Whitening products
Asian women’s quest

Clippings in magazines about whitening products(Jeanne Luk)

By Jeanne Luk

UShe mixed a Chinese medicine called yu rong shan with egg white and left the mixture on her face for 15 minutes. She believed strongly that this mask could give her a clear and fair complexion.

The mixture that Empress Cixi, the appearance-conscious empress of China in the Ching Dynasty, had prepared was a do-it-yourself whitening mask.

A hundred years have passed. The fever for a fair complexion has never cooled down. It burns even stronger now.

The cosmetics market is now deluged with a great variety of whitening products.

According to research conducted by the retail audit for Neutrogena, whitening moisturizers make up 40 percent of the mass market of facial moisturizers, up to 2002.

“This is a market with great potential,” said May Lam, professional marketing executive at Neutrogena.

Ava Yu, marketing executive at Kose Company, also agreed that whitening products are indispensable to the company.

“Over 50 percent of our products are whitening products. They account for about 60 to 70 percent of our total revenue. During summer, it even goes up to 70 to 80 percent,” Ms. Yu said.

However, while Asian women are crazy for fair complexions, women from the West are not interested in whitening.

To be exact, they do not like being “white” very much. Ragnhild Hoel, an International Asian Studies Programme student from Norway, said, “Being too ‘white’ would make one look pale and sick. I’d rather get tanned.”

In fact, whitening products do not have a market in the West.
According to Ms. Lam of Neutrogena, the skin care products they sell in the West are mainly acne products and pore refining and anti-wrinkle products. Whitening products are not sold.

Not only are the Westerners unconcerned about whitening, they love the exact opposite – sun tanning.

In the overseas editions of fashion and beauty magazines like Bazaar and Cosmopolitan, skin whitening is not mentioned.

Veronica Chow, beauty editor of Bazaar, said, “There are some special issues teaching people how to tan themselves instead.”

This suntan trend has not caught on in Asia. According to Ms. Lam, Neutrogena's sun tan product line is available in the U.S. but not in Hong Kong.

“A fair complexion is still the mainstream,” said Ms. Chow of Bazaar.

The cultural difference is clearly revealed. There are a few reasons behind this.

Ms. Chow commented that the whitening trend in Hong Kong was more or less triggered off by the influence of Japanese culture.

“It is much easier to identify ourselves with an Asian like a Japanese than a Westerner with blue eyes and blond hair.

“Most of the Japanese women have a fair complexion, especially the celebrities,” Ms. Chow said.

Furthermore, she said, “Though there are pretty girls with suntanned skin, it’s proportionally less. Therefore, people equate a fair complexion with beauty easily.”

Kose’s Ms. Yu also agreed that this trend in Hong Kong was somehow brought in from Japan.

“The Japanese like Western culture very much. They try to imitate the Westerners in many aspects of life. It is not surprising that they want to be as “white” as possible.”

Women’s magazines also play a role in this. With their various features and promotions on whitening products, the magazines inevitably become advertisements for skin whitening.

The magazines are deemed as a credible source and may seem to provide more reliable and objective information on the products.

“Actually, I agree that the cosmetics companies and we work together to strengthen the trend,” Ms. Siu of Bazaar said.
Said Ms. Yu from Kose: “Whitening has become a trend instead of a need.”

Suzanne Choi, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, said, “The concept of beauty varies culturally, but it’s very much related to the concept of scarcity.

“Most people in the West are ‘white’ so tanned skin is scarce. Therefore, they think tanned skin is more beautiful.

“On the contrary, fairness is in fact a scarcity for Asians. That’s why we like fair complexions so much,” Prof. Choi said.

“It’s also about the power relationship,” she continued. “People in superior positions define beauty.”

Prof. Choi explained this idea with an example.

“In traditional Chinese society, women in the upper social class were usually regarded as prettier.

“They were those with fair complexions, since they stayed at home most of the time and they didn’t need to work outdoors like the women of the poor peasant class. Thus fair complexions became one of the criteria of beauty.”

Prof. Choi's theory also supported the scarcity argument. This was because women of the upper class only consisted of a very small proportion of the population.

The concept of beauty actually reflects social and racial inequality. “The whitening trend to some extent reflects our discrimination towards the black,” Prof. Choi said.

She said the whitening trend also implies the homogeneity of Hong Kong culture.

“Hong Kong people like following the mainstream, they rarely challenge it.”

May Lam shows Neutrogena whitening products.

Preventing UV more important

By Jeanne Luk

“Having a fair complexion doesn’t equal having a good skin condition,” said Dr. Henry Chan, associate professor and chief of dermatology in the Department of Medicine at The University of Hong Kong.

Dr. Chan stressed the importance of ultraviolet ray protection. “Whitening is one thing, but protection from UV rays is more important.”

That is because ultraviolet type A and ultraviolet type B rays can cause skin damage. In extreme cases, skin cancer may result.

“Sun screen lotions must be applied before sun exposure and babies under six months should avoid direct sun exposure,” Dr. Chan advised.

Most whitening products in the market contain Vitamin C or E, which have antioxidizing functions.

Antioxidants protect from skin damage caused by UV rays, enabling the natural renewal process of our skin.

Other common ingredients like alpha hydroxy acid and beta hydroxy acid facilitate the exfoliation of skin cells. During this process, excessive dark substances in the skin are removed.

“But AHA and BHA may cause mild irritation. Those having dry skin type or other skin problems should be aware,” Dr. Chan said.

Certain skin whitening products may contain mercury, which suppresses melanin production. However, long term usage may lead to kidney problems.

Dr. Chan recommends that if one is not clear about the ingredients in those products, they should not use them.

He advises consumers to perform a skin sensitivity test on the underarms for a week.

This is to test their compatibility with the skin. “The ability to absorb of this area is good, the result will be more obvious,” Dr. Chan said.

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