Fancy yourself as an agony aunt? Add your answer to this question! A
female
reader, maverick494  +, writes (13 December 2010):
If you read my post I was actually pointing out that's it not just people who want to go from black to Michael Jackson.
So again, I would not do it. There are side effects from those products and treatments like getting an uneven skintone, rashes and premature signs of aging. And that's really not what you're going for, is it?
Sure, you can fool around with makeup but that would look about as natural as me trying a darker foundation to tan my skin.
There are people that argue that since we whites want to get a tan once in a while it's only logical that they want to try out a paler skintone. The problem is that nature just doesn't work that way. You can get tan by getting into the sun and if you stay out of it long enough you will become the palest you can be. You can spray on tan and you can put on light makeup to get the illusion. But if you resort to other ways to get your pale look, like skin bleaching, you're going to do a lot of damage to your skin. And for what? "To look a little brighter." Trust me, your tan makes you look bright. If people don't accept you with that they won't accept the light version of you either.
Try to think about why exactly you are too dark and why you should lighten. Because I can't come up with one good reason why you should. What does come to mind is this quote:
"Be yourself, everyone else is taken."
A
reader, anonymous, writes (13 December 2010): This is verified as being by the original poster of the questionThanks for the advice guys! But you all think I want to go from BLACK to WHITE. It's not that all! I just wanna be a little more lighter as the way I was born. The sun hit me hard and I started to realised that I've gotten a little bit too dark. I just wanna be brighter again! Is that SO bad?
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female
reader, pancakes rule  +, writes (12 December 2010):
 I wouldn't if I were you. If your living in Ireland (as your nationality says you are) then most people would be jealous of you and hate their pale Irish skin. Believe me, one of my friends is 1/4 black and quite dark skinned where as the rest of us have been blending in with all the snow all this month.
Learn to accept how you look, you can't change it (or change it well, in any case). It will boost your confidence if you're completely happy with yourself.
xx
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female
reader, maverick494 +, writes (12 December 2010):
I was once on this skincare forum trying to find something that would reduce the blemishes my poor sister is ´blessed´ with. A big section of this forum was dedicated to skin lightening treatments. People would come there and talk about how they hated their skincolour and wanted to look pale.
These were not just black people trying to be white (like Tyra Banks for an instance) but also many Asians (who got hooked after the whole ullsang deal which means they want to look like an anime character) and people from India, and pretty much allover the world who thought that lightening their skin would make them feel better and help them gain status.
To be honest, I find such mindsets pathetic and very sad. People always want what they can't have. I have dark blonde hair and pale skin and I would love to have pitch black hair and a nice tan. Girls who have that tell me they'd like to have what I have. That's life. The only way to achieve it is to dye and redye it every 3 weeks and go to tanning beds or pay a ton for spray tan. But then I'd be hiding who I really am.
So no, do NOT do it. Those treatments to make your skin paler aren't good for you at all and like I said, you should just accept yourself for who you are. You are probably beautiful just the way you are!
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reader, anonymous, writes (12 December 2010): without*
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reader, anonymous, writes (12 December 2010): You can't and no you shouldn't.
Think about it this way, most people here in Ireland spend hours in the sun and 100's of euros in tanning booths to make their skin darker. You don't have to you've been lucky enough not to be born with pasty pale skin like the rest of us.
Be happy and proud of what you've got. Most girls would kill to have your skin tone.
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male
reader, Danielepew  +, writes (12 December 2010):
 My personal opinion is that you shouldn't mess with the way your organs work just to make them look like fashion would want them. I believe lightening your skin falls under that category.
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reader, anonymous, writes (12 December 2010): It's quite a risk if you do.. i think your skin colour probably suits you well. :]
Best of luck :]
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (12 December 2010): Why would you want to do that?
Have some self-respect.
There's nothing wrong with not being pale-skinned.
Methods of lightening your skin are harmful.
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female
reader, fi_the_tree  +, writes (12 December 2010):
 You seriously need to build up some self confidence. Stop looking at the bad things, and start enhancing the good things about yourself.
Why anyone would want to do something as drastic as to lighten their skin is totally beyond me. I'm sure you are beautiful as you are.
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female
reader, anonymous, writes (12 December 2010): You actually can Beyonce done it and so did MJ but look girl Im sure its a expensive proceedure ur still very young and skin tones change with age try some foundations and learn to love what God gave u ,,,, Im sure ur really beautiful just the way you r .
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male
reader, wonderland85 +, writes (12 December 2010):
No you should not! I think you are way too young to be making such a life changing decision. You are at a tender age but as you gain confidence through school you will become more happy with the skin you are in. Anyway that kind of treatment would be very expensive and i imagine you would have to be at least 18 before a doctor would allow it. Learn to love the skin you are in and remember there are people in the world with much worse problems.
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male
reader, Jmtmj  +, writes (12 December 2010):
 You can't.
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