Whitening Creams

This could possibly be the absolute wrong place to ask this kind of question, but for those who have tried the whitening creams, which ones do you think work the best?

My cousin used Shiseido a few years back and said that it had failed miserably (even though it was extremely expensive) and right now I’m trying out L’Oreal. Anyway, for ANYONE who uses the creams and has advice, please let me know.

Also, which sunblock works best? I’ve been looking at the L’Oreal UV Expert… there’s just so many choices that I only choose based off what I see in commercials and magazine ads (which is probably not a good idea).

Why do you want to be white? Don’t buy into that beauty myth - women of all colours and skin tones are beautiful. As for sunblock, I always buy the waterproof gunk that stays on for hours - probably not what you’re looking for…

This from a man who went on the Atkin’s diet. Don’t be so condescending!
She’s smart enough to know what she wants and she is only asking for product suggestions.

This from a man who went on the Atkin’s diet.[/quote]
I’ll have you know that I cheated on that damn diet on the third day, and dropped it before the end of a week. Never again! :braveheart:

In Thailand the women usually take special baths in a Bleach/water mixture that supposedly greatly lightens your skin tones. But sadly, I think that this method could have serious drawbacks and/or side-effects.

Hahaha, no I’m just getting too dark here, I’m trying to protect my natural skin color instead of coming back as a panda bear (cuz I wear my sunglasses everywhere too)… HAHAHA…

I’m on a semi atkins diet. Just eat less of the carbs, but also eat what you like. If you don’t eat what you crave, then you’ll end up trying to make up for it by eating a lot of that lo-fat junk that won’t help anything but add up and put on the pounds. Exercise and stay healthy!!!

Eeeep!!! Bleaching sounds really dangerous!!! Anyway -_-;; still looking for product suggestions! Thanks!!!

Getting too dark? You’re from the states, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you be working on your tan while you’re out here, so you can make everyone jealous of your tropical vacation when you return?

From Poagao’s News from the Renegade Province:

[quote]
Taipei woman achieves pure whiteness

TAIPEI
23-year-old Chen Yi-zhen reached her life-long goal of pure whiteness on Friday, according not only to news sources but also the national meteorological service, which spotted Chen on its satellite scan of the island late last night.

Roughly 80% of women in Taipei have a similar goal, and spend billions each year in pursuit of whitening their skin in order to seem more attractive, but Chen is the first to actually achieve pure, unadulterated whiteness. Her co-workers were both dismayed and surprised to discover the beams of pure whiteness coming from her cubicle.

I too need a really good sunscreen. I haven’t read up about the topic at all and really should. A long time ago I was using Natura Bisse. They have a SPF 30 combo sunblock and moisturisier. It was $50 a bottle. Not sure if that’s too much for you or not. I really liked the feeling of it, not greasy at all.

I’m a guy so I haven’t looked into skin care as much as some other people but definitely plan to.

This article I just found out about it really interesting.

Why is the Most Effective Sunscreen Illegal?
abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Livi … 528-1.html

“Mexoryl is over two times better than any other combination of ingredients that currently exist, in terms of protecting from ultraviolet A radiation,”

It’s in the US but it seems definitely available where you’re at. If I get to Taiwan, I’ll be sure to look for it.

Your L’Oreal UV Expert might already have Mexoryl. I’ll read up more about the subject sometime. Maybe there are other ingredients as well. But Mexoryl seems to be it. Maybe the best thing to do is to find the sunscreen with the greatest concentration of Mexoryl.

If you find anything out, please let me know.

Gary

I started looking into sunscreens. There are a lot of companies that make products with Mexoryl.

So far, Bioderma Photoderm MAX Creme SPF 100 is the only SPF 100 product I’ve found. I’m all for the greatest possible SPF. The few comments I’ve read said it’s a bit greasy so it might not be good for greasy or mixed skin.

This is a comparison page with user comments. But it’s in French.

beaute-test.com/protections_.php

Here are some translated comments. I list the ones that seem good so far. I’m translating the names so I’m not sure how they are exactly in English.

