposed of via exfoliation and defuses irritants that would otherwise darken the skin, through its delivery of antioxidants. Most importantly, it prevents more melanin from forming by blocking away the signals to produce melanin.

Then there are the skin bleaching treatments by a plastic surgeon using AHAs or retin-A amongst other things. These are for more drastic results. For something gentler, I suggest you get a skin whitening range from your favourite skin care brand.