If you walk into any beauty outlet or pharmacy these days, and you will almost undoubtedly be greeted with a section dedicated to skin whitening, every row boasting a range of products from various brands.
The demand for fair, glowing skin is real, and it’s showing nary a sign of slowing down. Where beauty trends like tanned skin and extreme contour face-mapping have (deservedly) died, fair skin remains one of the holier grails of beauty and wellness.
As with all the holy grails out there, attainment is usually an uphill task, fraught with obstacles.
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Great Ball of Fire
The main obstacle that is impeding you from getting that pearly-white skin is, of course, the sun.
The UV rays that the sun emit are one of the leading causes of a host of skin problems, and in more extreme cases, skin cancer.
The light and heat emitted from the sun is an age accelerator, because of the variety of skin problems it can cause. From overly dry skin that encourages the growth of wrinkles to fine lines, to excess sebum production that gives rise to enlarged pores, acne, and pigmentation.
Oh, did I also mention that it can also give you a tan that does not rate as a 10 on the beauty scale?
Tanned skin is caused by UVA radiation from the sun. When the rays hit your skin, their potency penetrates the outer layers of the skin over an extended period, triggering cells to produce melanin, a brown pigment that causes tan skin.
Top that off with dehydration or perspiration that might clog pores, you’re looking at more than one problem to deal with at one time.
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The Truth About Sunblock
When renowned consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) conducted a test on an SPF 100 product in the market at 5 different labs, the results were underwhelming, to say the least.
It was revealed that the subjects only received about coverage of about SPF 37 to 75, quite a deficit from the advertised SPF 100 protection. Turns out that varying levels of UV light transmission and thickness of application are factors that contribute to the amount of protection you get.
Besides, most topical sunblocks and sunscreen products provide protection for up to only 2 hours, after which reapplication is required. If you’re going to be out and about in the sun the whole day, this could be quite the chore.
On top of that, the grease that sunblock and sunscreen products contain can easily clog pores and cause acne – so that’s another problem there.
If you’re feeling like there’s no way to win with the sun, the good news is that 3 brilliant minds of science have actually found a way to deal with the toxic of UV we’re exposed to every day – and won a Nobel Prize for their efforts too.
The end product? Gene Therapy, a serum that contains enzymes that significantly diminishes prominent signs of photoaging by UV and environmental stressors.
These enzymes essentially become the auditors of your skin upon application; each damaged DNA strand is identified, removed and replaced to restore the youth UV exposure and environmental factors have taken away from the skin
Sometimes, the kind of protection you need from exterior threats works the best from the inside.
If all else fails, there are always multi-tiered, non-invasive skin whitening programs like the Porcelain Skin Program, or LED Red to restore that envy-inciting glow – after your skin gets the fair treatment it deserves.
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