How to make your skin lighter with these 15 secret remedies

Have you ever bought foundation because it looked really nice on your friend or even when you tried it on at the mall (places with perfect lighting) only to find out that it made you look pink like Piglet or yellow like Tweety bird at home?

Knowing your skin tone is actually more important than you think. Aside from helping you pick the right makeup best suited for your complexion, knowing your skin tone can help you purchase the right products for protection and what extra precautions to take to care for your skin.

The basic colors in skin tone spectrum are: fair, light, medium or neutral, olive or dark. This particular post will focus more on the fair and light skin tones.

What do you need to know about those with lighter skin tones? The top of the list would be the inability to get a gorgeous golden-bronze tan. What happens instead is a very red and sad looking sunburn. 

Otherwise, we'll look like Casper the friendly ghost without some touch of makeup on the face. And this is from experience. At least we’re friendly right?

Lastly, it takes more to cover up blemishes on the skin. Acne, scars and wounds are so obvious on lighter skin tones. Not to mention those annoying bluish veins (located especially on the leg area) that make you look angry with your veins poppin’.

The takeaway? Having lighter skin tones usually mean a bit more work, more sunscreen, skin protection and makeup for color.

For those of you who have been blessed with a darker skin tone and want to make it a few shades lighter, let me say that it is possible. This applies even to those who already have fair skin but want to make it glow with health. Because who doesn't want radiant skin?

Then there are those who have been kissed by the sun a bit too much and are either too tanned or sunburned. All are valid reasons to want to make your skin tone lighter. Do read on for some ways to achieve that fairer skin.

It’s definitely not much of a secret anymore by now. With simple ingredients like lemon and honey, you can already achieve lighter skin. Honey is full of ingredients that prevent acne and infection and antioxidants that help slow down aging. It also seals moisture to your skin, making it smooth and hydrated.

With honey as the base ingredient for your home remedies, you are free to experiment on the rest.

Lemon and honey are a perfect combination for a mixture to make your skin glow. You will only need the juice from half a lemon, 1 tbsp of raw honey and a towel. Mix the ingredients until you arrive at a smooth mixture. On a clean face, apply the mixture and leave it on for 20 minutes. Rinse with warm water followed by cool water to close the pores. Do this once a week and you’re left with healthy, glowing skin.

Lemon and honey can also be used as a facial wash. Mix with aloe vera and water then splash onto your face every morning. For an exfoliant, mix 1 tsp of lemon juice with 2 tbsp of brown sugar and an egg white. Massage onto your skin in gentle circular motions and leave for 10-15 minutes then rinse.

If your skin is not sensitive to lemon juice alone, you can use it with equal parts water as a spray or rubbing mixture to see quick skin lightening results.

Do remember that when using lemon based skin-lightening products, avoid unnecessary sun and always use sunscreen. Lemon juice can dry out the skin making it vulnerable to sun damage.

Aside from lemon and honey, you can also try the bright red fruit found in every kitchen. Tomato. Used as juice or puree, it acts as a natural bleaching agent. Just apply on the skin, leave on for 20 minutes and rinse. Use every 3 days to see results. Easy!

You can also mix grated cucumber to add cooling effects to soothe and brighten your skin.

You can also mix grated cucumber honey and applying to the face and neck for 15-20 minutes, twice a day, to add cooling effects to soothe and brighten your skin. Cucumber is a vegetable known to bind collagen to keep your skin firm and bright. This is a remedy that even those with sensitive skin can try. 

Summer equals beaches, which means the sun, which leads to tans. Sometimes it is inevitable that we do end up with a tan or worse, sunburn. Like mentioned earlier, fairer skin tones get the latter while darker ones glow. Either way, after awhile we usually want to go back to our normal skin tone or we just want to even out the patches caused by too much sun exposure.

Here are some of the ways to lighten your skin tone after a tan:

Just saying “aloe vera” already leaves a soothing effect on my mood, what more on skin that is experiencing sun damage. Aloe vera has also been found to help reduce the release of melanin reduces dark spots. You can purchase lotion that has aloe vera or use aloe vera gel from the sap of a broken aloe vera leaf or purchased in the market in tubes. Apply on your skin and try to leave for long periods of time, best if overnight, then wash off. Use daily for best results.  

By keeping our skin moisturized and hydrated, it can focus on renewing skin cells which will result to our skin going back to its natural color. You can opt for moisturizers that list itself as 'repairing' and/ or 'brightening'.

These two ingredients are said to really help clear skin tones. Mix 1 tbsp of turmeric powder and gram flour, 1 tsp milk, ½ tsp honey and 1 tsp lemon juice until its has a thick consistency and apply a thin layer on the face. Leave on for 20 minutes then rinse off. Use once week to achieve desired results.

Note: Make sure to do a skin test before using gram flour because many people are unknowingly allergic to it.

Another note: Try not to leave turmeric on for extended periods of time as it stains quite easily. You do not want to change your skin to yellow instead of white by mistake. That would be hilarious.

Arbutin is an extract of the Bearberry plant, which is effective in the de-pigmentation and whitening of the skin. It is great at treating sunburn and regulating melanin production. They come in cream or serum forms. Although instructions of use may vary per type and brand, you can usually see effects as early as one month of use. 

Dermatologists advise looking for skin-lightening products any of the following ingredients to help lighten a tan. These are Vitamin C, Kojic acid, Azelaic acid, Glycolic acid or a retinoid such as retinol, tretinoin, adapalene gel, or tazarotene. Always consult your doctor before using any medications.

Using a homemade or store-bought scrub can help remove dead skin cells that leads to the lightening of your skin tone. Just make sure to not go back out into the sun after exfoliation because the removal of dead skin cells makes you susceptible to skin damage, sunburn and tanning.

There are a few natural and medical solutions to lighten the skin tone quickly.

Papaya, which is very effective in renewing and lightening the skin and fighting acne, functions as an exfoliator, skin softener and moisturizer. Apply mashed papaya pulp on your cleansed skin for 20 minutes then rinse. Use daily for better results.

Another ingredient to try is yoghurt. Lactic acid is known to have some bleaching properties. Yoghurt can be used directly on the skin, left on for a few minutes and then rinsed. Honey or lemon and oatmeal can also be added and used as a mask to achieve moisturized and radiant skin.

Chemical peel is one method that is very effective in skin lightening.

It is a rather strong skin treatment that causes a stinging sensation. A peel using an acidic component is applied to the skin and works at burning away the top layers thus leaving it much brighter.

Microdermabrasion is another method for visibly lighter skin in one day. It's a safer and gentler method (compared to chemical peels) of exfoliating the skin by removing the dead skin cells through a small closed vacuum. This leaves your skin looking brighter, fresher and younger.

Most of the methods mentioned above usually take discipline and continued use to see results because there is no highly effective and natural way to lighten your skin at a super quick rate.

Another approach in perspective can also be not focusing on your actual complexion but tackling dark spots, acne and other blemishes. Their absence can definitely make your skin look brighter and healthier.

Sunscreen - The best way to lighten a skin tone or remove a tan is to protect your skin from UV rays, to begin with. Sunscreens nowadays are filled with essential ingredients that it does so much more than blocking the sun’s rays. It prevents premature aging, lowers the risk for skin cancer and enhances the health of the skin.

“Prevention is better that cure”, they always say. With a proper diet, less stress and the right skin care protection we can all achieve glowing and healthy skin.