Naming and Shaming Fairness Products

It has long been the history in many asian cultures that 'fairer is more beautiful' and to some it has become a regime to try everything to make the skin shade as light as possible. I believe that everyone is beautiful no matter the skin colour, body shape etc. I was sad to know that this philosophy still exists till today. I found this documentary which shuns fairness creams as being nothing but exploiting the vulnerable peoples insecurities. Youtube link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bVAiP5NMFw&feature=related

I think its important to understand that women (and even men) need to be confident with who they are and what they look like without being sucked into all these 'fairness' products. Don't get me wrong, I have tried a wide variety of products myself and continue to do so, but I wanted to show you some products which dont necessarily make you 'whiter' but even out your skin tone.

Three products I have been applying to actually see whether they really make you 'fairer'

A face cream by VLCC (a famous brand in India)

This has wild turmeric (traditionally known to make your skin tone lighter) and liquorice

It has a thick consistency, and when you apply it, it absorbs well into the skin.

I think that this product definitely made an 'improvement' to my skin complexion but I dont think it made me 'fair' or changed my skin colour

Also, if you dont like liquorice or the smell you wont like this product. I dont like the smell at all and it was hard to have this stuck to your face without washing it off

This is a lotion by LAKME, and also includes SPF 15

This product helped make my skin very smooth and soft. I loved the smell!

Again, I dont think this product maybe my skin 'fairer' just evened out the skin tone and gave me a nice glow

I blogged about this product before in a LAKME review.

This is the full sized tub of the LAKME fair cream.

The texture is somewhat beteen grainy and thick. It is very hard to apply because if you dont work fast enough you end up with 'white' streaks all over your face.

This is a product I wouldn't recommend at all, as you can see i havnt even used much because I found it so hard to work with and it left my face very dry (strange, when its supposed to be a 'cream)

It definitely didnt make me 'fairer' but covered my face in some white hue

I recently discovered these masks when I was shopping. They are by SkinVitals and they have a wide range of masks for different purposes.

I bought the A-White masks because I wanted to really see whether they do what they say which is mainly 'even out skin tone'.

This is quite pricey and honestly I dont think its worth the money. There are far better alternatives which do the job without the $.

First impression- smelt awful! I just wanted to get it off, smelt like burnt rubber :(

After applying it for the recommended time, I removed it, I noticed the texture of my skin had definitely improved BUT I was not 'whiter' 'lighter' and I dont think it evened out my skin tone (after asking a neautral third party for their opinion).

All in all, if you want to invest in expensive fairness creams do your research. It is my belief and countless testing with products myself, fairness creams are not set out to make you 'fairer' (dont get me wrong there may be some fairness creams out there which are making people happy, but sadly I havnt heard of one yet). In the end, companies are trying to exploit the market because people are going to buy their product because they believe that it will provide results that they say. People will go to the extreme to try out products (as seen in the video) that it damages their skin!

I strongly believe that keeping a well balanced diet as well as exercise will keep your skin looking healthy and glowing (it may not mean its 'fair').

What inspired me to write this piece, was the documentary I watched and the countless remarks I have heard about being 'fair'. I think its wrong and no one should feel insecure about their skin colour.