Hot or Not Beauty

Almost all great cosmetic brands have specially created cosmetic lines that are specific to the Asian Market, like Lancome’s Blanc Expert, Shiseido with Lucent or Superieure, Helena Rubinstein, MAC with their whitening line recently brought to the West as Lightful, Clinique also has a specific whitening line called Derma-White and has paved its way to the Western market just to name a few.

Around the time of Lightful’s release some became infuriated viewing it as just another euphemism for racism accusing the cosmetics company of being racist feeling that the product line was intended to make ethnic darker skin white, which is completely far from the truth.

So what are whitening products and what are they aimed at?

Mostly, what these products do is block or reduce melanin production by inhibiting the production of tyrosinase and breaking down the production of melanin, thus it doesn’t bleach the skin like many would think, but it just stops the skin from producing the substance that darkens the skin’s pigmentation.

Amongst the chemicals used in these products the more recurrent are hydroquinone (used topically), other well known alternatives to hydroquinone (banned in France for fear of cancer risk) are Vitamin C and Alpha Hydroxy acids (such as lactic and glycolic acids) and are present in many of today’s cosmetics either because they’re high in anti-oxidants (Vitamin C) or are chemical exfoliants that help shed older layers of skin that usually can cause blockage and blemishes.

Next, misconceptions and applications of today’s whitening cosmetics, if you chose to use them.

Although we’re quite far from the times where aristocracy would use white lead to create a ghostly white complexion, such products not only would cause lead poisoning also had arsenic in their complexion.

One of the most iconic would probably be Queen Elizabeth I, but white complexion was also incredibly popular in the court of Fashion Queen Marie Antoinette.

It was common belief that whiter complexions were a sign of nobility, mostly it meant that you just didn’t have to work outside in the sun. Also, it was believed that a paler complexion would blur wrinkles and signs of aging far easily, one of the reasons why Elizabeth I’s well known white lead look was called “The Mask of Youth”.

However in the West, times have changed and beaches are filled with Sun God worshipers for that ideal bronze gleam on their skin that creates an all out healthy glow. Asian women on the other hand try their hardest to achieve a porcelain tone to their skin.

The basic belief was the same, paler complexions were a sign of being noble and protected from the sun’s rays and to this day geisha wear white foundation products to become beauty at its most iconic.

So what do today’s cosmetics offer and what can they truly accomplish?

To be continued.