Skin lightening and skin brightening are terms that are used interchangeably but mean two different things. And in an era where ladies are constantly trying to improve how they look, it becomes all the more important to clear this out.
Skin lightening is changing the colour of the skin to a lighter one. It usually involves the use of products which work by reducing the concentration of melanin pigment in the skin.
A lot of products that lighten the skin contain harmful ingredients like hydroquinone, mercury and steroids which are effective but very harmful. These ingredients can cause health problems like kidney and liver malfunctioning in the long run. And in the short run can actually be very damaging to the skin.
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What is skin brightening?
Skin brightening, on the other hand, is simply improving the skin tone. Adding radiance to dull skin WITHOUT changing the colour. It involves the use of natural ingredients like Vitamin C, Alpha and beta hydroxy acids and retinol to improve the vibrancy of the skin and make it glow.
Anyone can brighten their skin whether they are light or dark skinned. Because no matter what your complexion is, you can have radiant glowy skin.
Which is better; skin lightening or brightening?
Regardless of what pop culture and the media tries to sell us, lighter skin isn’t necessarily better skin. And anyone can be beautiful no matter what their skin tone is.
Besides, skin lightening promotes issues like colourism which we should all be actively fighting. And if you didn’t know that colourism is actually a real social issue, this video below from BBC will convince you.
We can’t all be light skinned (where’s the fun in that?) and there is beauty in diversity! So keep calm and love the skin you’re in.
We don’t recommend skin lightening, but we are seriously about the glow life. So before you go, check out these products that will give anyone glowing skin.
(Featured image: Everythinggirlslove.com)