Clear and beautiful skin is something that women take pride in. Women go to such unimaginably sheer extent just to achieve what they want, some to the point of obsession. Yearly, about US$8 is spent by women in cosmetics and beauty products alone or roughly estimated, about US$100 a month for every American woman. In 2007, about 11.7 million cosmetic surgical and non-surgical procedures were performed in the US based on the data released by the American Society for Aesthetic Surgery.

What causes such an obsession or preoccupation with the skin condition? It is believed however that the appearance of the skin has something to do with self-esteem and self-confidence as an unsightly skin has a life-long burden on body image. The media culture has, even more, power the pressure fuelled by peer pressure that set standards on what is “beautiful” and what is not.

Among the skin problems that women spent most of their money with is hyperpigmentation or dark discoloration or patches of dark spots of the skin which are caused by a variety of factors. One of the natural causes is due to the overproduction of melanin, a substance responsible in giving the skin color, due to highly excitable melanocytes. Such activity of the melanocytes in turn may be caused by certain illnesses such as lupus erythymatosus, hormonal imbalance due to Addison’s disease, certain medication for malaria, seizure and hormonal therapy, heredity, age, pregnancy, certain cosmetics and activities.

Although such pigmentations are harmless, they have an impact to the general well-being of an individual. Because of this, they resort to a series of treatments ranging from conventional to surgical procedures that sometimes are costly and life threatening. If conventional treatments in the form of commercial skin care products do not solve the problem, women resort to services … Read More