Li

Haha, yes I am from the states, but I’m dark all year round… I don’t want to be DARKER… and anyway, I’d rather protect my skin… maybe its my weird Taiwanese mentality about having fairer skin. Anyway, for me, when I’m my winter color, I tend to break out less…

Whoa… I actually thought that spf 30 was the best you could go with any sunscreen because the higher spfs don’t actually protect any more than spf 30 (or was it even less than spf 30?) I read somewhere that its useless getting into spf’s higher than 30. Anyway, I guess I will check out Watson’s tomorrow for a look into the L’Oreal brand stuff. I think sunblock here is way to expensive!!! The bottles are tiny too. I prefer just getting sunblock in the states. (That reminds me… I know someone who is supposed to give me several bottles of sunblock… OH! Has anyone tried out the Avon skin so soft sunblock and bug repellent? It looks good!)

Er, back to whitening creams. Has anyone tried SK-II. There’s some sort of big obsession with SK-II here… and I’m not sure if SK-II is better than any of the other generic brands (L’Oreal, Garnier, Ponds, etc)

Do not try to buy it on a Europe holiday - everyone there wants to be black (brown)

SK2 is the most expensive of the ‘whiteners’ and therefore (by Taiwanese women’s logic) the most effective.

Brian

Don’t know how good a sunscreen it is but when I spent summers in the Yukon we all used Avon skin so soft to keep away the mosquitoes. Very effective and oh so manly.

skin so soft is standard issue in the Marine corps. it keeps sand fleas and other buggers away.

it also gives you that fresh smell that says’take off your clothes and get in a pile so I can photograph you"

I hear that about higher SPFs also. But I haven’t heard any good reason why. I hear the FDA is going thru approval though of SPF30+ sunscreens in the US.

You could get sunscreen in the US but it will be far less effective since Mexoryl isn’t yet approved.

I was talking to someone at Sephora and she was saying pommegranite increases your natural sun protection. They only had one company that sells supplements but so it may be a new thing.

Gary

So I found out SPF ratings are only an indication of UVB protection against skin reddening. The effects of UVA have been difficult understand or to protect against until recently.

“Although less likely than UVB to cause sunburn, UVA penetrates the skin more deeply, and is considered the chief culprit behind wrinkling, leathering, and other aspects of “photoaging.” The latest studies show that UVA not only increases UVB 's cancer-causing effects, but may directly cause some skin cancers, including melanomas.”

There is no standard rating for UVA protection. The number only refers to UVB reddening.

There are many new UVA protectants but mexoryl is 2 times more effective than anything else out there… I’m not sure though about the rankings of ingredients. Mexoryl “produces a product which gives us almost perfect protection against sunshine, or at least as good as we can get at this time.”

i’ve always used Clinique and I wear number 30 on my face year round. They sell huge tubes of SPF 30 specifically for the face. a little goes a long way, too.

when i was in canada i bought Ombrelle… can’t find it here though.

[quote=“gary”]I hear that about higher SPFs also. But I haven’t heard any good reason why. I hear the FDA is going through approval though of SPF30+ sunscreens in the US.

You could get sunscreen in the US but it will be far less effective since Mexoryl isn’t yet approved. [/quote]
What’s all this nonsense about “far less effective”? Once you reach a certain level of protection, more is just silliness and one-upsmanship. “Yes, but my sunblock goes to 11.”

SPF 45 is available in the U.S. All it means is that it has more TiO2 in it than the SPF30. Doesn’t do ANYTHING more to protect you, since you can get staked out naked on an anthill in Death Valley on the Summer Solstice, smeared with SPF30, for sixteen hours and end up with nothing more than a bit of dehydration and a bunch of ant bites.

If you’re doing a lot of arc-welding, or working with UV lasers, then get something with more protection (or just wear a leather duster and hood). Otherwise don’t bother.

BTW, avoid the stuff with the “nanoparticle” TiO2 – they’re not sure of the effects of it, but it seems to get into the body more than the regular stuff. Besides, it doesn’t protect any better and it costs more. Just more cosmetics-industry marketing bullshit. . . .

Glad to hear it. If that’s you in the avatar, you don’t need any ‘improvement’. I’ve never met a girl who did.