For the first time EVER, Moh’d -a dear friend and co-worker- ended up choosing the same topic for our upcoming post! Apparently, the topic was “hot enough” to simultaneously grab our attention and controversial enough to get us writing before we even realized that we were, more or less, tackling the issue from the same angle!

Therefore, I chose to add Mohd’s introduction to my post since, frankly, I like it better ;)

While white people in Europe and North America are swarming to tanning salons and picking up overpriced tanning creams to gain a lovely bronze shade, people in South East Asia have a completely contrary appreciation to skin tones; they are obsessed with lighter skin. The whitening creams’ industry has been booming in the past decade and is not limited to face creams only, they are even marketing creams for “pink nipples”!