Five reasons why you should avoid bleaching your skin

1. Melanin is a complex polymer derived from the amino acid tyrosine and is responsible for determining skin and hair colour, depending on the concentration present. So the more melanin you have, the darker you will be.
Most skin-lightening treatments, which can reduce or block some amount of melanin production, are aimed at inhibiting it. Many treatments use a combination of topical lotions or gels containing melanin-inhibiting ingredients along with a sunscreen, and a prescription retinoid. There are a variety of chemicals used and they work in different ways but the most common ones as pointed out by Wikipedia.com fall into two classes those that inhibit melanin production and those that work in post-melanin synthesis.

2. KOJIC ACID is a by-product in the fermentation process of malting rice for use in the manufacturing of sake. Some research shows kojic acid to be effective for inhibiting melanin production, but it is an unstable ingredient in cosmetic formulations with Negative side effect: controversial research has suggested that kojic acid may have carcinogenic properties in large doses. Other further studies show that kojic acid is not carcinogenic, but can cause allergic contact dermatitis and skin irritation.

3. MERCURY- Many skin whiteners contain toxic mercury such as mercury (II) chloride or ammoniated mercury as the active ingredient. Negative side effect: Accumulates new skin and it can have the opposite results in the long term. Some studies suggest that long-term use could cause systemic absorption that leads to tissue accumulation of the substance. It was banned in Europe (1976) and in the USA (1990) for purpose of skin whitening.


4. TRETINOIN (also known as all-trans retinoic acid) is used mainly for skin discolorations. Negative side effect: Users of tretinoin have to avoid sunlight, as using tretinoin makes the skin more sensitive to UVA and UVB rays always and can have the opposite effect of darkening skin

5. HYDROQUINONE is a strong inhibitor of melanin production, meaning that it prevents dark skin from making the substance responsible for skin colour. Negative side effect: It has been banned in some countries (e.g. France) because of fears of a cancer risk. Hydroquinone has been shown to cause leukaemia in mice and other animals.