Durban - As summer approaches, one of the topics that will regularly emerge on beauty pages is the use of sunscreen.
Oddly enough, perception in many quarters remains that cancer-prone white skin is the only skin truly vulnerable to the harmful rays of the sun.
After all, darker skin rarely burns.
However, two international skincare experts who were in Durban recently made the same, pertinent point: yes darker skin rarely burns, but it does deeply pigment.
These skin types don’t turn notorious tomato red after too much sunshine, but over time, develop unsightly dark patches known as pigmentation.
Perhaps this is what has fuelled the snake-oil skin-lightening industry.
There are indeed those who aspire to look snow white, but there are surely others who fall prey to skin-lightening gimmick products out of a desire to cure uneven, hyper-pigmented skin.
Danne Montague King, whose brand, TransGenesis, has been on sale in South Africa, said even at the top end, people with darker skin were using products that would hurt rather than heal their skin because it simply was not made for them.
“I’m astonished at how many European brands designed for European skin are commercially successful in South Africa where the vast majority of people are not European.
“South Africans need to wake up to the fact that products formulated for skin unlike their own will not yield the same results.”
King said the same principle applied to popular treatments at spas and clinics such as peels, dermabrasion and resurfacing as the chemicals used are most often those formulated for European skin.
Harley Street store owners Shashi Gossain and Dr Jag Gossain, whose Pharmaclinix range is also available in South Africa and designed for ethnic skin, agreed on this point.
“Addressing hyper-pigmentation is complex, especially because of the negative image of lightening, created by the skin-whitening industry. We know that those with darker skin suffer dark patches and unevenness and desperately seek products that will lighten the marks and even out their skin tone. We’re not talking about changing your skin colour, but restoring it. To the consumer, this can be baffling.”
King adds, “In the old days unscrupulous pharmacies would load creams with bleach. Today, it is a more sophisticated disguise, often containing chemicals such as hydroquinone, which is not advisable for darker skin tones.
“Consumers need to forget unnatural lightening as they’ll likely end up with damaged skin and liver problems down the line.
“To correct their skin tone, they’re better off seeking out products made for their skin type by reputable companies.
“It’s true, black don’t crack – black skin benefits from rapid collagen proliferation – but it’s as, if not more, prone to damage from the sun. That rapid proliferation is the reason why ethnic skin looks younger than it is and the same reason why ethnic skin is prone to keloids – its natural defence mechanism after lacerations, burning and picking – and to pigmentation.”
Dr Jag’s advice…
* Your skin is your first organ to get dehydrated. So drink plenty of water. Most skin ageing is based on the skin losing the ability to keep water.
l Avoid smoking.
* Know that certain medication such as the pill or HRT may also cause pigmentation.
* Use topical vitamins on the skin. Newly developed products carry vitamin A, E, B3 and C successfully to the skin. But be wary of over-the-counter products which may claim to contain vitamins but have such small amounts of that they may not be beneficial.
* Avoid too many carbohydrates. The sugar they contain is ageing. (This is why diabetics age quickly.)
* Peels work but be aware of what is being used. Some peels are just not for darker skin.
The Mercury