# bleaching cream made skin darker! Now what?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098 "2006-07-03T22:21:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/1 "2006-07-03T22:21:12Z")
ok, this is a major crisis for me! I wore my comfy sandals around the pool for hours and the single-strap around my big toe left me with a weird tan, so at someone’s suggestion, I used a bleaching cream and the frigg’n cream made the tan strap across my toe darker! :mad: Now what??? please, need suggestions fast as I want to wear my gorgeous italian strap sandals nxt wknd! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/2 "2006-07-03T23:09:52Z")
You could use Tan-In-A-Can (sunless tanning lotion) to make the rest of your skin darker. It works pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/3 "2006-07-03T23:12:03Z")
Would anyone but you actually notice? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/4 "2006-07-03T23:14:04Z")
Clorox. ---
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/5 "2006-07-04T13:52:24Z")
The darkened mark is noticeable. Clorox? Hmmmmm. Well, I purchased some pharmacy cream that’s suppose to lighten acne scars, I’m going to put a little on and see what happens. If after 24 hrs I don’t see a difference, I may dab a bit of clorox on and cross my fingers 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/6 "2006-07-04T15:19:43Z")
Just be glad you don’t need the ‘Anal Bleaching Products’ advertised down at the bottom of the thread right now. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/7 "2006-07-04T15:25:56Z")
Please don’t use clorox. My sister did that as a kid, and still has a scar from it. ---
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/8 "2006-07-04T23:34:58Z")
**bleaching cream made skin darker! Now what?!** Get a life? ---
**Author:** ![Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b782af/32.png) [@Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_And_Candy)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/9 "2006-07-04T23:50:44Z")
[QUOTE=Can Handle the Truth] **bleaching cream made skin darker! Now what?!** Get a life? [/QUOTE] How delightfully relevant. You’re just the King of Cuteington, aren’t you? :-\* OP, the only thing I can suggest is a tanning cream. You can pick one up for little money and it should get rid of thh embarrassing mark. Just make sure to apply it with a sponge-- don’t want to stain your fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/10 "2006-07-05T00:27:33Z")
Send the cream to Michael Jackson? ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/11 "2006-07-05T02:29:15Z")
Ok, nobody laugh. I used that Jergens Body Glow lotion that is supposed to turn your skin darker slowly. It didn’t. My skin stayed white and my knees turned orange. I made a paste with water and Comet With Bleach and rubbed it on my knees for about five minutes, adding more water as the paste dried. It worked great. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/12 "2006-07-05T02:37:20Z")
Why would you use bleach on a tan line? I’ve never in my entire life heard of this. Like someone else suggested: use some tan in a can. If you don’t care about that whole cancer thing, spend a session or two in a tanning bed. Or you could just exfoliate daily, as the silly thing will fade pretty quickly anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/13 "2006-07-05T03:02:49Z")
Hmm, well I know you’d rather of heard that I’ve tried this myself before, but it’s pretty common practice to use higher concentrations of Hydrogen Chloride on the skin, it’s what’s used in teeth whitening agents. The safe kind is called “food grade” which means you can actually stick it in your mouth. I know this because it’s actually the main ingredient in the Oxyclean products that were so popular, when I found out they used lots of filler ingredient(soda ash) I went on a hunt for a more concentrated version. I-I was actually going to use this stuff to clean the yellowing off my headlights, so a discolored toe shouldn’t be much or a problem. 😛 The main rub of this solution is the cost, 35% H2)2 is not something you can find easily locally especially without a doctor’s slip. And if you order it my mail, 1) it won’t get to you by next weekend 2) the more you buy the cheaper the overall product, which isn’t so convenient for a single toe bleaching. But if moeny and time are nothing to you I still have a link I was only millimeters away from using myself. [http://www.dfwx.com/h2o2.html](http://www.dfwx.com/h2o2.html) Good luck, I guess you could always do like the Germans and wear some socks =D ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/14 "2006-07-05T03:09:29Z")
