Colorism is driving women of color to use harmful skin lightening products, says new study

Skin lightening, also called whitening or bleaching, is a multibillion-dollar industry with products that can damage the skin and that, researchers say, promote a dangerous message about beauty and social value. But people who use these products — primarily marketed to women — seldom understand the health risks of using the over-the-counter chemicals, Northwestern University researchers found in a study recently published in the International Journal of Women’s Dermatology. 

The researchers surveyed hundreds of people, a majority of them Black women. Many of the respondents reported using skin lightening products, with a portion admitting that they didn’t know the products contained harmful ingredients like hydroquinone, which can cause skin rashes, swelling, discoloration and more.

“The vast majority of times, skin lightening is really used with the goal of treating a medical dermatological disease or post-inflammatory hyperpigmentations,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Roopal Kundu, founder and director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Ethnic Skin and Hair. “But sometimes it is used in the space of wanting lighter skin and the constructs of beauty compounded by light and dark skin.” 

Respondents who used skin lighteners reported experiencing colorism in their lives. Colorism, or color bias, is a system of inequality in which lighter skin on nonwhite people is considered more beautiful, socially acceptable and deserving of privileges often denied to people with darker skin. Black men with light skin are perceived to have more education than those with dark skin, and skin tone plays a role when job applicants with dark skin compete with light-skinned applicants. 

Because whiteness is linked to social value and upward mobility, people are often willing to take great risks to obtain lighter skin. The skin lightening industry has faced criticism for years, especially as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned consumers as recently as last year about the dangers of illegally marketed, over-the-counter lightening products. These products often contain toxic ingredients and can cause permanent damage if used for long periods of time, Kundu said. Still, these ingredients remain widely available in products sold in stores, online and through social media. 

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