Just five months before her marriage, Nisha Singh, a 22-year-old professional, was diagnosed with mild melasma, a tan or dark facial skin discolouration. Her dermatologist recommended a cream-based formulation to be applied twice a day on the chin alone. But in a hurry to get a glow on her face, Nisha ended up using it seven times-a-day. The result? Whiteness of a different kind. She was diagnosed with leucoderma, an acquired depigmentation.

Nisha’s was an extreme case but others in the past have committed similar blunders.While she made use of a prescribed clinical formula, one wonders what would be the fate of those who use popular, celebrity-endorsed fairness creams and soaps without consultation?

It’s not all foul play, assures Dr Ahmed Zaheer, head of dermatology, Max Healthcare, Delhi. “Hydroquinone (HQ)” he says, “is the key component in most whitening pharmaceutical creams, which lightens the complexion by reducing melanin formation.” He adds, “It is safe as long as its concentration does not exceed five per cent and is not used beyond four months, after which it can cause photosensitivity (allergy of facial skin to the sun) and in rare cases, ochronosis—a condition chara-cterised by grey-brown or blue-black hyperpigmentation and caviar-like papules.” HQ-based creams are readily available in the Indian market, but should only be taken on doctor’s prescription.

Pharmacies are, however, known to sell fairness skin creams over the counter. Dermatologist Dr Rishi Kumar Parashar of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi, says, “Over the years, local pharmacists have realised that these creams are prescribed to dark-complexioned people. So, now, they sell it to anybody who asks for gorepan ki cream.”

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