Brief Answer: Use melanin reducing creams along with sunscreen Detailed Answer: Hi Deepanshu. At your age its is a very common question that we as dermatologists have to answer in day to day practice. These days one can find so many advertisements in print media and television about cosmetics/creams that claim to give you fairness and perfect blemish free skin. In this day and age of cut-throat competition they claim to give magical results but instead of doing good they can cause more harm like acne, irritation, pigmentation etc. So i would advice you consult a dermatologist who would tell you about the right products for your skin. Before answering your question i want to enlighten on certain facts. >Indian skin is either Type III, IV and V as compared to people living in the West who have either Type I or Type II skin. Skin type is genetically determined. Type I skin has no melanin and Type III skin had Good amount of melanin and is thus brown looking as in Indians whereas Type VI skin is found in Negroes. Indian skin becomes dark (tanned) on exposure to sunlight because of synthesis of new melanin which protects us from sun (Photoageing). Therefore Indians can become dark complexioned when exposed to excessive sun outdoors. That is because indian skin reproduces new melanin which is visible as tanning/dark complexion. Since skin type is genetically determined so we cannot change the skin type (f.g from skin type III to skin type I) but we can remove the tan/dark complexion caused by sun exposure by various demelanising creams. >Use a broad spectrum sunscreen with SPF at least 30+ which mentions coverage against both UV A and UV B rays. Apply it liberally on your face at least 15-20 mins before stepping out of the house and reapply very 2-3 hours. >In the evening you can use a demelanising cream which contains products like glycolic acid, kojic acid, arbutin, tetrahydrocurcumin, liquorice extract. Their are various cream which combine these products in various concentrations and i would advice you to consult a dermatologist and get one of these prescribed which you can use regularly. Hope it answers your query take care. regards dr. kakkar

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