Although these are three very different ways to treat your skin, the one similarity all have is they are not permanent solutions. Therefore, they require your dedication and constant maintenance.
Regardless though each serves a different a purpose:
Skin brightening gives your skin a natural glow and rejuvenates it.
Skin lightening repairs your dark spots and hyperpigmentation and brings upon an even skin tone.
Whitening your skin means reducing melanin/bleaching your skin beyond its natural skin tone.
Difference Between Skin Brightening Lightening Whitening
Of course, we all strive to have perfect glowing skin, and sometimes doing whatever it takes to acquire it- is your mentality, whether right or wrong.
The main goal of skin brightening is to increase radiance and glow of skin.
Skin lightening, on the other hand, is aimed at reducing dark pigmentation and lightening the skin tone.
Whereas, skin whitening is usually associated with more aggressive techniques to bleach and whiten the skin, to achieve a skin tone lighter than the one you were born with.
Let’s take a closer look at these three completely different ways you can treat your skin.
What is skin brightening?
Skin brightening restores the natural glow of your skin by removing dull and dead skin cells from the surface. Brightening the skin is an essential part of most people’s daily skincare routine as it not only rejuvenates your natural skin tone but also cleanses it.
Skin brightening products help get rid of old dull skin cells to reveal radiant, glowing fresh look. In addition, most brighteners also contain anti-ageing ingredients such as retinol.
Skin brightening is perfectly safe as long as you read the ingredients carefully. Some companies try to uphold the integrity of what this product was formulated to do, which is uncovering your natural skin tone and radiating your skin. While other brands, on the other hand, add dangerous and foreign ingredients that have the capability of damaging your skin in the long run. Choosing a brightener that contains vitamin C, retinol, alpha and beta hydroxy acids are very safe choices.
Making skin brightening part of your daily skincare routine will ensure the changes become more effective. On the other hand, if you stop using your brightener, your skin may not dull out in one day but it will begin to lose nutrients and overtime loses its natural radiance.
What is skin lightening?
Contrary to what others might say, skin lightening serves an amazing purpose for your skin. For those that have hyperpigmentation and dark spots on their face; it may be important to use a skin lightener, because it’ll restore your uneven skin tone and lighten it.
The goal of skin lightening is not to bleach your skin, but to fade out unwanted blemishes and dark spots.
The goal of lightening your skin is to remove dark spots by reducing melanin in your skin, not to bleach in any way. Lightening crèmes are safe to use as long as the right ingredients are present. In fact, people with even skin tone use lightening crèmes to prevent future hyperpigmentation. Since it’s easier to prevent it than to correct once it’s embedded in your skin.
These crèmes can either be prescribed by a dermatologist or can be purchased over the counter. Safe ingredients found in common lightening crème’s are arbutin, retinol and Vitamin C.
Skin lightening isn’t limited to only crèmes, there’s also an array of natural products that you can source and apply to problem areas as you see fit. Some of these ingredients are lemon, mulberry and aloe vera.
Skin lightening is not permanent and requires constant maintenance. Acne, blemishes resulting in dark spots and sun damage are an occurrence that’ll keep happening to your skin. Some dark spots caused by pimples, can be completely lightened and will not return.
Not keeping up with your skin lightening regime will leave your skin discolored and uneven. On that note using an effective skin brightening serum on your even skin will help you avoid pigmentation before it starts.
What is skin whitening?
Also known as skin bleaching, skin whitening is a treatment that will chemically give you a lighter skin tone. With the use of these chemicals, you’ll dramatically lighten your skin beyond its natural tone.
You can also whiten your skin with bleaching crèmes intended to have similar results as chemically bleaching with a treatment. However, you have to be careful with them, because they may contain dangerous chemicals that can harm your skin forever. Prescription medications, IVs, chemical peels, dermabrasion and other skin lightening surgeries are popular to whiten skin tone drastically.
Chemically whitening your skin whether through a procedure or with crème may be very dangerous. The potential side effects can be risky as it may involve poisoning your skin with active ingredients such as mercury. You can understand why the topic of skin whitening is highly controversial.
There are many side effects of skin whitening and recovery takes time. Laser whitening may cause bruising and swelling, skin dryness, redness, extra sensitivity to sunlight, skin infections and scarring. Consult a specialist before undergoing a skin whitening procedure.
Whitening your skin isn’t a permanent solution. The crèmes that do work will give you the results you seek. Likewise, when you stop applying these crèmes, it’ll only take a few weeks before the results start vanishing.
