There are some commercial products as well as homemade solutions that can be used to lighten a dark complexion or dark spots on your skin. This is a page about skin lightening tips.
Ask a QuestionHere are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community or ask a new question.
I used ambi fade cream 6 months ago. I used it on a small part of my face once and when it started burning I washed it off in less than 5 minutes. The next morning I woke up and that part was lighter than my whole face. Does anyone know what I need to do? Or is this permanent?
It will take time to heal and wont be permanent. Use a concealer stick or foundation to cover the spot.
I had a similar thing happen. I used Bio-Oil and it took a while but the spot recovered. I'd say give it a shot.
How do I get my skin tone back after burning and it going darker?
By April
Stay out of the sun, and it will fade in time. However, a darker tan will help prevent future burns.
I used several bleaching creams for about two months to remove dark spots and sun damage. How long will it take for my normal skin tone to come back after using those creams?
Bleaching creams usually tell you how long to use the product before giving your skin a "break" but if you used it for 2 months then you literately did bleach your skin and it will take several weeks for your normal skin pigment to return.
Be sure to use a good moisturizer on your skin and do not use any type of abrasive cleaner.
Well, my race is actually black, but I was born with very fair skin, like white skin tone, when I was a baby. When I got older it turned to light yellow skin tone and I have stayed out of the sun and always kept my light yellow complexion.
But I went to the fair over 2 years ago and I was exposed to the sun rays for 2 hours and I got tanned badly, like from yellow to red. I want to get rid of it. But how?
By Quan from St. Paul, MN
There are several products sold in the Black skin & hair-care areas of Walmart & most drug stores (like Walgreens) for around $5. These products contain hydroquinine in a thick greasy base (the Vaseline-type of base is so your skin won't absorb too much at once). It's best to only use these products at night because they usually don't work too well with make-up. If you use these products it's very important that stay out of the sun! There are also other stronger products available only by prescription from dermatologists.
You can help your dead skin cells slough off quicker by exfoliating with half a lemon dipped in to table salt or sugar & then scrubbing your skin with this gritty lemon juice. Or, when you shower or take a bath, you can simply use plain table sugar to scrub the skin. Do this no more than once or at most twice a week. It won't change the skins color, but it helps remove any dead skin cells, so your "tan" will go away a bit quicker & exfoliating makes your skin "smooth as a baby's bottom". Rinse well, then follow with a good all-over body moisturizer.
I am Caucasian, but have read about these products in fashion magazines & tried some of the products made for Black women to help remove age spots & uneven skin coloration on my face from my changing mid-life hormones.
Two years is a long time to keep a sunburn! I might consider going to a dermatologist. Good luck!
First and foremost love, you should be proud of your skin. So please don't lighten it. Those products are no good and no one knows the long term side effects of skin bleaching. But remember that even though your skin may be a bit darker you still need to wear sunscreen every day. I use sunscreen as lotion that way I don't forget to lather it on in the morning. Exfoliating your skin helps a tan disappear quickly. Try a mixture of olive oil and some raw sugar ( if you have it, granulated works fine as well ) and scrub your skin towards the end of a shower. It tends it help if you do this towards the end of a shower because after the sugar rinses off the oil helps trap in moisture.
Also from MN. Things like this does not come from the sun, it is genetics and your ancestorial background.
Well, I'm a white girl who's been doing battle with a big patch of sun damage on my forehead, so I feel for you. Rather than preach at you about accepting something you don't like and that doesn't sound altogether natural anyway, I'll just share what I've learned.
Hydroquinone works, but the 2% creams you can buy over the counter at most places only do so much. For 4%, you need a prescription. But I found a brand on CVS.com called Nadinola, and it has 3%. It works a lot better than the 2% creams.
There are a few secrets to skin lightening that go beyond hydroquinone. First, sun-damaged skin is thicker than normal skin, so you need to apply the hydroquinone cream on top of an exfoliant (alpha or beta hydroxy acid); the exfoliation helps the hydroquinone get at the newer skin so it has a better chance of working.
Second, you need to wear the hydroquinone cream constantly. Never be without it. Even though it probably doesn't work as well under makeup, you should still use it during the day, because your skin is constantly regenerating itself, and if you're not wearing the hydroquinone, it will be regenerating more discoloration and thwarting all the efforts you make at night.
Third, you must wear a sunscreen every day. Not only will this prevent future damage, but the exfoliation that you're doing to treat the discoloration actually makes you more susceptible to new damage. Thus, when you're treating hyperpigmentation, sun protection becomes more important than ever.
By the way, hydroquinone has a bad reputation in some circles, but in my experience, this is utterly undeserved.
Good luck!