[QUOTE=Thinktank] it’s pretty common practice to use higher concentrations of Hydrogen Chloride on the skin… [/QUOTE] I really don’t think you mean hydrogen _chloride_. That’s HCl, also known as hydrochloric acid–not something you want on your skin in a high concentration! You probably mean hydrogen _peroxide_, which is H[sub]2[/sub]0[sub]2[/sub]. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/15 "2006-07-05T03:29:13Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] I really don’t think you mean hydrogen _chloride_. That’s HCl, also known as hydrochloric acid–not something you want on your skin in a high concentration! You probably mean hydrogen _peroxide_, which is H[sub]2[/sub]0[sub]2[/sub]. [/QUOTE] Ouch. 😉 Even with hydrogen peroxide, care should be taken. I found out the hard way that my skin has some sort of allergic reaction to that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Dracona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea5d25/32.png) [@Dracona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dracona)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/16 "2006-07-05T03:37:57Z")
[QUOTE=pace] Now what??? please, need suggestions fast as I want to wear my gorgeous italian strap sandals nxt wknd! [/QUOTE] Toe ring? :dubious: [QUOTE=Lemur Catta] Just be glad you don’t need the ‘Anal Bleaching Products’ advertised down at the bottom of the thread right now. :eek: [/QUOTE] Actually, this was the first product that came to mind. I don’t know where I read it, but porn stars apparantly use anal bleaching cream to blend the darkened area of skin around the anus with the color of their other flesh. It doesn’t actually seem like too bad of an idea. [QUOTE=SP2263] My skin stayed white and my knees turned orange. I made a paste with water and Comet With Bleach and rubbed it on my knees for about five minutes, adding more water as the paste dried. It worked great. [/QUOTE] Had the same problem when I was 16. Doc granted me an early release from hospital so that I could attend my then-boyfriend’s senior prom. Being pale, I used self-tanner and, being ill, forgot to wash my hands. An abraisive substance and chlorox worked for me as well. The problem is, natural tanning is much deeper than self-tanner. Removal of a natural tan would require exfoliation of so many layers of skin that the result would be much more aesthetically offensive. [QUOTE=Q.E.D.] I really don’t think you mean hydrogen _chloride_. That’s HCl, also known as hydrochloric acid–not something you want on your skin in a high concentration! You probably mean hydrogen _peroxide_, which is H[sub]2[/sub]0[sub]2[/sub]. [/QUOTE] Of all suggestions thus far, I’d personally choose hydrogen peroxide. ---
**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/17 "2006-07-05T20:11:45Z")
My apologies for chemical disassociation(Hydrogen Peroxide is what I meant), but any doubts as to my referral would have been cast aside if you followed the included link. Do be careful with it though, it’s supposed to be pretty effective stuff or It would have never caught my attention. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/18 "2006-07-05T22:39:54Z")
[QUOTE=Dracona] Actually, this was the first product that came to mind. I don’t know where I read it, but porn stars apparantly use anal bleaching cream to blend the darkened area of skin around the anus with the color of their other flesh. It doesn’t actually seem like too bad of an idea. [/QUOTE] Well, consider my ignorance fought. :eek: There’s even a brief entry at wikipedia on the subject, under the heading of Anal Bleaching. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/19 "2006-07-05T23:45:02Z")
I don’t know anybody who wears sandals regularly and _doesn’t_ have some sort of stripey foot tan. My suggestion is to leave it alone, rather than wind up in some sort of escalating sitcom-like tragedy involving ever-greater areas and ever-more discolored/irritated skin. ---
**Author:** ![Dracona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea5d25/32.png) [@Dracona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dracona)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bleaching-cream-made-skin-darker-now-what/363098/20 "2006-07-06T21:24:48Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] I don’t know anybody who wears sandals regularly and _doesn’t_ have some sort of stripey foot tan. My suggestion is to leave it alone, rather than wind up in some sort of escalating sitcom-like tragedy involving ever-greater areas and ever-more discolored/irritated skin. [/QUOTE] ::laughs:: which reminds me … Last summer, my son (then only 18 months old) developed periorbital cellulitis. Instead of getting him admitted to hospital ASAP, the doctor spent an inordinate amount of time documenting (as I would find out later) “extensive bruising” on my son’s feet. Finally he came inside and asked me what had happened to my son’s feet. Stunned, I pulled his fisherman sandles from the diaper bag and pointed out that the “bruises” were actually tan lines. I’ve never since been able to elicit such a sheepish expression from a physician. /end pointless anecdote.