Women are acutely aware of their skin and that the stages of their lives are being reflected back to them in their mirrors.
Of 143.4 million women, 42.1 million–or 29.3 percent–are members of racial and ethnic minority groups, the latest U.S. Census data shows. They look in the mirror and want to know how to best take care of their skin.
Cosmetic companies now recognize this growing need and have products that complement skin of color: Bobbie Brown, Mac, Revlon, Opal and Iman, to name a few. Fashion Fair was one of the pioneers in this area. Also available is a growing library of written interest, addressing what has long been a brushed-by subject. Admittedly, some of it is skimpy.
“There are lots of beauty and health books that have a chapter dedicated to ethnic skin–and that one chapter may be it,” says Dr. Susan C. Taylor, a dermatologist and the author of a comprehensive new book “Brown Skin” (Amistad, $24.95).
“Most brown women in the United States are likely to have descended from African, Native American, Latin and/or European ancestry,” says Taylor, a woman of color herself whose practice is dedicated to ethnic care issues. “These combinations can produce an endless array of skin tones and hair textures. So the bottom line is there is no one type of brown skin.”
To Taylor, it was the frustration of seeing the limited space given to ethnic skin that motivated her to write her book. “Brown Skin” looks at why women of color must be careful with skin rejuvenation techniques like peels. It also has tips for daily skin care for dry, normal, oily and hyperpigmented skin, and anti-aging strategies. Further, it discusses skin cancer in people of color and common causes of hair loss.
“Skin of color contains increased amounts of melanin,” says Taylor, who is the director of the Skin of Color Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York.
“The amount of melanin among different women of color can vary dramatically,” Taylor adds. “Scientists have estimated that people of African descent have some 35 different hues or shades of skin tone.”
Dr. Jonith Breadon, who teaches dermatologic surgery at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital and has a practice in Lincoln Park, says most of her patients are women and about 50 percent are women of color. “The most commonly asked question about aging is ‘how do I stop it?’ ” she says.
For women of color, age doesn’t show itself in wrinkles and sagging skin as it does for Caucasians. There are other signs.
One of those signs are “those annoying skin moles or tags we get,” Breadon says. “There used to be a time, when you were told not to touch the moles because they would bleed and you’d bleed to death–or it would turn to cancer.”
Breadon says none of that is true. She explains that skin tags are an outgrowth of the skin and it’s painless to get rid of them. Skin tags look as though they are attached to the skin, unlike moles, which are in the skin.
Dr. Brooke Jackson, director of the Skin Wellness Center of Chicago, who, like Breadon and Taylor, emphasizes skin care plans tailored to patients, says “sure, the aging question comes up, but ethnic skin ages differently.”
Ethnic skin has a built-in protector against deep creases in the skin, Jackson says. For example, a 60-year-old African-American woman is less likely than her Caucasian counterpart to have crow’s feet, facial lines, laugh lines or smile lines, she says.
“Our natural pigment has protected us from that–and from sun damage,” says Breadon, noting that cases of skin cancer caused by sun damage are rare among people of color. “Because pigment molecules or granules in our skin absorb radiation, we don’t get as much destruction of our elastic tissue and collagen so we don’t sag and wrinkle as easily,” she adds.
For more
Other books on skin care and cosmetics include:
– “The African American Woman’s Guide to Successful Makeup and Skincare,” by Alfred Fornay (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. $16.95)
– “Fine Beauty: Beauty Basics and Beyond for African-American Women,” by Sam Fine (Riverhead Books, $24.95)
– “The Essence Total Makeover: Body, Beauty and Spirit,” by Patricia Mignon Hinds and Susan L. Taylor (Three Rivers Press, $18)
