The Truth About Brightening Your Skin With Hydroquinone
The Truth About Brightening Your Skin With Hydroquinone
Why the most effective skin brightening agent on the market isn't as safe as you think.
Hydroquinone is one of the most effective skin brightening agents in skincare. However, it’s scientifically proven to have negative side effects. Are the Hydroquinone dangers worth risking your health?
Snow White set the bar high when it comes to fair skin. Many women want overall brighter complexions, and they’re enlisting the help of cosmetics marketed towards brightening dull skin and lightening dark spots.
Skin brightening is so popular and in demand that it’s become its own industry with Asian countries accounting for more than half of sales.
From a cultural perspective, Asian women with lighter skin are perceived as being more attractive. This beauty standard is referred to as the “Eurasian” or “Pan-Asian” look, and it comes with its privileges: marriage, employment, status and income.
Future Markets Insight conducted a 10-year analysis report on the skin lightening products market in Asian countries, including China, Japan, Korea, and more. Globally, the skin brightening products industry is worth about $13 billion. Asian countries make up more than half that market at $7 billion with China accounting for 40% of sales.
It’s no surprise that many of these products contain one of the most common skin brightening ingredients on the market: Hydroquinone. However, this beauty ingredient comes with a price—consumers may pay with their own health.
What is Hydroquinone?
Hydroquinone is a skin lightening agent frequently used in skin brightening spot treatments and face creams. It’s been long established as the most effective ingredient for lightening skin, fading uneven skin tone, and improving dark spots.
How does hydroquinone work? Hydroquinone bleaches the skin and, therefore, alters the skin tone.
Your skin tone is determined by the amount of melanocytes present in the skin. Melanocytes are skin cells that create melanin, a dark brown or black pigment. Melanin is also responsible for making skin appear tanned or darker when exposed to sunlight. Melanin is beautiful, but Hydroquinone disagrees.
If bleaching your skin doesn’t sound safe to you, you’re right. It’s not safe or healthy. Yes, it works for its desired purposes, but it’s not good for your skin or body.
Despite its popularity and effectiveness, hydroquinone use is controversial for health and safety reasons.
Hydroquinone Dangers: Why Hydroquinone Gets an F Safety Rating
The FDA declared that skin-bleaching Hydroquinone was a safe cosmetic ingredient in 1982. Since then, it’s been used in thousands of skincare products, and women have been none the wiser of its serious health consequences.
While the FDA may give its stamp of approval, The Good Face Project does not. We give this toxic ingredient an F safety rating.
Since a skincare product is only as good as its worst offender, any cosmetic product containing Hydroquinone also gets an F safety rating. We strongly caution you to avoid Hydroquinone and any products that contain it.
Hydroquinone dangers include:
- Hydroquinone is carcinogenic and mutagenic.
- It’s toxic to various organ systems.
- Exposure to Hydroquinone worsens symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
- Long-term use can result in a skin disorder called exogenous ochronosis.
- Hydroquinone can cause allergic reaction and irritation to skin.
The Global Hydroquinone Controversy
Asia isn’t the only place where the skin brightening industry is profiting off the backs of people who want to improve their social status.
There is a similar trend growing in South Africa where darker-skinned women enlist the help of cosmetics to lighten their skin tone. According to a 2014 report, as many as one in three South African women relied on these products.
In this region, lighter skin tone is believed to improve job prospects, social status, and more. This is likely due to the deep history of racism and colonialism in South Africa.
Despite its popularity among the South African population, many of these products are now banned due to the presence of Hydroquinone. The South African government is aware of the serious health effects—irreparable skin damage, suppression of melanin, promoting skin burns and cancer, etc.—and has taken action to protect citizens by strictly regulating Hydroquinone.
Hydroquinone has also been banned in Australia, Japan, and the European Union because of the risks it poses to human health.
What to Use for Skin Brightening Instead of Hydroquinone
While Hydroquinone is the most popular and arguably the most effective skin brightening agent, it’s not worth the risk to your health. There are several safe alternatives to Hydroquinone that can be used long-term and in a variety of skincare products.
Natural skin brightening ingredients include:
- Mulberry extract
- Bearberry extract
- Madder extract
- Vitamin C
- Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)
- Licorice extract
Safe skin brightening skincare products
Herbivore Botanicals
Organic Brighten Pineapple + Gemstone Mask
Check Price
Goldfaden M.D.
Brightening Elixir
Check Price
Derma-E
Even Tone Brightening Day Cream, SPF 15
Check Price
Juice Beauty
Green Apple Brightening Eye Cream
Check Price
Safe skin brightening skincare products include:
The Bottom Line
Hydroquinone has long been the standard in skin brightening products, but there are many safe choices on the market now. It’s time for the U.S. and other countries to follow the leads of South Africa, Japan, Australia, and the European Union and ban skin-bleaching ingredients like Hydroquinone.
Your skin is beautiful. Melanin is beautiful. There’s nothing wrong with amplifying your natural beauty, but no need to drastically change your skin tone.
When there are so many safe alternatives, there’s no need to rely on Hydroquinone to make your complexion instantly glowy and brighter.
While it’s still controversial and many brands still choose to include hydroquinone in their formulations, The Good Face Project must give all products containing Hydroquinone an F safety rating due to the scientific evidence warning against it.
Want to know if your favorite brightening products make the cut? Search for them in the Safe Beauty Index or email us at team@thegoodfaceproject.com to find out.
Sources:
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18027166
[2] https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/703041/HYDROQUINONE/#
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29908986