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How do you make your skin paler?

Medical expert of the article

Dermatologist
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025

A person is a creature that always wants to improve its appearance. This is especially true for lovely ladies. Nature can rarely please all their whims and provide an appearance that they do not want to improve. Women with light skin often suffer because of their features, and other representatives of the fair sex, on the contrary, want to lighten their, as they consider, too dark skin. In their opinion, pale skin is a sign of aristocracy and mystery, as well as femininity and sensitivity of the nature of their owners.

To lighten the skin, you can use cosmetic products, although there are also home remedies to make the skin paler.

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Whitening face masks

There are a number of rules that should be followed by the fair sex who want to lighten their skin:

  1. During the period of greatest sun brightness – in the spring and summer months – it is necessary to protect the skin of the face and body from ultraviolet radiation. This can be done with the help of hats with large brims, large sunglasses and loose clothing with long sleeves, trousers and skirts, as well as capes and pareos.
  2. In summer, it is necessary to use sunscreens with the highest SPF level. The best option is a cosmetic product with a protective filter of SPF 40 and higher. Moreover, you need to lubricate the skin of the face and body before each time you go outside.
  3. The skin that a woman constantly takes care of is paler. Therefore, you should not ignore moisturizing procedures, as well as cleansing with scrubs and other exfoliating products. New skin cells that appear to replace dead ones always have a lighter shade, which is a natural way to make the skin paler.
  4. You can resort to some tricks and change your appearance. It has been noticed that darker clothes and dark hair color make the skin visually lighter. The same applies to nail polish of black, dark blue, dark red, dark brown, purple and other similar shades. The use of varnish can visually lighten the skin of the hands. Of course, such changes should be resorted to if darker shades will have a favorable effect on the appearance, and not vice versa.

At home, you can lighten your facial skin using the following simple and time-tested methods:

  1. There are a significant number of whitening creams on sale. You can buy one of them and use it according to the instructions. In this case, you need to carefully examine the packaging to ensure that the cream does not contain harmful substances that can cause allergic reactions.
  2. A good whitening agent is a regular lemon. You need to mix squeezed lemon juice with some water and apply it to the areas of the face and body that need to be lightened. This procedure should be done three times a day, and after a while you will see a positive result of the efforts made.
  3. It is important to note that lightening with lemon juice is not suitable for all women. People with very sensitive skin may experience burning and tingling of the skin, in these cases the use of lemon juice is not recommended.
  4. Water procedures can also be used to lighten the skin of the body. For example, when taking a bath, you need to pour thirty grams of baking soda into the water, and then lie in the prepared water for ten minutes. Such a procedure should be carried out once a week.
  5. You can also take a bath with milk. To do this, add two liters of milk and four glasses of Epsom salt to the warm water of the filled bath. To achieve the desired effect, it is recommended to perform the procedure once a week.
  6. If you want to lighten the skin of your hands, you need to rub it with oatmeal twice a day. This remedy not only makes the skin pale, but also gives it softness and velvetiness.
  7. Raw potatoes also help to lighten the skin. The potatoes are peeled and cut into slices, which are applied to the areas of the skin that need lightening. After fifteen minutes, the potatoes can be removed.

When using lightening procedures, it is important to remember that home remedies do not have an immediate effect. They must be used regularly, and only after several months can you notice a positive result from the procedures performed.

Pale skin fashion

The fashion for pale skin has a long history. Pale skin was valued in ancient Japan and China, in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, and during the Middle Ages. It was not customary for ladies of high society to sunbathe or simply expose their face and body to the first spring and scorching summer rays of the sun. Aristocrats preferred to appear on the streets wrapped from head to toe in light, loose clothing that protected them from ultraviolet radiation.

Women have used special tricks to lighten the skin of their face and body since ancient times. Noble ladies in Ancient Greece used special powder made from rice flour, crushed beans or dried chamomile flowers. In the middle of the first century AD, Roman fashionistas used ordinary chalk as whitewash to whiten their faces and bodies. Moreover, this product was applied not only to the face, but also to the neck, chest, arms and even the back. In Rus', skin whitening was done using cabbage brine and wheat flour.

To achieve a light skin tone, fashionistas and aristocrats not only protected themselves from the sun, but also used special powder to lighten their face and body. Many centuries ago, white powder was made on the basis of lead, which affected women's skin in the most unfortunate way. Early skin aging was the lot of those women who wanted or had to use lightening powder constantly.

Despite the harm caused to health in the name of beauty, the recipe for white powder with lead did not go out of use until the nineteenth century. Such a cosmetic product was widespread among Greek and Roman women, as well as Japanese geishas.

