Vaginal Lightening Is A NO-NO Because The Scientific Evidence Behind It Is SO-SO!
Vaginal Lightening is a procedure that involves using topical creams, chemical peels, or laser treatments with the intent of lightening the skin around the bikini area. While it’s most commonly called vaginal bleaching, vaginal bleaching does not in any way involve the internal vaginal canal
Is a lighter shade really that important?
The reason for hyperpigmentation near your bikini area is because the vaginal skin naturally has the highest density of melanocytes that cause dark skin pigments. Although this causes a slightly darker tone to the intimate areas, some vagina owners have distinctive variations in dark intimate skin tones which is perfectly normal and alright. There is absolutely no reason to want to change the color of your skin just because it does not serve the narrative celebrities and public figures project.
Vaginal Lightening along with chemical burns, bleaching creams can damage the extremely vulnerable skin on the vulva causing a disturbance of healthy bacteria inside your vagina. If the bacteria is disturbed, this could lead to inflammation, infection, and irritation in your vagina.
Trendy but at what cost?
In early 2018, Huda Kattan, wrote a blog post on her site that baffled a lot of her fans. In “Why Your Vagina Gets Dark And How To Lighten It,” the beauty vlogger shared her “DIY hacks” to change the color of one’s genital area and to “correct” darker vulva tissue. The backlash was swift and effective; the post was subsequently deleted. Still, the treatment is being performed more and more in doctors’ offices and medical spas, so it nevertheless seems this controversial topic is still on many minds.
It is believed that American rapper Cardi B declared that though she doesn’t believe in body bleaching, she likes to bleach her underarms and vagina because shaving leaves them looking a little bit dark, which started this “trend” off.
Relatively new and relatively unnecessary
Pornographic film actors were the first to undergo the anal bleaching process, in an effort to lighten the colour of their anuses to match the rest of their skin. As Brazilian waxing became popular, due to the popularity of smaller swimsuits and lingerie, the spread of pornography into the mainstream, and endorsement of the procedure by celebrities, people began noticing that their anuses were darker than the rest of their skin which further pushed the idea of anal bleaching.
This moved on from the anus, to the vagina and everywhere else possible.
Not only does it contribute to body dysmorphia but it is also helping the cosmetic industry rake in millions for literally nothing.
I’d say this is simply another way to make women feel insecure about our normal and beautiful anatomy and one should completely skip this trend.
It is a relatively new and unnecessary trend which results in nothing but you losing money and mental health, not to forget presumably physical health too, if the procedure goes wrong.
Why risk it? Skip it!
Cover Illustration by: Abhilasha Muttoo
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1 thought on “Vaginal Lightening Is A NO-NO Because The Scientific Evidence Behind It Is SO-SO!”
Beautifully written!