Brightening or Lightening - Which is for me?

These are two of the most popularly used words in skin care products worldwide and while it may represent a marketing gimmick for the skin care companies, a lot of consumers do take it seriously. A lot of conservations around these terms explicitly consider brightening products to be healthier than lightening products. But how true are these suppositions?

According to Paula Begoun, “We use the term brightening to explain how a products formulary can minimise skin discolouration caused by sun and pollution, while helping skin have a more youthful, smooth appearance and even tone,” These views are further strengthened by Dr. Dennis Gross, founder of Dr. Dennis Gross Skin Care, who is of the opinion that to brighten skin is to increase its radiance and glow.

On the other hand, skin experts believe that to lighten is to reduce pigmentation. Skin lightening and bleaching are terms used to describe the effect some skin care ingredients have on inhibiting skin’s melanin production. Pigmentation simply means coloring of the skin and the skin gets its color from a pigment (or a chemical in our body that gives color to our body and its products) called melanin.

But does the term really denote one is healthier than the other? Not really. The only difference is the messaging. As a user, your only focus should be on the ingredients and its impact on your skin. A lot of brightening and lightening products contain ingredients like Alpha-Hydroxy Acids(AHA), Beta-Hydroxy Acids(BHA), enzymes, niacinamide, retinol, arbutin, hydroquinone, kojic acid etc. Ingredients like AHAs, BHAs, enzymes acts as exfoliants by removing the dead skin cells and revitalizing the surface of the skin and making way for new skin cell generation. These could be considered as brighteners. Other ingredients like hydroquinone, kojic acid, arbutin and niacinamide tend to work on a cellular level to interfere with melanin production, hence could be considered lighteners. However, this doesn’t mean they are bad.

However, there are risks involved with certain lightening products. Hydroquinone products with over 2% Hydroquinone should only be used when prescribed by a dermatologists. Also, please avoid any skin lightening product that contains mercury. This can lead to mercury poisoning.