In Japan, in past centuries, and even today, a white face and neck remain a mandatory attribute of the traditional national makeup of any woman. Since the Japanese, who have a naturally dark complexion, have always considered pale skin a sign of feminine beauty and attractiveness.

In the European fashion of the aristocratic circles of the Middle Ages, this type of woman was very popular - a gentle face with very pale skin, curly golden hair, a face with an elongated oval, huge eyes, a small mouth - all this was a sign of an angelic appearance.

The Italian Renaissance turned to ancient Greece and Rome for beauty standards. And once again, fair skin, like blond hair, became fashionable among aristocrats.

During the Renaissance and subsequent periods, in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, porcelain skin color experienced a real fashion boom in high society. The English Queen Elizabeth I instilled in the aristocracy the fashion for refined pallor. Elizabeth was a natural owner of this type of skin, the shade of which she tried to make even lighter with the help of white powder. The English queen also used special masks made of eggshells, which had a whitening effect. Elizabeth not only lightened her skin, but also drew blue veins on it, which made her face seem even paler. Following her, ladies from aristocratic circles took up this habit. Women used white in large quantities: before going out, they applied several layers of this cosmetic product to their face, neck and chest.

In the eighteenth century, French fashionistas were all about pale skin. They used a special light powder that not only gave the face an exquisite pallor, but also hid skin imperfections. Since even women of aristocratic circles suffered from smallpox, their faces could be disfigured by pockmarks, which could be successfully hidden with the help of powder.

Russian fashionistas, in order to please European trends, also began to lighten the skin of the face and body. Porcelain skin was in fashion until the nineteenth century inclusive. Russia experienced another peak of passion for light skin at the beginning of the twentieth century, during the era of decadence. At that time, it was considered truly chic to have expressive bright eyes, lined with dark shadows and eyeliner, as well as lips painted with bright lipstick and a very light skin tone.

Nowadays, pale skin has become a fashion trend. Such changes have occurred thanks to the release of the most sensational vampire saga in the world, Twilight. Not only the vampire culture has become popular among young people, but also the very light skin that distinguishes these creatures of darkness.

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Pale skin is a sign of aristocracy

As mentioned earlier, a very light complexion was considered a sign of high society. Pale skin, as a sign of aristocracy, was valued in all centuries. A tanned complexion and body was associated with hard physical labor in the fresh air and was considered the lot of commoners. Even pink healthy skin was not worthy of aristocrats, since it was possessed by peasant women who spent a lot of time in motion and in nature. The ancient Greeks, for example, who had a natural dark complexion, considered light skin a sign of beauty and aristocracy. In the old days, Japanese and Chinese ladies from high society were simply obliged to use specially lightening powder and whitewash as attributes of everyday makeup.

Even in Ancient Egypt, cosmetics with a whitening effect were produced. They were made by priests, so such products were available to rich people, and, therefore, to high society. The most popular procedure was face and body whitening. Egyptian women had dark skin, so ladies from high circles spent a lot of time and money to achieve the desired effect.

In ancient Rome, aristocrats whitened their skin in every possible way. For example, the wife of Emperor Nero took donkey milk baths every day to preserve the porcelain color of her skin. In Rome, noble women believed in the power of milk baths so much that they washed their faces with milk up to seventy times a day.

In the Middle Ages, noblewomen got their pale skin color due to their lifestyle. They spent most of their time in gloomy and huge castles, where fresh air and sunlight hardly penetrated. Due to constant sitting locked up, aristocrats became sicker, which affected their skin color. Porcelain skin color testified to numerous dysfunctions in the body of beautiful ladies, but, nevertheless, it became widespread as a fashion trend in high society.

In the sixteenth century, the English Queen Elizabeth I spread the fashion for porcelain skin not only among her noble subjects, but also throughout the European continent. It was from this time that pale skin of the face and body began to be considered a sign of aristocracy.

If we recall the works of Russian classics of the nineteenth century, we can often find descriptions of aristocratic women who had soft white hands, full white shoulders, lush white breasts and porcelain complexions. In Russia, pallor was also considered the lot and distinctive sign of high society.

To give their skin an aristocratic appearance, noble ladies hid their faces under veils from the blinding sun rays, and also used more powerful means. For example, at that time it was customary to drink vinegar, lemon juice and eat small balls of white paper. In order to lighten the skin, beautiful ladies carried camphor under their arms, and also limited themselves in food. During the day, women constantly sat indoors, hiding from ultraviolet radiation, and did not sleep at night to give their skin an aristocratic pallor.


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