...what d arse is dis I reading here in trute today.
But in all seriousness...in the tune straight jeans and fitted...he does talk bout "wash meh face with the cake soap"
Now it go have a setta imps running round shortly with bleached skin down here.
But from long time we hearing plenty dub tune bout Browning and Bleach and ting...I used to think this was a Jamaican ting, but it have real Indians down here fascinated with a "fairer complexion"
Vicco cream and Fair and Hansome is a seller.
I remember this article I sure it was posted on the forum...but look it again. Kartel have company.
Fair of the Dark
Anil Guptar says he wants to maintain his “naturally fair” complexion. Photo: Keith Matthews
BY MARSHA MOKOOL
Whatever happened to tall, dark and handsome? If you ask 21-year-old Anil Guptar, he will tell you that having a “clean face” is synonymous with having a “fair, even-toned complexion.”
Guptar, who is light-brown in complexion, has been using two herbal products Emami Turmeric Skin Cream Gold and Vico Turmeric Skin Cream interchangeably for five years. The former claims to promote radiant, younger, healthy looking skin, while the latter is said to prevent the penetration of ultra-violet rays from the sun, thus maintaining the original colour or pigment of the skin.
When both creams were out of stock, Guptar, who is of East Indian decent, decided to use Fair and Handsome, the first fairness cream for men created by Emami and Activor Corp, USA.
The product, which is distributed in the West Indies by Indus Merchant Ltd, was launched in India in 2005 and is now being sold in T&T.
“I am naturally fair and I want to maintain my complexion. I don’t want to get dark from the sun,” said Guptar.
He said when he saw the advert for Fair and Handsome starring Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan “I wanted to look fair like that.”
But after using the product twice, he started to break out in pimples. “I normally do not get buttons so I know it had to be that.”
Dermatologist speculates
Dermatologist Dr Audrey Ramoutar in St James said she could not recall any patients who presented with side effects after using Fair and Handsome.
“We have no documented evidence to say whether or not this product has any side effects,” she said.
But she has had patients who presented with side effects after using similar creams.
Fair and Handsome, which is labelled as a lightening cream, is said to contain a unique combination of herbs. The product also claims to be able to penetrate tougher male epidermis to regulate melanin production.
She said that people should be wary of “herbal” products which claim to lighten skin. “Everything is being advertised as herbal because it is equated as natural, having fewer side effects. But it is unlikely for it to be one hundred per cent herbal,” she explained.
She indicated that most lightening and bleaching creams contain hydroquinone, a bleaching formula used to decrease the formation of melanin in the skin and lighten dark spots.
She also cautioned that products containing hydroquinone can have “varied side effects with short and long term use.”
Colleague gives all clear
After rewiewing all the components in Fair and Handsome, Port-of-Spain dermatologist Dr Bisram Mahabir, gave a favourable report on the product.
“There does not seem to be anything dangerous or harmful in the product,” he said.
He said side effects may occur “if someone is allergic to any of the ingredients, as with any other product.”
He also confirmed there were no bleaching agents in the product.
Asked about the case of the young man who allegedly broke out in pimples after using the product, Mahabir said that was an unlikely side effect.
“At that age he would be prone to acne,” he said.
He said he has known patients who have used the product.
“They present with other skin problems, but not relating to it (Fair and Handsome),” he said.
But he has had patients who experienced side effects after using similar creams, which all contain hydroquinone.
Fairness fixation
The fairness fixation has been re-inforced and perpetuated by Hollywood—and now Bollywood—with the manufacturers of Fair and Handsome capitalising on the perception by some that lighter is better.
The fascination with fair skin seems to be alive and well in T&T, with both men and women literally buying into this concept with the use of lightening products like Fair and Handsome and its counterpart Emami Naturally Fair for women.
Shah Rukh Khan, the brand ambassador for Fair and Handsome, has been heavily criticised in India for a controversial 40-second TV advert in which he hands a skin lightening cream to a despondent man with markedly darker skin. Within a few weeks, the young man turns a few shades lighter and is more confident, with girls flocking to him.
Preferred choice for men
The Emami Group has branded the product as the world’s number one fairness cream for men. The product is available in T&T in two sizes. The small bottle is being sold at pharmacies, supermarkets and Pennywise Cosmetics outlets for $17.95 for 30 oz. The 60 oz bottle retails for $27.95.
The Port-of-Spain branch of Pennywise sells about 12 boxes a day in both sizes, says Lisa Baptiste, a supervisor there.
The branch has a diverse and regular clientele, Baptiste says, ranging in age and ethnicity. “All men use it. It does not seem to be favoured by any particular race,” she said.
Asked if she has received any complaints from customers about the product, she said, “We have never had any complaints about it. We have never had people who brought it back.
A sales agent at the same branch said, “It is a hot seller because there is nothing to compare with it for men. Men buy it mainly to lighten where they shave. Some women also purchase it for their husbands,” she said.
Natural and safe?
A sales agent at the Grand Bazaar Pennywise branch said the product has been “selling a lot” since they started stocking it.
Compared to other lightening creams, she said, “This one is more natural and does not have any bleaching agents.”
She said they have not had any reports of side effects from the product. A sales agent at the Chaguanas branch said the product has been selling “quite a lot.”
She said, “A lot of men are buying it, not just Indian men, but everybody. It is not only used for blemishes, but also to control oil and protect you from the sun. It is one hundred per cent herbal and safe to use,” she added.
Local distributor: No bleaching
Ved Prakash, one of the directors of Indus Merchant Ltd in Chaguanas, confirmed in an interview that Fair and Handsome “does not contain any hydroquinone at all.
“It is a herbal-based product that contains a combination of herbs and peptide, which is a molecule, not a bleaching agent,” he said.
“All our products are herbal-based and none of them contain hydroquinone,” he said.
He also insisted that the product is “completely safe and we have never received any complaints from consumers.”
Speaking in his strong Indian accent, he said, “People of fair complexion go for tan and people of darker skin want to look fair. It’s just like people with straight hair wanting curls and people with curly hair wanting straight hair.
“That is how cosmetics play the role to give a different look, just like they do with makeup,” he said.
Initially, he said the target market for Fair and Handsome was the Indian market.
“But I realise it is also being bought by African people.
“The colour we have here is not the natural colour because we go out in the sun and get tanned. So these products remove the tan and pollution of the sun on the skin,” he explained.
He said the product, which is also distributed in Suriname, Guyana and Jamaica, was doing “very well” in T&T, which is where the distribution company is based.
