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Pic from Vichy ad for skin whitening product
Now while we’re all going crazy to fake tan ourselves over here in Ireland, in Asia they’re mad to lighten skin up.
Hip Asian girls on holiday are the ones with the big hats and the skin whitening lotions and potions. While European types are still slathering themselves in sun oil and wearing teeny tiny thongs (it’s happening, especially if you’re Italian – and that’s only the men ugh), savvy Asian ladies are covering themselves up in trendy tankinis and suncream.
But they don’t stop there. While we like to spend on bronzer and spray tans, they save their money for skin whitening preparations (and V face products of course). We’ve discussed this phenomenon before on Beaut.ie – African, Indian and Asian skintones have zillions of skin whitening treatments to choose from. They’re incredibly popular and a must have for every bathroom cabinet. For every tan or hint of colour product we are offered they are offered a skin lightening one. Here for example L’Oreal Men Expert do a face cream “with a hint of tan”. L’Oreal Men Expert offer the same product in Asia – but this one will lighten up those dark spots. Every single brand you can think of – from Garnier, L’Oreal, Vichy, The BodyShop, to Estee Lauder and Chanel – offers products to lighten, tackle hyperpigmentation and dark spots.
So do you think it’s all just a big con that’s been created by marketing to prey on our insecurities and that we should all be happy with the skin tone we’ve got? Or are cosmetic companies just being kindly and providing us with the products we need? Read this article on Jezebel for a whole different take on this issue too.
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That’s so weird I was just talking to my parents about this last night – I was travelling in Asia a few years ago and the ads for whitening products were everywhere. It really made you think! We all want to look like someone else. I’m also guessing that the chemicals used for skin whitening can’t be that healthy!
That picture is freaky…
Eeks – what a scary picture
My cousin used to use the skin whitening stuff when we were younger. She’s asian and haaaated her skin. I never really noticed much difference, but she was happy so…
yeah what is in these products..
I think fake tan is as unnecessary as skin whitening is. Love the skin you’re in, dudes!
Personally, skin whitening freaks me out a bit more because the idea of bleaching the skin is a little more chemically intensive than I would think is normal. Also in some Asian and African countries it’s really a class thing, whereas I think that’s not such a big issue here.
I also read in Indian Cosmo that people who can’t afford those products sometimes use normal bleach, and that can’t be good for you! Eeek!
I’m pale, pink and freckly and proud of it!
scary photo!
Love Vichy ad pictures
They are freaky and cool at the same time!
Sweetie – and the eyebrows are always great! I’m a bit obsessed with eyebrows today it seems
im pale, this is me, ive accepted the fact. i give up on trying to obtain a ‘natural’ looking tan. plus think of all the time you save when NOT trying to eliminate any streaky bits!
two words – wacko jacko!
oh my boyfriend bought that men’s face cream with a hint of tan by accident (i hope)…bang of fake tan off him!
he got slagged and hasn’t used it since ha ha
I’ve been told about it being a class issue before as well, particularly in places like Thailand where people working outside doing manual labour have darker skin from tanning. Those that are pale tend to be the more wealthy. I guess it’s similar here in that if you can afford to have sun holidays then you’ll be tanned.
That’s so odd – I always thought of skin whitening as a really freaky Michael Jackson thing to do, never linked it with a kinda Eastern version of our fake tanning at all! Guess I’m not as broad minded as I thought….maybe it’s just the Michael Jackson effect, he’s a v odd man!
I am a redhead so am naturally quite pale and have no intentions of tanning (fake or otherwise!) Im quite proud of my night walker status!hahaha. But I can understand why women/men would do this, still its crazy! As someone above has already mentioned (and without trying to sound like an ad) love the skin you’re in! However I would like the eyebrows in that ad…WOWZA!
What is it about Irish women and fake tan. Even in the depths of winter you will see orange hands peeping out from under a warm wooly coat. Hello!!!! It just looks so false. We should be embracing our pale skin. Its so much nicer and looks much more youthful and natural.
Some people are just not happy unless they are plastered in tan and to make it worse they team it with over processed bleached blonde locks. Whoever put it out there that this look epitomised beauty? Oh of course…. It was Hugh Hefner of the Playboy Mansion! Ladies dont buy into it. Embrace your individuality and be confident in your celtic beauty.Show off that gorgeous luminous skin we have been blessed with. At the end of the day thats what makes us different to the rest of the world.
P.S Take a look at any of the award shows such as the golden globes or the oscars and you will notice that none of our favourite fashion icons are wearing tan. Pale is much more classy. Tan is thrashy!
