Skin Whitening

With summer fast approaching we'll soon see beaches and open green space swarming with folks laying out and trying to get darker. In contrast, in other parts of the world the insidious effects of racism have led many people to try to lighten their skin, often using dangerous bleaching agents.

Jamaica...



India...

The whitening market in India is worth millions of pounds, with men as well as women routinely buying bleaching lotions in an effort to "improve" their complexion. But the mini-series advert featuring Saif Ali Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Neha Dhupia has reopened a debate about India's obsession with pale skin and triggered an angry reaction from some who think the advert is discriminatory and outdated.

"It is strange. There is such a premium placed on pale skin," said Urvashi Butalia, a historian and director of Kali for Women, India's first feminist publishing house. "I am not sure where it comes from. It may have something to do with India's history of being colonised by various people and that there is a hangover of the idea that Aryan people are superior and Dravidian people – those who were already here – are inferior."

Asia...

Highly prized as an accent to beauty in ancient times, whiter skin appearance has enjoyed a revival among women around the world. It’s more evident so in Japan where female consumers are known for their pain-taking effort to shun sunlight under parasols in summer. Even in her childhood, a Japanese woman spends a great deal of time tending to her young soft skin with a wide range and scope of basic beauty products found in any drugstore throughout the nation. And the legendary beauty of geishas depends on the whiteness and softness of the skin on the nape of their necks.

To possess ‘bihaku' (beautiful white) skin, the ideal porcelain-pale complexion, has been engrained in the Japanese culture for centuries. In the past, women used to scrub their skin with ‘nuka’ (rice hulls) for skin oxidization or grind pearls into powder for swallowing. Nowadays, consumers rely on scientists to play a major role in formulating increasingly sophisticated and safer products.