by Dr. Ying-Chin Wu

The early perception is that fair skin can disguise all kinds of imperfection appearance, and now it is not just about whitening, but also immediate result. People seek for whitening injection in the medical beauty clinic for instant skin-whitening, and now there are more skincare products on the market featuring speedy result. But is it really effective? This question deserves thoughtful consideration. When using the wrong whitening products, the skin turns thinner and causes permanent damage, which is not worth the loss. If you wish your skin to be brightened right away without feeling overwhelmed by advertising schemes, you should first understand what makes skin tanned and learn about whitening ingredients.

The skin is the largest organ of the human body. It is surrounded by different forms of ultraviolet every day, whether it’s indoors or outdoors. Especially under intense UV irradiation condition, the body generates free radicals. These free radicals are the culprit of skin aging and attack collagen in the skin and dermal cells. Under long-term exposure, as a protective mechanism, the skin begins to generate black enzyme-tyrosine and produce melanin to absorb external ultraviolet in order to protect the skin from damage. When a certain amount of melanin is accumulated for a period of time then transmitted to keratinocytes, it will form spots as we often see on our face. So, how most whitening products work is mainly by inhibiting the production of tyrosine, reducing the production of melanin, even when melanin has been produced, they would prevent it from being transmitted to stratum corneum to stop the formation of dark spots.

Among the 13 whitening ingredients approved by the Department of Health, they can be divided into two major categories. Vitamin C derivatives and acids are used for fast and immediate results. Many whitening products on the market contain acid ingredients and after using the product for a period of time, the skin would become more sensitive. What’s more, these products are not recommended for day time routine. Without proper sun protection, it will increase the chance of pigmentation and achieve the opposite of whitening effect. Therefore, whitening regime shouldn’t be a fast process. The effectiveness of whitening should be assessed through the 28-day metabolic cycle of the skin, and the overall formulation and ingredients should be considered as reference for a safer whitening process.

In addition to the whitening ingredients approved by the Department of Health, combination of effective antioxidants also contributes to whitening result, such as glutathione, the most common ingredient used in whitening caplets and medical whitening injections. Whitening injections can deliver fast results, but the injected glutathione is easily exported through body's metabolic cycle and cannot maintain long-lasting results. Glutathione is one of the strongest antioxidant enzymes in the human body, it is a tripeptide that consists of glutamic acid, cysteine and glycine and can help healthy cells resist the destruction of free radicals and achieve both anti-aging and reduce melanin production. Glutathione is also an important auxiliary component of metabolism in the body, but its quantity decreases with age and other factors such as lifestyle and diet. However, this great whitening synergy has been difficult to apply to skin care products due to its instability. How to implement innovative technology to apply this effective whitening synergy into skincare products and allow whitening skincare product to be more effective and long-lasting is the answer we’ve been searching for.

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