By Betty Vedrine, Guardian Features Reporter

betty@nasguard.com

Everyone wants to have an even, smooth skin tone. As many can attest, even the smallest blemish can cause a panic attack, especially if a special occasion is coming up.

And the fashion magazines don't help, as they flaunt beautiful people with flawless skin, an attribute which most consider to be the essence of beauty and which many people would give their eye-teeth to have. But in the quest for a flawless complexion, are people exposing themselves to dangerous chemicals that may end up causing more harm than good? Today, in order to achieve the goal of a beautiful skin, many turn to skin bleaching or lightening products, namely products containing 'hydroquinone,' a topical skin-bleaching agent used to lighten dark spots such as acne scars, melasma, age spots and freckles. The way hydroquinone works is to decrease the formation of melanin ( pigment that gives the skin its color).

"Hydroquinone itself is relatively safe, however, it should not be used for more than three months at a time. Its use should also be accompanied by a sunscreen of at least 15 SPFin order to block the sun's harmful rays. Here at the Centre, hydroquinone is sometimes prescribed as a follow-up treatment to some of our other skin care procedures, such as microdermabrasion," said Rhoda Mullings, nurse and Medical skincare specialist at Surgery Laser and Cosmetic Centre. Mullings also explained, however, that many products claiming to contain hydroquinone really only contain steroids and should be avoided.

"Most of the over-the-counter products found in stores in The Bahamas do not contain hydroquinone; they really contain steroids. In fact, most of the products available on the market were not developed for bleaching. They were created to treat certain types of skin problems such as eczema. In addition, if you do find products containing hydroquinone, they normally contain 2% because anything above 2% really should be prescribed by a skin specialist."

In most cases, the skin starts to lighten up after about four weeks of treatment, however, if no bleaching effect is seen after three months, its use should be discontinued. To increase the effectiveness of hydroquinone you should stay out of the sun, or wear protective clothing and use a SPF15+ sunscreen when outdoors. Hydroquinone should not be used during pregnancy or when breastfeeding.

Another Medical skin practitioner, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, however, says that she doesn't use products which contain hydroquinone. "Hydroquinone has some good points, however, I prefer not to use it on my clients because of the negative effects associated with its use. For instance, many times, people use it for a long time and find that it thins out their skin. There is also the issue of its use being associated with being a carcinogen (cancer-causing agent). So I prefer to use other methods for lightening or improving the skin such as microdermabrasion," she explained.

"It should be noted that hydroquinone, if used improperly may cause thinning of the skin, exposing veins and giving the skin a darker hue. So it's very important that this product is used wisely and safely to avoid adverse effects," explains Mullings.

Based on the statements made by these two skin specialists, it seems that the use of hydroquinone is controversial at best. In fact, this product has been banned in Europe and its safety is presently being reviewed in the United States. So before you purchase that next tube of bleaching cream, weigh the pros and cons.