Early skin whitening practices were not well-documented. Skin whitening is a practice that has made its way across the entire globe with a multitude of cultures adopting the practice under various ideologies. Commonly, the practice has been marketed towards women under the pretense that porcelain skin was the ideal representation of beauty and status. The first recorded practices of skin whitening can be traced back to over 200 B.C. across a multitude of civilizations that utilized natural sources of ingredients to facilitate the production of skin whitening substances. One of these methods include the use of honey and
olive oil as a method of whitening the skin in different civilizations such as in Egypt as well as in Greek culture. More specifically, out of the four stages associated with this theory, the first one, named the "pre-encounter" stage, highlights the underlying concept one not associating themselves with their own culture or values due partly to the misinformation one has been taught to believe and therefore seeks validation and worthiness from those who have misinformed that person. Ancient Asian cultures also associated light skin with feminine beauty. "Jade" white skin in Korea is known to have been the ideal as far back as the
Gojoseon era. Japan's
Edo period saw the start of a trend of women whitening their faces with rice powder as a "moral duty". Chinese women valued a "milk white" complexion and swallowed powdered pearls towards that end. Skin-lightening practices had achieved great importance in East Asia as early as the 16th century. Following the Meiji restoration, men and women reserved white lead makeup and traditional attire for special occasions. Historians also noted that as East Asian women immigrated to the United States, immigrant women engaged in skin lightening more frequently than women who did not immigrate. Skincare products that are recognized to protect the skin included chemicals that assist in skin whitening. Multiple studies find that preferences for lighter skin in India were historically linked to both the
Indian caste system and centuries of outside rule by light-skinned nations. In the Philippines and many Southeast Asian countries, lighter skin was associated with higher social status. While pale skin suggested being away from the sun, darker skin signified the result of working in external conditions. With colonial influence from Britain's occupation, there was a distinction in superiority and inferiority. and
Saudi Arabia. This practice has been attributed to a perceived association between light skin and beauty, as well as marriage and employment opportunities. Bleaching cosmetics often incorporated white lead carbonate and mercury as lightening agents. According to medieval historians, light skin was an indicator of
aristocracy and higher socioeconomic class, as laborers were more frequently exposed to outdoor sunlight. Men and women lightened their skin superficially and chemically, using white powder and
Venetian ceruse, respectively. In the 2015 book,
Skin bleaching in Black Atlantic zones: shade shifters, author Shirley Anne Tate writes that skin lightening was often not well-received in Black culture. Women in Black cultures who used skin whiteners were described as artificial, while Black men who used skin whiteners were described as overly effeminate. Historians credited the increased marketing of skin whiteners to the culture of the
Jim Crow era, as black Americans faced continued social and legal restrictions. Recovered journals from women in
Suriname indicated that they used vegetable mixtures to lighten their skin, which produced painful side effects. The ideologies behind blanqueamiento promoted the idea of social hierarchy, based on Eurocentric features and skin tone.
Africa Records indicate prominent usage of skin lighteners in
South Africa beginning in the 20th century. Skin lighteners in South Africa were first marketed to white consumers, then eventually to consumers of color. Initially, skin whitening was typically practiced by rural and poor South African women; however, studies indicate that the practice has become increasingly prevalent among black women with higher incomes and levels of education. By the 1980s, critiques of skin whitening had become incorporated into the anti-apartheid movement, given skin-whitening's adverse consequences on health and its social implications of
colorism. Maya Allen attributed this to the increased flow of European products and commercial influence into colonized regions. Several historians have suggested that the increased prevalence of skin whitening in "the
Global South" is potentially tied to both precolonial notions of beauty and post-colonial hierarchies of race. == Health hazards ==