Beauty has long been associated with fair skin. The scenario may have changed a bit of late but women and surprisingly many men too go in for products which lighten skin tone. The concept of tall, dark and handsome has been replaced with tall, fair and handsome.

Fair skin is considered an essential attribute and many people go in for skin lightening to be considered beautiful. This might be called vanity but the fact that can’t be ignored is that people, who think they look good, feel good too. The reason that so many people covet fair skin is the admiration and standing that they get in society. Although this is a major reason for whitening creams to survive successfully in the market, other reasons for the trend of using skin lightening products can be keloid scars, pigmentation, freckles, discoloration, acne scars and uneven skin tone.

Prolonged exposure to the sun is one of the major reasons for the skin becoming tanned and dark. Though use of sunscreens and umbrellas do help in preventing major damage to the skin, they alone are not enough to maintain that fair skin tone.

That is how the need to develop whitening creams came about. It started with women mixing egg white with lemon juice and applying it as a face mask to get that fair look and still continues with a lot of whitening creams available on the counter at the local chemist shops.

There are many substances which may be chemical or natural which are used in skin lightening products. Licorice root contains enzymes that do away with skin pigmentation and hence is used in whitening creams.

Then there are those that prevent skin from darkening by inhibiting melanin production. Melanin is the pigment that gives skin, hair and eyes their color. More melanin is produced when the skin is exposed to sunlight. Vitamin C, Kojic acid, Azelaic acid, Arbutin and Hydroquinone are ingredients used in most skin whitening products to lighten your skin through the inhibition of melanin production. Biotherm white detox targets RAB27 which would otherwise support the melanin that would cause dark spots.

Plant extracts like those from mulberry, white mulberry and paper mulberry also contain Arbutin and thus helps to whiten skin.

Most skincare products make skin fairer by efficient removal of the epidermis which is the skin surface which you see with the eyes. Alpha hydroxy acids like lactic acid and glycolic acid are also used to whiten skin as they remove hyper-pigmented skin cells and boost cell turnover, thus making skin fairer.

Niacin amide is a safer ingredient that is used more often now in skin care products as it has no adverse side-effects and reduces acne, increases skin moisture and reduces fine wrinkles.

Whitening creams also help in reducing acne and keloid scars. Keloid is an overgrowth of tissue at the place of a healed skin injury. They are pink or flesh colored and can sometimes be red to dark brown in color. They are very detrimental to one’s self image and their scars can now be reduced with the help of whitening creams.

Thus, with whitening creams, you can discover a whole new and fair you!