For many centuries, particular cultures consider a fair complexion as being a sign of health and beauty. Pregnancy, hormonal imbalance, birth control pills and exposure to the sun can cause hyper pigmentation. Sun or age spots are caused by exposure to the UVB light of the sun. This leads to an increased production of melanin, which is the coloured pigment in your skin. Melanin is formed from melanocytes, which is controlled by the enzyme tyrosinase. When hyper pigmentation occurs in the epidermis of the skin, skin lightening products can help remove dark patches on the skin. Asian skin is prone to suffering from hyper pigmentation, therefore skin whitening treatments are very popular to improve and lighten the skin. Skin lightening treatments include laser treatments, skin lightening creams (beware of those containing bleaches, as this can damage the skin) soaps, lotions and skin lightening pills. Hyper pigmentation treatments can sometimes produce very good results.
Asian skin differs from retina gel white skins because their skins contain larger melanosomes, which are melanin containing packets made by melanocytes which are taken up by surface skin cells. Due to their larger size, the degradation and dispersal is much slower than in white skins. Asian skin also produce more melanin in response to the Sun’s UVB light than white skin.
There are many skin whitening creams, some are safer and more effective than others. One very effective skin whitening product is kojic dipalmitate, which is a derivative of kojic acid. Kojic acid is a by-product in the fermentation process of malting rice for use in the manufacturing of the Japanese rice wine.. It inhibits the enzyme tyrosinase, therefore inhibiting the production of melanin (as explained above). Kojic dipalmitate is an alternative to kojic acid because it is much more stable in formulations. It also has the added benefit of being an excellent anti oxidant. This is a safe skin lightener if used at the correct concentrations. If applied twice daily for approximately 6-8 weeks, a noticeable lightening of the skin occurs. Many have found that it is a much safer alternative to skin bleaching, without any nasty side effects or skin rashes. Kojic dipalmitate is a very important skin lightening ingredient for those looking to have even, flawless and fair skin.
One of the best skin lightening creams is Lightenex by PharmaClinix, which uses 5% Kojic Dipalmitate, followed by an effective sunscreen, e.g. Moisturix SPF25.
Stretch marks, or striae, are not harmful to you or your baby, however, in view of the embarrassment caused, the damage to your self confidence and self image, and the social stigma attached to them, it’s probably something you’ll get round to thinking about before long. And as somewhere between 75% and 90% of women get stretch marks when pregnant it’s a pretty widespread condition, unfortunately there’s a good chance you’re going to get them too.
Help is at hand however in the form of a pregnancy stretch mark cream, which can be used both as a preventative measure and to treat existing marks. Although pregnancy striae normally begin to appear in the third trimester, prevention as they say is better than cure, so it is advisable to begin using your the cream a little before this for best results. This ensures your skin is in tip top condition and better placed to withstand the expansion rigors than are about to occur.
There are a number of good creams available, but a word of warning here. Retin-A (Tretinoin). Although Retin-A has been demonstrated to be beneficial in treatment by improving collagen production, there are concerns over its use while pregnant or breastfeeding.
The Organization of Teratology Services, which studies the effects of various medications and other factors on fetal health considers there is a slightly higher than normal risk of a birth defect with Tretinoin (Retin-A) topical medication. Retin-A belongs to the retinoid family of medications, and when taken orally, as in some acne products for example, there is a high risk of birth defects. And although Retin-A in a pregnancy cream is in topical form, and less than 10% is absorbed into the bloodstream, which reduces the risk considerably, a risk nonetheless remains. There is a 3-5% chance of a birth defect with any pregnancy, so why take the chance of increasing this percentage. Avoid any creams which contain Retin-A if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.