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 They were withdrawn from the French market, but can still be found abroad.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.

Today, its traditional yet popular materials, including sormeh (a black powder used as eyeliner) and golab (rose water) co-exist with foreign offers and beauty brands such as L’Oréal Paris.

Doctor knows best

With a population of more than 68 million, there is huge potential for beauty companies to tap into the market. However, with a 60% market share, pharmacies provide the principal channel for beauty sales selling an array of premium, selective and mass brands. The remaining 40% comes from retailers such as perfumeries and beauty institutes.

One particularity of the market is the link between beauty and medicine, demonstrated by the industry’s role in the pharmacy channel. Doctors and dermatologists are major purchasing advisors in Iran. Even to choose a makeup remover, women ask for their doctor’s advice.

If local brands will not be the main players in the market, local customs will certainly dictate the avenues foreign brands should explore.

Islamic values and cosmetic exhibition

The first cosmetics and personal hygiene fair was closed by the Iranian judiciary on February 6, 2005 in Mashhad city, which is a holy city devoted to Islamic values. During the exhibition, a large number of Iranian women visited the stands offering colour cosmetics and other feminine toiletries. Many women were openly wearing bright make-up, which is not in line with the Islamic code of conduct that forbids colourful make-up in public.

The Iranian judiciary officially asked the director of the Mashhad exhibition that only women run the cosmetic stands in order to respect the Islamic code, but it was not done. As a result, the Mashhad cosmetics exhibition was shut down but later re-opened.

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, adolescent females have been required to wear a veil. But in spite of these restrictions, not all women cover their hair totally anymore and often wear trasnparent scarves so that their hairstyle can be visible. These customs open the door to the haircare segment, as well as to the eye makeup category, which is already a traditional bestseller in the market as eye contact is paramount in Iran, according to Hashemithe.

Mineral makeup is made from naturally occurring minerals like iron oxides, mica powder and titanium dioxide. This means that the ingredients you are slathering on your face on a daily basis come straight from the earth, not from some chemist’s lab. Even better than liquid foundation that is usually sticky and messy, mineral eco-friendly makeup comes in an easy-to-apply powder which covers blemishes and other pesky skin problems flawlessly while still allowing it breathe. Using powder also means there are no nasty oils in your makeup, which is good news for people with extra sensitive skin. Mineral makeup is also less likely to clog your pores and a lot of mineral makeup includes built-in protection against the sun’s UVA/UVB rays, so your face will look stunning and you’ll be protected from the damaging affects of the sun. And forget worrying about your makeup running (powder can stay in place even on the most humid of summer days and is practically water and sweat proof!). Think about it: now you won’t have to layer on sunscreen, foundation and powder. You’ll save yourself time in front of the mirror in the morning and even some cash!

So, what’s wrong with all the other man-made stuff? Research has shown that the Food and Drug Administration in the United States allows ingredients in makeup that are highly chemically processed and man-made (including dyes that make your eyeshadow all those pretty shades!), some of which have been shown to cause a bunch of skin problems and even cancer in rare cases! When you get the man made stuff, you never know what you’re really putting on your face (and when you’ve only got one, it deserves lots of care). Most people who have switched to mineral makeup say they like it better than the conventional stuff they used to buy. For exemple, a majority of persons who have used an eco-friendly brand of lip or eye makeup prefer it over a conventional brand they have used in the past.

For over 25 years, L’Occitane has been using authentic and natural products, and rigorously selects ingredients with the greatest respect for Man, animals and the environment. All of the cosmetic products are formulated with the most natural ingredients available: pure essential oils and (preferably organic) vegetal extracts used as active ingredients. The selection of natural and traceable ingredients is the very core of the company’s product development.

An overwhelming majority of eco-friendly lip and eye makeup users feel that these eco-friendly brand are of higher quality than conventional ones. L’Occitane and Dr. Hauschka lip makeup users say that these brand perform and look better than a conventional brand.

You already have environmental pollutants seeping into your skin each day. Why enable more by using cosmetics and beauty products contaiing harsh chemicals, many of which you can’t even pronounce, much less spell ? Lucky for you, new brands of eco-friendly cosmetics and green beauty products are now available everywhere. These certifiably organic products not only shun ingredients like petrochemicals, synthetic preservaties, mineral oils, pesticide residues and genetically modified additives, but even support local communities where they are produced.

Natural skin care and organic skin care is good for us, the environment and for generations to come.