The latest buzzwords in skincare are ‘lightening’, ‘brightening’, ‘radiance’, ‘clarity’ and ‘illumination’. The new target? Not wrinkles, sagging or acne, but pigmentation, dark spots and uneven skin tone. It’s saying something that we now expect over-the-counter skincare to solve what used to be dermatological problems. We once expected improvement, now we want transformation.
It all started in the mid-1980s, when dermatologist Albert Kligman from the University of Pennsylvania – the man credited with coining the term ‘cosmeceuticals’ – proved the skin benefits of topically applied retinoic acid. I know this because I interviewed him on several occasions. He discovered that while treating his patients for acne, a tiny percentage of tretinoin (the acid form of Retin-A), applied daily in a cream, improved fine facial wrinkling – and this groundbreaking happy accident sent all the big cosmetic companies scuttling back to the labs in pursuit of their own anti-ageing solution.
The future is now
Fast-forward 20 years and cosmetic companies have poured millions into the research and development of creams that do more than just moisturise. Leaning towards the medical profession, they have produced ranges based on research into stem cells, genetics, fruit acids, wound-healing peptides, antioxidants, drug delivery systems and more. Huge advances have been made in the anti-ageing category of our lotions and potions, but these are tempered by rules about what can be safely sold over the counter. Cue Clinique’s brilliant speckled eggshell campaign for a product that promises just the perfection we are looking for in 1.7oz jar: Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector. ‘Frankly, I think those Clinique ads started it all,’ says Marcia Kilgore, the brains behind first spa and cosmetics business Bliss and now bath and body range Soap & Glory – and a relentless pioneer of the latest skincare ingredients. ‘Anti-pigment creams have always been around,’ she says, ‘but not hammered into our psyches in such a continuous way.’
The face tells a story
Sufferers previously prescribed hardcore chemicals such as hydroquinone – a known skin irritant that is the subject of an ongoing debate about its toxicity – and who are nervous of the more invasive dermatological procedures, such as lasers and peels, may well be attracted to a gentler over-the-counter promise. But assuming these new products contain ingredients that really work hard enough to correct and even out skin tone, why are we suddenly being made to feel it matters so much?
Didn’t we used to find a dappled cheek or freckled nose charming? Perhaps pigmentation and the growing fascination with even-toned skin can partly be explained by our ageing population. People aged 50 and over now constitute 29 per cent of the UK population. Ageing skin reflects the natural passage of time, but also the environmental assaults, pollution, scarring and, most important, years of accumulated sun damage it has been subjected to.
The children of the 1970s and 1980s – for whom unprotected sunbathing was never seen as harmful – are just now seeing the effects of UVA rays, with the skin cell damage that has taken 20 or more years to surface. As dermatologists and beauty editors have been saying for many years, ultraviolet radiation, if unaddressed, produces immune suppression and DNA damage, which presents in appearance as photoageing, brown spots, pigment irregularity, wrinkling, loss of elasticity and, at worst, potentially dangerous skin cancers.
But race, along with age, is also a driving factor in our universal desire to lighten up. ‘In darker skin types, irregularity of pigmentation becomes the major marker for ageing (think Japanese and Asian) rather than wrinkles (think Celtic, European American),’ says Dr Andrew Markey, dermatological surgeon and laser specialist at the Lister Hospital, with an A-list roster of patients eager to be perfected. It’s also true that Middle Eastern and Asian consumers are more prone to hereditary dark circles than their Caucasian counterparts – and, as Psychologies’ beauty director can attest, ‘there’s not a cream on the market that can significantly lighten the inherited circles that run on my mother’s side. One of my aunts has tried them all – and nothing has produced a noticeable improvement.’
The race to lighten up
Dark circles are one thing – but the reality is that even in cultures where skin is dark, it has always been seen as more desirable, and socially superior, to be pale. And if Coco Chanel had not come along in the 1920s and introduced the Europeans to sunbathing, Victorian pallor might still be considered the acme of beauty, as it is all over the Far East. ‘In the 1800s,’ says Kilgore, ‘if your skin was white, you were considered superior because you didn’t have to spend time outside working – your skin informed others that you were more likely to be inside, say, practising the piano.’
‘In India, the caste thing is still of huge importance,’ says Psychologies advice columnist Lucy Beresford, who recently spent time working in Delhi. ‘Pale skin equals wealth, and there is any number of products in every chemist to help lighten skin.’ My own experience in China and Japan endorses this – it does appear that shelves are beginning to groan with ‘whitening’ ranges, as every big cosmetic group focuses on this vast and growing market.
