When you buy a skin whitener, make sure you read the ingredients and check them out on the Skin Deep website.

Many Skin whiteners contain Hydroquinone, which lightens the skin by reducing melanin pigment in the skin. This unfortunately makes the skin more susceptible to cancer.

Also Hydroquinone is toxic to the body. It has negative effects on the skin,the nervous system, the reproductive system as well as the entire immune system.

Higher dosage of Hydroquinone in skin whiteners peels off the skin and makes the skin progressively thinner. With repeated use over a number of years the skin becomes so thin that the veins can be seen. The peeling does not stop and the face looks a permanent unnatural white while the rest of the body may still look the original color (provided the whitener is not used on other parts of the body)

The You Tube Video embedded below is a 10 minute video that displays the devastating effect of Skin Whiteners on women in Jamaica and Senegal.

The hyperlink below, leads to another news video covered by AFP TV, France.   This You Tube video focuses on the harmful effects of Skin Whiteners in that are sold on the gray market in France.

The Dark side of Skin Whiteners

There may be safe Skin Whiteners available in the market.

Do exercise caution and do some research before you give in to the temptation of getting fairer !!