Homemade skin bleaching concoctions have used natural acids for a hundred years. Cosmetic lightening products take it to the next level. The concept is the same. Natural, gentle acids bleach skin. Don’t let the word “acid” scare you. We eat acids all the time. We get citric acid from oranges and lemons and limes. Some nuts have acid.
Homemade Skin Bleaching Creams
You might think “some nuts” use nuts for skin bleaching. Years ago it was state of the art. They made a paste out of almonds, and smeared it on their skin. They hoped the acid in the nuts was a lightener.
Almond paste is now sold to smear on crackers. ‘Nuff said.
People used to put lemon juice in their hair at the beach. They swore it sped up the sun’s bleaching effect.
The thinking was, why not make a home bleaching cream with lemon juice? It’s citric acid, so it’s safe.
•But lemon juice applied directly to the skin dries it out. That’s basically how it worked. Dry skin flaked off. New skin was lighter. Temporarily.
•Lemon juice stings like crazy on any cut or pimple.
•So they added lotion or cream. Now the lemon acid was so diluted it didn’t do much.
In the 40s and 50s, women used peroxide to lighten hair. The term “peroxide blond” was born. Once again, the thinking was, “why not use it on skin?”
And they did. And it was not good. Hydrogen peroxide on tissue is an irritant. Absorbed into skin it is toxic. So they cut it down, by adding lotion to make a home bleaching cream. It merely took longer to irritate and be absorbed. Hydrogen peroxide was a bad idea.
But the skin bleaching “pioneers” were on to something when they tried to harness natural acid to lighten skin. Chemists ran with it.
Cosmetic Lightening Products
Scientists identified natural acids that worked in cosmetic lightening products.
1. Kojic acid a natural substance used as an all purpose health supplement in Asia. It’s in plants and rice.
2. Arbutin, a natural substance found in the leaves of a bush.
3. Ascorbic Acid, which is from Vitamin C.
4. Azelaic acid, which is found in wheat, rye and barley.
They also found vitamins that helped with skin bleaching.
1. Derivatives of Vitamin A, also known as retinoids
2. Niacinamide, a form of Vitamin B 3
Why do these natural acids and vitamins work for skin lightening? They inhibit melanin production. Melanin gives skin color. They also slow the growth of existing pigmented cells. Color fades as dark cells are replaced with new skin. Some gentle exfoliation helps speed things along.
Products with Alpha Arbutin and Kojic Acid are easy to buy and are affordable.
I supposed you could make your own kojic acid. Make the rice wine saki in your kitchen. Build a homemade still and distill the rice juice. You could save the malt that’s left over. Then, if you could figure out how to extract the acid, you’d have your own supply of kojic acid.
Better yet, get out of the kitchen and into a cosmetic lightening product. This will save you time, and frustration.
Author Resource:
There are many different Skin Lighteners to choose from. Please visit the following links to learn more about a variety of available Skin Bleaching Products. http://skintreatmentassociation.org/skin-bleaching/review or http://skintreatmentassociation.org/skin-treatment
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