About Whitening Soap
More and more women--and even some men--are turning to whitening products to acquire a more fair, glowing and lighter skin tone. Whitening soaps are one of the most popular whitening products on the market, and there are many products out there that claim to be able to help people achieve these desired results. Learning about how these soaps work helps people to decide whether or not these products are right for them. Does this Spark an idea?
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History
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The use of whitening soaps and formulas existed during ancient times. Having lighter skin was often coupled with the notion of belonging to society's upper class. The women in some cultures, such as the Japanese, even painted their faces white to symbolize beauty and grace. The 1900s saw a boom of whitening products, potions, formulas and cosmetics that were made available throughout the world for use by women who wanted to have fairer skin, and that tradition continues today.
Natural Ingredients
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Many whitening soaps contain natural ingredients--mostly plant extracts--that help whiten the skin. Papaya is one age-old whitening formula that contains substances that aid in skin whitening. Other soaps have whitening plant extracts from licorice, lemon, mulberry and bearberry.
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Ingredients
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Other active ingredients can be found in whitening soaps. Hydroquinone was a standard for skin whitening, especially in severe skin discoloration cases, such as melasma, age spots and hyperpigmentation; however, various adverse effects associated with its use have been found. Whitening soaps today may contain safer whitening ingredients, like lactic and glycolic acids, to help in exfoliation and brightening the skin. Vitamins like Niacinamide, or Vitamin B3, and Vitamin C interfere with the process by which melanin (the substance that causes darker skin) is produced. Mercury and ammonia compounds may also be present in small amounts to aid in skin whitening.
Effects and Benefits
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The universal notion of beauty is sometimes associated with fair, "even" skin, and so women of numerous nationalities use whitening soaps to achieve this. Aside from wanting to have a whiter overall skin tone, there are many purposes why people use whitening soaps. Adolescents and young adults usually use these products to lighten acne spots and freckles, while older people benefit from such products with lightened age spots and decreased sun damage to their skin.
Side-Effects
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Some whitening soaps may have ingredients that cause undesirable effects in some individuals. Such effects may include skin peeling and irritation. Other side-effects may include skin hypersensitivity reactions and more severe skin discolorations, especially when using soaps containing more potent whitening ingredients like hydroquinone, which the Food and Drug Administration is reviewing.
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References
- Photo Credit soap image by ivan kmit from Fotolia.com
