I t seems like there’s cause for celebration as the news is that Gen Z has moved away from fairness products. Glowing and radiant skin has apparently triumphed over lighter skin. The sales of skin-whitening cosmetics have dipped by hold your breath three per cent. Have the campaigns against whitening creams that led to one cosmetic company dropping ‘fair’ from fair and lovely/ handsome’ been successful?
It remains to be seen if this trend is just skindeep or if it’s a sign that Indians are accepting the skin colour they were born with. Honestly, I am not sure how much store we can set by such data because the same agency had reported an even bigger dip of 4.5 per cent way back in 2012. I suppose the current shrinking of the market is still sizable enough for cosmetic manufacturers to track with great attention.
Could we be truly comfortable with our brown skins? This was the topic that we asked repeat cell biologist Dr Srikala Raghavan to address. She said that whether you are fair-skinned or dark-skinned, the skin is exactly the same. The colouration that gives people in the equatorial and tropical regions darker skin colours (because of the eumelanin form of melanin pigment) has evolved over the last 100,000 years as a protective mechanism. People with darker skin tones are better protected from skin cancer because they are protected from the direct harm of UV rays.
“Love the skin you are in”, she said. You can watch the talk she gave at a science cafe pop-up at the second edition of Under the Raintree Women’s Cultural Festival. BLiSC Science Cafe: Getting Under Our Skin with Dr Srikala Raghavan All my life, I never worried about the colour of my skin. During my early years of travelling abroad, I used to look at the pale skin of people and marvel at how much nicer my skin colour looked. Ah, vanity. It might have taken a while for the world to catch up, but I moved comfortably in a space where brown was always beautiful.
I am a sun worshipper who glories in sunrises and sunsets and all the bright hours in between. I begin my mornings with sunny salutations and gratitude for the dawn of a new day that will hopefully be better than yesterday. However, that cocoon has now developed a deep fissure. El Niño has something to do with it, along with a few other factors. Global warming has made Bengaluru hotter than before. Typically, there’s a gradual increase in the city’s temperature in February with the average between 16.1 to 29.6 degrees Celsius. One day in February however, Bengaluru recorded a temperature as high as 35.4 degrees Celsius. While most people are prepping, toning, and waxing for the perfect summer beach bods, I am like a fugitive seeking the darkest spots to conceal myself from the sun.
I find myself consulting dermatologists, swallowing pills, and applying various skin creams and sunscreens. And avoiding the sun like the plague. And I am not alone. An increasing number of women in their 50s and 60s are reporting hyperpigmentation issues on their cheeks and forehead. Factors such as menopause, sun exposure, and prolonged use of hair dyes contribute to this distressing problem. While not physically painful, the change in appearance can be alarming, particularly for women who often judge themselves based on external perceptions. The delicate nature of facial skin magnifies our sensitivity to these changes, amplifying the emotional impact of hyperpigmentation. It’s not the colour of our skin that troubles us, but the lack of even tone, which can significantly impact self-esteem and confidence. Moreover, the irony of prescribed remedies, often involving whitening products, adds another layer of complexity to the issue.
So yes, I am momentarily not comfortable in my own skin. PS: Here are some fun facts about your skin from Dr Raghavan’s talk: Did you know that skin is actually an organ? And that the epidermis (a layer of cells on the surface of the skin) replenishes every three weeks? Our body loses a million cells a day, but we never run out of skin under normal circumstances because the skin has a tremendous number of stem cells. Did you know that the epidermis that protects you from the external environment is as thin as cling film? It keeps moisture inside the body and works very hard to keep viruses and bacteria from entering the skin. Did you know that the skin is one of the last organs to develop? Mammals develop in amniotic fluid, and in human terms, the skin develops only in the third trimester.
Sandhya Mendonca is an author and host of ‘Spotlight with Sandhya’ podcast.