What do fade creams do

For many people, darkened underarms are embarrassing. Discover the causes of this change in armpit skin color and five…. Hydroquinone is a skin-lightening agent. It can lighten everything from freckles and acne scars to post-inflammatory marks caused by conditions like…. The Brazilian offers complete pubic hair removal — front and back.

Is it right for you? Can colloidal silver help treat acne? Here's what to know before giving this remedy a try. Not sure how to tell these two cosmetic procedures apart? We've got all the details. Interested in adding art to your teeth? Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Side Effects and Precautions of Skin Bleaching. How it works Side effects Benefits How-to Precautions Where to buy DIY Summary Skin bleaching refers to the use of products to lighten dark areas of the skin or achieve an overall lighter complexion.

How skin bleaching works. Skin bleaching side effects. Skin bleaching benefits. How to use skin bleaching products. Where to buy skin bleaching products. DIY skin bleaching. Most people will need to continue the treatment for around 3 or 4 months. Your doctor may recommend stopping treatment after this time, or only using it very occasionally. Possible risks of skin-lightening creams containing hydroquinone, corticosteroids or mercury include:. If you're prescribed skin-lightening cream by a doctor, they should tell you about the potential risks and how common these are.

If you get side effects while using a prescribed skin-lightening cream, contact a doctor for advice. A laser can also be used to lighten blemishes or dark patches of skin.

This works by either removing the outer layer of skin or damaging the cells that produce melanin. Laser skin lightening may work for some people, while for others it may not have any effect, or the skin lightening may only be temporary. The cost of each session can vary widely across practitioners and is dependent on the size of the area being treated, the extent of the lightening, and the equipment used.

Several sessions are often needed to increase the chances of the procedure being effective. Before the procedure starts, a test may be done on a small area of skin to see how it reacts.

If you do not have any problems, you'll usually have your first session a few weeks later. You may get a stinging or pricking sensation during the procedure, so a local anaesthetic cream may be used to numb your skin beforehand.

It can take a 1 to 2 weeks for your skin to recover from laser skin lightening. You may want to take a few days off work until your skin's appearance starts to improve.

In many areas, unregulated products are sold, often without listing their contents or they are labelled incorrectly. They may be safe but completely ineffective, or the chemicals may result in side effects and toxicity. The risks depend on which ingredient is being applied to the skin, in what concentration, over what area, and for how long it is used. Hydroquinone is an effective skin lightening agent. It should be used daily for no more than 6 months.

Exogenous ochronosis is the main risk of excessive use of hydroquinone. This results in an irregular blue-black staining affecting sun- exposed skin and nails. In some subjects, excessive use of hydroquinone in combination with certain foods in the diet fish, eggs, offal, beans can result in an unpleasant fish odour in the body secretions such as sweat and urine trimethylaminuria.

Monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone is a strong derivative of hydroquinone that can cause irreversible complete depigmentation of the skin white patches. Tretinoin is the main topical retinoid that has been used in skin lightening products.

It thins the skin, increasing the penetration of other agents. It is a prescription medication because of potential risk in pregnancy. It can be quite irritating and may cause contact irritant dermatitis. Cysteamine cream is applied for 15 minutes each day for up to 12 weeks, then twice weekly for maintenance. Dr Hussain said it was "really, really worrying" the creams were so readily available. The skin-lightening creams were "the highest rung on the steroid ladder", he said, when compared with the relatively weak over-the-counter eczema creams containing hydrocortisone.

It's really concerning," he said. They would think it's being marketed as skin-lightening cream, unaware that they are buying a very strong, potent steroid which could cause long-term issues. Heather Nelson, from the Leeds-based Black Health Initiative community organisation, which aims to deliver equality in health and social care, said the scale of use of creams for skin lightening was "huge".

She added: "We cannot quantify it because people do not readily say or admit that they use these bleaching creams. Why do they use it? If they think that they want to go far in certain careers they believe they need to look a certain way.

Binti Asumani moved to the UK from Tanzania in with her husband and son. Two years later, she started using skin-lightening creams.

She said: "I wanted to change my colour because I saw my lady friends were light-skinned and I looked at myself and thought: 'Why should I not look beautiful? Ms Asumani asked around to see where these products were sold and her friends directed her to the local market, where she was able to buy a strong skin-lightening cream. Yet after using it for two years, she started to experience some unpleasant side effects. After going to a GP and showing her the cream, Ms Asumani was told to stop using it immediately.