Everyone wants their skin to be bright, dewy, glowing and even-toned. Here’s when skin lightening and brightening come in. But how do they work actually?
What determines skin color?
Skin color is primarily determined by melanin, a pigment that is produced in our skin cells. If more melanin is produced in your skin, it looks darker; and if less is produced, it looks lighter. Melanin blocks out the sun’s UV rays and protects your skin from burning. That’s why people with darker skin are less likely to get sunburn. Exposing in the sun causes the skin to produce more melanin and thus darker skin.
Skin lightening
In general, skin lightening products reduces pigmentation, lightens discoloration and evens skin tone by reducing the melanin pigmentation in your skin.
Common skin lightening ingredients include:
Retinol
Kojic acid
Arbutin
Vitamin C
Skin brightening
Skin brightening is what you need when your skin looks dull. Dull skin is unhealthy looking skin that may be caused by dead skin cells build-up, dryness, and even pollution. Our skin shed millions of skin cells a day, and dead cells get replaced by new cells. But as we age the process will slow down, causing slow cell turnover and dull looking skin. Exfoliate the surface of skin to remove dead skin cells will make your skin look brighter.