Oh Quan! My heart is breaking! Please just be happy and proud with your skin color no matter how it changes! No matter whether brown, white or yellow; each of our personal skin tones simply change throughout our lifetime!
I too am mixed and have family members from blue white to glistening dark brown and each of their skin tones change and all are beautiful!
I personally went from blue white to a beautiful golden and now a pale white because of illness and wish I had the golden back so I looked healthier! I am sharing this poem I wrote two decades ago and I hope it touches you enough to accept yourself and how your skin changes. I am sharing this from my heart!
Tears of Color - 1990
Henry Hawks of brown skin
Wash away your tears
Someday it won't matter
In the future years
J.E. Hawks of yellow skin
Wash away your tears
Someday it won't matter
In the future years
Otha Hawks of passing skin
Wash away the tears
Someday it won't matter
In the future years
Gloria Hawkes of white skin
Wash away the fears
No one will ever know now
In the future years
Descended of these precious skins
I wash away the tears
Praying it won't matter
In the future years
I'm working under the sun almost 7days a week. My skin is dark and I want tips on which products I can use to make my skin light in complexion without any harm from the sun.
I'm multicolored. I always have been. It cuts my self esteem. Is there any way or anything, such as ointments I could use to lighten my face just a little to get it just like the rest of my body? Also I have dark spots all over my body. I have sensitive skin. Please help.
I was naturally fair 6 months ago, but now I became tan. I Don't know the reason for my tan. Could anyone suggest how to get back my old color?
By Rahman from Chennai
My complexion has become very dark since I started playing for my school's team in the sun.can anyone please tell me how to remove this dreadful tan and lighten my complexion?
Nabiha
1.Yogurt and Orange Juice
Mix Yogurt and Orange Juice, apply on your face and rinse off after 15 min everyday for one month.
2. Honey and Lemon Juice
Mix equal parts of Honey and Lemon Juice and apply on your face. Rinse off after 15 min everyday for one month.
3.Cucumber and Lemon Juice
Mix equal parts of Cucumber Juice and Lemon Juice and apply on your face. Rinse off after 15 min for one month.
After one month you can repeat the same thing once or twice a week.
mynaturalbeautytips.blogspot.com/
A tan is beautiful and healthy looking. No matter what the experts say. It may be bad for you, but since you all ready HAVE it. Enjoy it.
Best to start using a high SPF sun block for athletes. It should help prevent further tanning. As winter comes your tan will fade back to your natural complexion.
I also have this problem and I hate it! People think im black, when i am RUSSIAN its horrible. People say its beautiful and I guess I'd look weird without it, but i hate how everyone is always commenting on it , wow your so tan, do you use tanner. Even the lunh lady at school asked about it. I just try using a lighter foundation or powder(they dont even have my color) so I just try that. Im the one on the left, and right now im like 18 shades darker than that.
I have this problem too, we're outside for 8 hours everyday for 3 months and then for 4 hrs for 4 more months. I have a very light complexion naturally, but I'm Arab/Indian and Puerto Rican so I tan easily. I use Lemon juice on my skin all over after I take a shower and I use body scrubs with a loofa, to try and "scrub" the dead tan skin cells off. I've found that the scrub works the best because I see that those tanned skin cells have come off and my tan lines aren't as visable so I suppose it works.
Hi all, if you have a light complexion, bet assured your skin will get back its original colour. It happened to me. I was fair. I came to chennai and my comp became very dark. I protected my skin for 4 months approx from sunlight totally ( literally). u wont believe it after 4 months I was as fair as before. I swear. Don use any thing else. Just protect your skin for 3 to 4 months from sunlight totally, and see the magic.
I'm 33 yrs old. My dream is to make my skin white. I have a brown complexion. Does anyone have some cheap suggestions for ways to do this at home?
By Jessica P.
My skin color turned black slowly. Could anyone suggest how I can turn it white?
By shayan
What is the cream that you use to increase the fairness of your face?
By John Methew from Niagara Falls, NY
How can I lighten my dark brown skin and lips naturally at home? I am from Trinidad.
By Kate
I am looking for home remedies to lighten skin.
Pinky Grace
Origins has a "modern friction scrub" that really perks up your skin and removes dead cells leaving nice skin. Try a sample at an origins near you then you will see. In Mexico there is a product called "concha nacar" and it
is supposed to lighten or look in afro products section of your Walmart or other store and you can find something there.
Lemon juice? It seems I've heard something about it lightening skin.
Is it really possible to get fair skin scientifically?
By . from Chittagong Bangladesh
How can I lighten my skin using fruit? I also would like to know some remedies for pimples on my face. How can I protect my skin so as not to have them?
By Flower from Thailand
My face got darker. What should I do to lighten it in a natural way?
By Zahira
Which oils are best to use on skin to whiten the skin?
By Jessica