With the ubiquity of these products now staring us in the collective face, perhaps it’s time to ask if the dark shadows are not, in fact, in our skins, but in our minds – and we are grasping at anything we can to erase them. ‘My sense, as a psychotherapist,’ says Beresford, ‘is that this is an issue that’s speaking both to men and women, and is incredibly potent. Patients of any age notice the signs of ageing. The more you have ageing role models who do look great, the more you are going to have people who worry that they don’t measure up. This applies to everyone, from people in their thirties and forties and over. It’s something about the human desire not just to stay young – but not to be closer to death.’
Escape the shadows
But given that the cosmetics industry is built upon staving off the natural course of time, it’s easy to see why the concerns of an ageing population have led to consumers driving the ‘brightening’ agenda as aggressively as the cosmetics companies are marketing their latest solutions. ‘Lighten’ is no longer just a buzzword, it’s a mood, a wish, a desire that identifies what beauty is all about.
‘Facial age and health perception is really about emphasising the light (soft, even, full) and minimising the shadow (harsh, dark, empty),’ says Markey. ‘And in any skin type, the evenness of the light reflecting off the skin is critical – sallow, rough, pigmented, blotchy skin just doesn’t give the light reflex that suggests youth and health.’
Sarah Chapman, a beautician with a formidable reputation for her transformational facials, uses tailormade massage techniques, machines (an LED optimised light therapy system to increase cell energy and collagen production) as well as products full of known antioxidant and active ingredients. Her new Skin Tone Perfecting Booster includes plant extracts such as Gigawhite (all of which have been tried and tested clinically to show results) and combinations of kojic acid, mandelic acid and vitamin C that have an inhibitory effect on pigment. Her formulation choice echoes that of several new serums, moisturisers and masks launching this year.
Skin creams may be making some serious claims, but cynics should be assured that new formulas do perform – albeit not for 30 days or so and, even then, improvements may only be subtle. All these companies are using ingredients that have historically been effective in many ‘lightening’ formulas, but there is scant robust data to support sweeping claims. That may simply be because clinical trials cost huge sums of money – which is why Procter & Gamble’s Olay Professional is interesting. On top of its massive research into the human genome, which has enabled the company to identify the genes involved in ageing, as well as which ingredients (including niacinamide and retinyl propionate) can offer maximum benefit to ageing skin – Procter & Gamble has also conducted a sizeable clinical trial of this range against a reputable dermatological product with impressive results.
But the answer may not lie in the latest dermatological approaches, either. Though skin experts know that all grades of exfoliation – from at-home scrubs and peels to dermatologist laser resurfacing or microdermabrasion – demand an SPF chaser, consumers are not always so vigilant. And so it is that the heavy guns – lasers, peels, and creams – that provide an alternative way to lighten the complexion can cause their own problems, too.
‘In my clinic, I am seeing many more people with pigment issues, from skin trauma, hormones, UV exposure, overuse of AHAs and IPL,’ says Chapman. ‘We have to be careful when using lasers to treat pigmented skin,’ says Markey. ‘You need to deliver enough energy to produce the desired treatment outcome without triggering the post-injury pigmentation. Clinical judgement and test patches are helpful, but it still happens to the best of us. Selecting wavelengths of laser that do not interact with pigment (such as infrared wavelengths in the YAG laser) is inherently safer on skin of colour.’
Make friends with make-up
For those of us who feel that the above kinds of treatment are a bit extreme, there is now a huge range of great light-diffusing make-up available. Iridescent powders and translucent finishes give a satisfying and instant boost, while acting as a cover-up at the same time. And if you’re one of those people whose skin tone is a continual source of concern, a professional make-up lesson may well be a better investment than an expensive cream or procedure. My latest discovery is Lancôme Rénergie Yeux Multiple Lift, an excellent light-diffusing eye cream with separate concealer all in one jar. This two-step approach is also employed by Bobbi Brown with her Creamy Concealer Kit – the rich pigment is great, and the yellow tones particularly good for Asian and Middle-Eastern consumers, who are more prone to hereditary dark circles.
But back to those children of the Seventies and Eighties. All the creams in the world may soften the sun’s blow, but they can’t alter the knowledge that simply staying out of the sun is the only tried-and-tested route to preventing pigment irregularities. If you’re reading now, take comfort in this new breed of smart solutions. And if you’re another generation entirely – or mother to one – it’s heartening to know that inhabiting the shadows is the best place to be – for the bright future of your skin.
Kathy Phillips is an international beauty director and founder of skincare line This Works
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