Though many people regard a fair skin as the ultimate sign of beauty, not everyone is blessed with it.
While our skin naturally produces a pigment called melanin that gives its color, it is the external factor such as heat, pollution, and bacteria that add to the melanin production, causing our skin to develop a tan. We must understand the basic knowledge of skin and master the scientific method in order to whiten the skin under the premise of being reasonable and safe. We always want to turn white quickly after tanning and go online to find some beauty products that can make our skin whiter quickly. As we know, those skin care products that claim to be effective in 3 days and whiten our skin in 7 days may have added mercury and other illegal ingredients in them. The potential danger is that they will cause our skin’s pigment to be lost entirely, making it challenging to recover.
Decreasing the amount of melanin naturally present in the skin is difficult. But there are always some science-based and fool-proof ways to get rid of tan and pigmentation due to exposure to sun and other external factors. If you are looking to whiten, lighten or brighten your complexion, then continue to read this article. Below are some ways to help you achieve it.
1. Sun protection
2. Oral whitening productions
3. Topical whitening productions
1. Sun protection
Sun protection is mainly divided into physical and chemical sun protection. Sunscreen can not only whiten but also prevent the skin’s aging process. Ultraviolet rays cause the skin to form a large amount of melanin and attach to the collagen fibers of the dermis, turning it into a messy structure. When sunlight continues to damage collagen fibers, it can also thicken the epidermis and reduce skin elasticity.
Physical sunscreen mainly refers to sunscreen clothes, umbrellas, and hats. In this article, we mainly talk about chemical sunscreen, which refers to sunblock. In choosing sunblock, it is important to look at its ingredients, such as zinc oxide, carbon dioxide, and its manufacturing process. A good process can make the ingredients of sunblock more stable and will not cause excessive skin irritation.
2. Oral whitening products
Many people are wondering if taking whitening pills and other products is helpful. In fact, oral whitening products have a certain effect.
2.1 Oral VC
The most significant effect of oral VC is enhancing sun protection and anti-oxidation, not whitening our skin. Do not overdose VC orally. Choose a low dose, about 50mg, take one tablet a day. Although VC is water-soluble and can be excreted in urine and sweat, excessive intake of VC will convert the excess VC into oxalic acid in the body, significantly increasing the excretion of oxalate or urate in the urine to form kidney stones.
2.2 Whitening pills
Most of the whitening pills on the market are based on these two ingredients: L-cysteine and vitamin C. L-cysteine is actually a common amino acid in the body. It becomes L-cysteine through the dehydrogenation bond link. Cysteine and L-cysteine can be converted into each other in the body. Because the hydrogen bond of cysteine is easily removed, L-cysteine is a potent reducing agent, an antioxidant. Research shows that L-cysteine and vitamin C can enhance the antioxidant effect of each other. Vitamin C can maintain the stability of cysteine, and cysteine can increase the efficiency of vitamin C. As a result, these two ingredients always appear in whitening products at the same time.
3. Topical whitening products
When ultraviolet rays, hormones, etc. stimulate our skin, melanocytes become active, thereby producing more melanin and causing the transparent surface layer of keratinocyte fluid to gradually become black. This is how the skin darkens and forms spots. So, if we want to whiten the skin, the following can be done:
· Inhibit the activity of melanocyte
· Block or slow down the transmission of black to keratinocytes
· Crush the melanin clusters in keratinocytes
· Metabolize melanin from the stratum corneum
After understanding, let’s analyze what ingredients are effective for whitening.
· Nicotinamide (VB3): nicotinamide’s greatest ability in whitening products is to prevent the transmission of melanin from black cells to keratinocytes. However, it should be noted that the higher the concentration of nicotinamide is not the better. Too high concentration of nicotinamide will definitely irritate the skin, so 3%-6% of nicotinamide is enough for daily whitening,
· Vitamin C: it is a powerful antioxidant that exists naturally, and it can be seamlessly connected with the human body. VC whitening mainly uses its own oxidation to replace the oxidation of the skin.
Vitamin B3
Vitamin C
· Symwhite 377
· 4-MSK: it is a unique formula from Shiseido. Generally, this ingredient will be used with tranexamic acid, ethyl VC, etc., which is more gentle, stable, and effective than a separate whitening formula.
In addition to the above ingredients, there are also whitening ingredients such as resveratrol, catechins, and pycnogenol. However, since these ingredients are relatively few in the market and do not occupy the mainstream, we will not discuss them here.
Symwhite 377
