Beastly: Bizarre Treatments To Get Fair Skin

We all know about India’s preference for fair skin. It starts with women eating specific foods while pregnant so that they’ll have a fair child, to a mother doing everything possible to protect her child from a sun tan to adults (including men) doing everything in their power to become fairer. It is also a fact that fair skinned women are paid extra to be surrogates – turns out that if fair skinned women are likely to be paid the equivalent of £1,000 extra to be surrogatesaccording to one report.

Even our celebs are no exempt from this pressure to be fair – Bipasha Basu’s skin is routinely made to look lighter toned than it is with the help of makeup, lighting and photo editing. Recently there reports (unsubstantiated of course but you be  the judge) of Kajol – the original dusky Bollywood beauty – having undergone some type of melanin surgery to look fairer. Over time some truly bizarre fairness treatments have come into being – lets familiarize ourselves with them ..shall we.

 1. Vitiligo – Extreme Skin Whitening Procedure

Person Affected By Vitiligo 

Micheal Jackson Is Rumored To Have Undergone Vitiligo Treatment For Skin Lightening 

Vitiligo is a skin condition that causes depigmentaion of skin – in other words it causes the skin to lose its colouring pigment and hence become white. People who have this condition try and even out their skin tone by using a topical cream containing monobenzone so that the skin looks more evenly coloured. Sometimes a treatment made from Mequinol may also be used. However, alarmingly, people without the affliction also choose to use creams containing monobenzone and mequinol, just to try and get lighter skin. In their  extreme desire to appear lighter skinned, people try and induce Vitiligo. How bizarre! Most famously, it was Michael Jackson who had Vitiligo – it is still a matter of speculation whether this was a deliberately induced condition or whether it occurred naturally.

2. Cryosurgery for Lighter Skin

Cryosurgery used for skin cancer patients involves  freezing off targeted body cells using liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide and even argon.  Even without a degree in chemistry this sounds like some serious chemicals to put on your face.  Typically this treatment is used to destroy abnormal or diseased tissues of the body, but those desperate for fairer skin will try anything and doctors are happy to take your money and make your fair dreams come true. Treatment providers hold out that this treatment causes melanin to come to the surface of the skin and to peel off in some days; causing the skin to regenerate itself. Again reminder:This extreme surgery was originally used for the treatment of skin cancer lesions.

Can this mania to get lighter skin get any more bizarre !!? 

 

2. Vampire Facials – Another Bizarre skin treatment

Yes you read right – vampire facials – which reinjects human blood to the patoents face. International celebrities such as Kim Kardashian are known to have had this treatment which is supposed to give the skin a plump, youthful glow. Giselle Bundchen, supermodel known globally for her perfect skin has also undergone the vampire facial as evidenced in this photo. This procedure requires blood to be extracted from and then injected into the same person wanting the facial.

So if you want to look like this guy sign up for the vampire facial right away.

 

While there as yet no 100% claims that this procedure will help give fairer skin, we don’t know when one more treatment will get added to the fairness band-wagon. 

3. Chemical Peels 

So how does inflicting second degree burns to your face and body sound just so that you can get fairer skin? Sounds bizarre!!? We thought so to but that’s exactly what tens and thousands of people are walking into dermatology clinics for every day. These treatments are not cheap and one is typically advised several chemical peels to get the desired effect. Or shall we say the right light for you!

With benign sounding names like “pumpkin peel” they distract you from questioning how much acid there is in the mix which will be absorbed by your skin to make it burn and then peel off! General rule of thumb I think is the more desperate for fair skin the greater the concentration of acid. How Bizarre ! !

 

4. OrdinaryFairness Creams: Can be Used for Face Hands Or Vagina…!

Common inexpensive  fairness creams like the humble brand fair and lovely or the upstart brand Garnier mainly have bleach agents in them. Continuous application results in mild skin lightening but long term use can cause premature aging, dryness and wrinkling of skin. But don’t worry once you have damaged your skin by these miracle creams they have a treatment for that too … yeah you guessed it right. Botox!

 One must appreciate doctors and phrama companies for keeping all our needs in mind and the marketing and advertising agencies feeding this crazy fairness frenzy. Bizarre world we live in folks!!! 

We won’t be surprised if John Abraham looses the prestigious Garnier fairness cream contract to Kajol. Watch out! 

And no I am not joking about the one for you down there – It’s available at your local chemist.