Wednesday, 6 May 2015

MAC shades

MAC shades are a common way to measure your skin tones. Indians usually have a warm complexion so we are advised to use NC (cool) tones as opposed to NW (warm) tones.



My own current tone is NC 42.

Kareena Kapoor- 20
Katrina Kaif      - 25
Sonakshi Sinha - 42
Bipasha Basu    - 45
Nandita Das      - 50
Deepika Padukone- 44
Neil Nitin          - 15
                                           
                                                     These are my estimations and I don't claim to know the MAC shades of these artists.

Skin Shades- International (mainly west)

          Common measurement for skin tones in the West is the Fitzpatrick Scale-



Indians usually fall between the III-VI  tones. I & II skin tones are very very rare in India.

I skin tone- Emma Stone




II skin tone- Megan Fox




III skin tone- Jessica Alba


IV skin tone- Aishwarya Rai



V skin tone- Will Smith


VI skin tone- Whoopi Goldberg





Skin shades- India


My skin tone is very similar to South Indian actress Asin's.


 Her color can be described as medium brown or wheatish. In India, we use a different scale to measure skin color. We don't have redheads or blondes. We have four basic categories- fair, wheatish, dusky and dark. I have further segregated them into 6 categories-

1. Very fair- Very light skin. Pink skin tones. Often mistaken for a white person. Bollywood actor Neil Nitin Mukesh is a clear example of this skin tone. Actresses Kareena and Karishma Kapoor, Isha Sharvani and Soumya Tandon are also very fair.






2. Fair- Fair skin tones have a slight redness to them. People with fair skin tones can easily become red when exposed to sun or under physical stress. It's not that other people don't get flushed but flushing of face is more noticeable among fair skin tones. Katrina Kaif is fair. Kangna Ranaut, Anushka Sharma and Aishwarya Rai are also fair.





3. Light Wheatish- People with light wheatish skin tone can be called fair but not very fair. Many people will not consider them fair at all. Light wheatish skin is medium brown in color and can get flushed only after heavy exercise. People with this skin tone look good in maroon.





4. Dark Wheatish- Dark wheatish skin tone is not dusky but not light enough to be considered fair. People with this skin tone sometimes look fair after a bath.


5. Dusky- This skin tone never looks fair. Not after a bath, not after a parlor session- never. People with dusky skin tones often identify themselves with the late Jiah Khan, Freida Pinto, Bipasha Basu and Chitrangada Singh.


6. Dark- Dark skin tones appear black or blackish-brown. Actresses like Nandita Das and actor Johny Lever are dark.


    Now you know all about skin tones in India :)

Tuesday, 5 May 2015

observations

I have been trying to lighten since 3-4 years but could not due to shitty products available in the Indian market. Some products that will never lighten u-
Fair & lovely (classic :p)
Olay
White beauty by Pond's
Lakme
Emami
Lotus
Clean & clear (pimple products are good but skin lightening products are crap)
Himalaya
Shehnaz
Nafia (sold online)
St.Dalflour (online)
Neoprosone (ebay has some sellers)

Oh god! I don't even remember the names! There are so many.
Thumb rule- if it's an Indian product, 99% chances are that it won't work. A product may work for you because everyone's skin is different but these didn't for me.
     After years of researching, I have come to realize some things:
1) Hydroquinone (HQ)+ retin a (ra) work well for most people. However, you need to use these for 3-4 months and stop. Take a break for 2-3 months, use natural lighteners like Kojic Acid cream or Vitamin C lotion and then, start again.

2) Caro white (cw)  by Dream cosmetics and Caro light (cl) by Angel cosmetics are good and have worked for most when cw/cl tub and oil are used together. They contain hq.

3) Skin lightening thins your skin. You need to use a moisturizer to build up your skin. RA also helps though it can cause dryness.

4) Use of RA and Alpha-hydroxy Acids (aha) will help in preventing and eliminating wrinkles. So can a good diet and exercise. Keep stress at bay to prevent ageing.

5) Use of SPF 30 is a must but most Indian sunscreens make you look darker except Lotus Matte sunscreen. Wearing sunscreen indoors is also good.

 I am no dermatologist but these observations are based on my experience.