going from shade 10 to 7 - dark/light brown to tan

by naomi
(washington, united states)

hi maria, i am between "dark brown" and "light brown" of the women pictured on your chart and i'd like to be "tan". is that a realistic goal? i can live with being dark tan.

if i had to guess, i'd say i'm a shade 10 and i'd like to be a shade 7. over the years, i've worn sunscreen maybe 10 times or some and i'm 20. i've gotten a lot darker over the years. my inner forearm and ankles are the lightest parts of me and i'd like to be that cover all over my body, especially my face.

i've tried both diana stalder and dermaline products. diana stalder didn't work but dermaline did really well. within a few days of using the orange soap i peeled. i peeled even more with the black soap. but my results went away because i wouldn't wear sunscreen. the problem with sucscreen for me is it looks weird on my skin because it's white, it's super greasy and thick to apply. i use neutrogena dry-sheers 85.

do you know of any sunscreen that is best to use on brown skin?

i am trying to do this lightening routine again. it'll be my 5th time and it's that way because i don't use sunscreen.

i have a pretty solid routine. if it sounds right to you or if you'd change anything please let me know :-)

day 1-4 - i use dermaline orange soap and let it sit on my skin for 5 minutes before rinsing. i apply cream to my butt, lips, knees, elbows and knuckles and lotion to my face.

day 5+ i use dermaline orange soap for a quick rinse only letting it stay on for a minute or two, then i use then black soap and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. (this is when i see most my peeling). i apply the lotion/cream.

i keep this up until i get to my forearm/ankle shade. and yes, i'll apply sunblock.

Answer:

Hi Naomi, firstly, you're using the 2 skin whitening soaps wrongly. Don't worry, nothing bad but preferably this way -

Use the papaya soap alone until it is used up. You only use the black soap when the papaya soap is gone, or after the skin has peeled from the papaya soap.

Going 3 shades lighter is doable, especially if you have that lighter skin tone somewhere in your body. You should get lightest closest to that shade.

And sunscreen? Try the gel- or spray-type. These should work just as fine. :)

Maria