Re: skin lightening
Common misconception. 75% of the sun’s rays are said to penetrate an overcast sky. The sun is there even when it ain’t there. Ideally sunblock should be worn then too. Google Kojie-San soap. It’s all-natural and made of kojic acid which is an exfoliator and a lightener. You can try to get it from your local Southeast Asian market. Or you can order it off of Amazon for under $10. There’s a seller on Amazon that sells this soap and has the highest number of reviews (can’t remember seller’s name) but that’s the one you should click on. Order one bar to see how it goes. Soap seems to melt fast, so as soon as you’re done store it in covered soap dish, the kind that has a lid. When you apply the soap, it will tingle. Try to keep it on your skin for at least 5 minutes before washing it off. If your skin is used to treatments (as mine is) then you can go 10-15 minutes before washing off. But start of small and as your skin gets used to it, you can increase the time a few minutes. You should notice some difference in your skin tone and clarity within 1-2 weeks inshaAllah, buy everybody’s skin is different. It should hopefully appear brighter. And the exfoliation from the soap will allow moisturizer and other products to penetrate your skin more effective, so you can use a moisturizer or serum that contains a lightening agent such as hydroquinone or arbutin or licorice etc. I think hydroquinone is banned in UK buy not sure. One precaution that you must take with ANY skin lightening product is to always apply sunblock 15-30 minutes before leaving the home in the daytime, even on a typical cloudy UK day. You can apply the soap to your neck as well, but then also make sure to apply sunblock to neck. Vitamin E is also said to lighten; you can break open a capsule and apply the oil and vit E is also found in oils like olive oil etc. As others have suggested, make sure you drink plenty of water and eat a healthy diet.
And one thing to keep in mind is that skin color changes. Seriously. I was dark as a baby, then really fair afterward, then super saanwli during school years, then lighter during mid teens, etc etc. In some individuals skin color fluctuates. The more important thing is not to be gori chitti, but to have clear and healthy skin. Unfortunately our cousins from “back home” will still make comments even if a girl’s skin is darker but glowing and clear. One my cousins is fair-skinned. She went to Pakistan after many years and a cousin remarked that she wasn’t as chitti as she was when she was an infant. And mind you this cousin is FAIR, people think she’s Caucasian or any race but Desi. But the chitti cousins back home still commented. But in commenting they forget about their own problem areas such as being overweight. They will openly express whether you’ve gained or lost weight, whether your hair is less or more, whether your rang is glowing or otherwise conveniently forgetting that people CHANGE as time goes by. So, some amount of confidence is necessary too, OP. Don’t base your self-worth on cousins’ comments.