Be brave and bare the skin you were born in.
a good friend of mine is Japanese and we’ve had this very conversation recently when snooping through her makeup bag. She says it’s not whiter skin they’re after, it’s a flawless complexion. They absolutely HATE freckles and with the sun, their skin tone is apparently prone to develop dark patches.
Freckles, and also pigmentation marks. These are like freckles only a bit larger and blotchier (we can get it too, from hormones etc. For example, when we’re pregnant; they call it chloasma i think).
That’s why these asian products have very high SPF and UVA protection, to prevent the dark spots.
Never mind the tangoed look, it’s the freckles they’d laugh at!!!
i just got my skin whitening products this morning
i hate being tan >_<
pale is the new tan in my brain
another tip, using spf 100 sunblock lightens your skin AND protects it from getting so tan. :]
NO ITS not they want to be paler. they use it forr the freckly things!!!
i have seen very pale asians too like whites most of them are natural but some might use it to look like the already pale ones. obviously the pale ones are in north east countries but can happen in others.
I am Asian and have lighter skin than others. I’m not saying that I’m pretty because of skin color but because I believe that I am pretty. Beauty is how you carry yourself. In Asia, as you have observed, fairer skinned are considered beautiful. Women bleach themselves not because they think they are ugly but because they get more attention from men. Most men like fairer women. Some does not even care about the facial features, body shape, or weight. They only care about the skin color. I have seen men get so thrilled and excited by the sight of a bleached-skinned woman. Most men I dated were attractive to me for my skin. One of them called me “glow in the dark”. Sometimes, I think, if I get dark, no one would like me anymore? Even men bleach themselves thinking that it makes them handsome (it does not). Advertisements tell women that they will more loved if they were white, they will get more dates and envied by other women. Some women think that they are pretty because they have whiter face but because they cant afford the whole treatment they only apply it on their face leaving their neck and nape dark. They look like wearing a white mask with dark shoulders and arms. They look funny instead. My mother told me to wear pants and sweat shirt when going to a beach so i don’t get dark.
I think most people seem to neglect that whitening and tanning can be used to even out skin tone and hide imperfections like freckles, acne scars, dark circles etc… so there isn’t always a social stigma attached to it.
People above have said that it isn’t healthy, sure it makes your skin more sensitive but tanning is much much worse long term and unless you are deluded you WILL regret it when you’re older.
In the UK I’m on a bus, nice and sunny outside and I see Arabs come on wearing their Hijabs, Chinese women with umbrellas… then British women half naked, freckles all down their bodies and skin like leather. These are 40+ year old women they weren’t even wearing hats.
I think the media is a joke regarding sun damage. They tell us about the risks and later promote fake tanning products as a substitute for real tanning. If fake tanning is promoted then there is no doubt that people will practice real tanning more as well. They have not eliminated any social stigma.
The way to move forward is to take the focal length off appearance. Imperfection concealing products are fine, but body enhancements like lip gloss, mascara, piercings, tattoos, tans etc should all be banned from advertisement. If you want to use them then great but at least it’s not the media influencing you.
I was traveling in Japan in Feb this year and felt a bit out of place. Most of girls over there have very white skin … they are almost getting whiter every year. I am Japanese but living in Australia for a while and my skin is also naturally darker than regular Asian people.
I went to a chemist once for purchasing some body lotion and shop assistant looked at me and started to talk about ‘skin whitening’…because I have lots of sun damage to my skin. Yes, it is very hard to avoid that when you are living in Australia and also if you like scuba diving.
Skin whitening products are very popular over there and I noticed some products on their store shelves could not be purchased without a prescription in Australia..or probably other western countries. I don’t know how far this trend will go but it is disturbing when you start seeing girls wearing long sleeve shirts, long pants, gloves, hast and umbrellas at the beach….
which is worse? skin whitening or fake tanning? wores in terms of health. please reply if you can. thanks
oops, i meant worse*
I’d have to say for one, the whitening in the products aren’t really bad for you, and are technically good for since more of it is sun protection rather than bleaching agents. There’s a reason why older Asian women look better with less spots and it’s because the products help eliminate that, whereas tanning, well, causes cancer. Covering up in the summer is obviously healthier, but you sacrifice a bit of comfort.
I myself am a naturally tanned Taiwanese female. My family is native and I even had a reddish tone to my skin. I could never be pale no matter how hard I try and visiting Taiwan is awful. In the states, I’m bad at math and the majority of my friends are white, including my boyfriend and then I visit Taiwan and I can’t speak the language and I’m tan. I don’t fit in anywhere if it was up to the media. I’ve learned to honestly just be happy with myself and that I’m not handicapped or mentally challenged. The stuff the media feeds us about what we should look like is ridiculous, annoying and makes everyone insecure. There will always be people who find you beautiful and those who prefer a different look.