Skin whitening is a method used for whitening the skin of people with darker skin. It is mainly used by the people of Asian countries, but is also used in parts of Latin America, Southern Africa, Mauritius and the United States.

Mainly the skin whitening substance works in two ways to give you a whiter skin:

1. By Arresting the UV rays, thus preventing the sun from darkening your skin.

2. By reducing the production of melanin, the skin colorant found in your skin which is responsible for skin darkening.

Most skin whiteners currently on the market contain ingredients such as hydroquinone, ascorbic acid, kojic acid, arbutin, azealic acid, glycyrrhetinic acid that act as direct inhibitors of tyrosinase, the enzyme in the skin color cells (melanocytes) that make melanin. Arbutin is a new type of skin de-coloring and whitening agents, an extract of Bearberry plant which produced by a solid or liquid extraction, it is also an friendly process.

Arbutin protect the skin against damage caused by basic Prolems.Arbutin inhibits the formation of melanin pigment by restraining Tyrosinase activity. It may be used to collect the virulence of bacterial pathogens and to prevent communicating bacteria, it is also used for treating allergic inflammation of the skin More recently, Arbutin has been used to prevent pigmentation and to whiten the skin beautifully. It can be used to whiten the skin, to prevent liver spots and freckles, to treat sunburn marks and to regulate melanogenesis.

There is an increasing awareness that vitamin C has a wide variety of role in human health. New beneficial uses are being investigated daily, among recent discoveries is that Vitamin C can play important role in the health and beauty of your skin. when Vitamin C inhibit the production of the melanin, a lighter and brighter skin will reveal in just few weeks.Vitamin C does more than that also, vitamin C is required for collagen synthesis, which declines markedly in aging skin. The topical application of vitamin C in a skin-penetrating medium can dramatically enhance the availability of vitamin C for collagen production.

Glycyrrhetinic acid, confined from Glycyrrihiza glabra is widely used in cosmetic industry. Licorice inhibit tyrosinase activity of melanocytes without any cytotoxicity, it also showed that UV-B-induced pigmentation and erythema can be inhibited by topical application of 0.5% Licorice The anti-inflammatory properties of Licorice were attributed to inhibition of superoxide anion production and cyclooxygenase activity.

Melanostat is a peptide obtained by amino acid synthesis with a technique of Merryfield. It explains an outstanding anti MSH activity experimentally investigated for skin lightening. The target of Melanostat the membrane receptor of alpha-MSH on the melanocytes, the B- MICR receptor , its mode of action is a competitive inhibition of alpha-MSH, membrane receptors are blocked in a natural way.

Retinol is the most important natural form of vitamin A. Vitamin A is the first vitamin to be used for the treatment of damaged human skin. Today, the term vitamin A is applied to retinol (Vitamin A alcohol), retinal (Vitamin A aldehyde) and tretinoin (Vitamin A acid). Vitamin A stimulates mitotic activity and the production of collagen - the stuff skin is made of. It is now known that the clinical effect obtained with high doses of vitamin A is necessary for normal differentiate and maintenance of epithelial tissues. Especially, retinol is held out as the new great hope for reduction of photo aging skin. Retinol or Vitamin A helps to renew and exfoliate the skin, giving a new lighter, beautiful skin.