People from Africa, African-Americans, Caribaeans, Other Islands have darker than European because of the increased amount of melanin in the skin. Melanin is the pigment in the skin and protects the skin from sunlight. This keeps black people looking younger than white skinned people.

The secret to black and dark skin beauty is to understand the many undertones found in darker skin. It’s important to know your own skin and choose shades that best complement your natural tones. Black women skin care is just as easy to follow as any other skin care. Different types of skin simply use different skin care products. There isn’t much more to it than that. Learning what products work best on darker skin is the first step in treating your skin.

The major worries for daker skin are spots. In fact, this kind of skin produces a lot of melanin. At the slightest scratch or skin aggression, the melanocyte system is warned and creates hyperpigmented spots that take long to disappear. Another problem is that a moderate climate is not suitable for black skins that are rather better under the sun. They are thought to be strong because they resist well the photocutaneous aging, but they can develop many types of allergies, in particular because of bad care habits.

What are the best cares to perform on a daily basis?

Women overestimate their skin resistance and tend to excessively clean it with pickling solutions. This destroys their hydrolipidic films and makes them dry. To compensate, they use very greasy creams, but that causes dehydration. The best thing to do is to use skin care products that are adapted to one’s type of skin, no matter what the brand is. It’s not necessary to use specific products for black skins. My advice is to use different cosmetics according to seasons: a rich cream in winter, and a more fluid one in the summer. One should remember also that this type of skin has a very fast cellular renewal and that the dye is scrambled quickly. However, it still tolerates gumming twice a week, to get rid of the accumulated dead cells.

What to think of the products that are supposed to clear up the dye?

Women of color always wanted to have a unified skin color, which is rather difficult taking into consideration spots. To satisfy this request, very dangerous products were introduced to the market. Those were based on hydroquinone, a highly carcinogenic compound. They were withdrawn from the French market, but can still be found abroad. Another radical method is the abusive use of cortisone that will destroy the skin to unify the dye, but unfortunately also affects the melanocyte system. These techniques are fascinating as they are easy and give immediate results, but they can cause serious damage. Nowadays, many clearing or stain-resistant products are made of protected molecules and are perfectly adapted to the skin, without any damage. But for that, one should be patient and use them regularly.

What are the main problems for the Afro hair?

Afro scalps are low in sebaceous glands, which makes them very dry. Besides, it’s a flat hair that makes successive curls. It grows slowly and is hard to do. That’s why one alters this frizzy hair with defrisants and braids. Obviously, these practices damage and weaken the hair, so it’s important to use specific products to hydrate and disentangle it. Above all, one should not think that washing hair too much is likely to desiccate it. That is false, and moreover, the accumulation of sebum and impurities on the roots and the addition of very greasy care products may cause an occlusion of the scalp. The latest will cause a lot of dandruff, whereas with one or two regular washing with hydrating shampoos, this problem can be avoided. Also, the use of a disentangling each time is needed, as well as an in-depth care with a mask once a week and hairdressing creams on a daily basis, because crisped hair needs to be weighed down to be more easily malleable.