Important Skin Lightening Inquiry

by Avi
(United States)

I have an important inquiry, could you please help me? I found an important message in a section of your web page so i thought it would be good to copy paste it so you can help me out in making the best choice for me and my skin and dont suffer of any secondary effects.

It says:
"People with darker colored skin are at a higher risk of scarring pigment changes with alpha hydroxy acids"

"Using products with the above ingredients(kojic acid,AHA...) can increase sun sensitivity by 50% causing an interesting dilemma - they may be able to reverse some of the damage caused by photoaging, but at the same time they make the skin more susceptible to photoaging"

I'm light brown with uneven skin pigmentation, very dark areas where the sun has access, back, chest, belly, toes, face and neck, my legs and parts of my arms are still light brown.
The issue stated above are for very dark people or just in general? Will i experience photoaging in the future using these products that tends to lighten or whiten the skin but make my skin susceptible to skin degeneration? Will my skin become hypersensitive also?

Thanks.
My best regards,
Avi

Answer:
08 October 2007

Hi Avi, very good questions! Darker skinned individuals are referred to people with a more tanned skin tone, whether naturally acquired through birth or the sun. "Scarring pigment changes" occurs with alpha hydroxy acids or AHA because this stimulate exfoliation or peeling off dead skin. If peeling is uneven, it is likewise to result to uneven scarring too specially when strong AHA concentrations are used in skin lightening products. Fortunately, we only use Lactic Acid which is a gentle AHA ingredient derived from milk.

As to your second concern about sun sensitivity, the interesting fact there is that users of skin lighteners have 50% more sun sensitivity but are more likely to avoid the sun and protect the skin more from the sun's rays with sunscreen, added clothing, or just being indoors more often. Why? Because they don't wanna get their old unwanted dark skin pigmentations back. These habits make them less likely to be candidates for skin cancer, compared to those normally doing activities outdoors or doing artificial skin tanning. On the other hand, IF skin lightening users leave skin unprotected from the sun, they are more susceptible by 50% to photoaging and sun damage. That's why sunscreen is a MUST in a skin lightening regimen.

If you follow these tips, you're on your way to a happier, fairer and even skin tone. :-)

Maria