in case your not aware melanin is the pigment that gives human skin, hair, and eyes their color. Dark-skinned people have more melanin in their skin than light-skinned people have. Melanin is produced by cells called melanocytes.
Younger Looking Skin
According to Dermatologist Susan C. Taylor and author of Brown Skin, African-Americans and other people of color generally look younger than their lighter-skinned peers because of the higher levels of melanin in their skin. The increased melanin protects those who have it from short-term damage from the sun, as well as the long-term signs of aging, such as age spots, deep wrinkles and rough texture, according to Taylor.
Protection From the Sun
While white people tend to get really bad sunburns if there in the sun for too long, people with melanin rich skin don't have the same effects. Instead the skin is able to absorb the sun's rays. In African American skin, melanin provides a sun protection factor (SPF) approximately equivalent to 13.4, compared to 3.4 in white skin.6-8 This discrepancy illustrates why skin cancer is more prevalent in Caucasian people; it is, in fact, the most common type of malignancy in the US among Caucasians. Their inherently light skin color and low amounts of melanin leave them vulnerable to the sun’s carcinogenic (cancer-causing) ultraviolet rays. UV light, also emitted by tanning beds/lamps, is, in many cases, the causative culprit of skin cancer in Caucasian Americans.
Radicals
Free radicals have been implicated as the cause of widespread damage to human cells. In an article written for The Sun and Your Skin website, Diana Clarke, the website’s founder, writes about melanin’s role in scavenging free radicals, preventing the skin damage they can cause.
Human Reproduction
The dark pigmentation protects from DNA damage and absorbs the right amounts of UV radiation needed by the body, as well as protects against folate depletion. Folate is water soluble vitamin B complex which naturally occurs in green, leafy vegetables, whole grains, and citrus fruits. Women need folate to maintain healthy eggs, for proper implantation of eggs, and for the normal development of placenta after fertilization. Folate is needed for normal sperm production in men. Furthermore, folate is essential for fetal growth, organ development, and neural tube development. Folate breaks down in high intense UVR. Dark-skinned women suffer the lowest level of neural tube defects.
Despite this, a disadvantage to having more melanin is that it makes our skin more "reactive." That means almost any stimulus -- a rash, scratch, pimple, or inflammation -- may trigger the production of excess melanin, resulting in dark marks or patches on the skin. These dark areas are the result of what is called postinflammatory hyperpigmentation. Less commonly, some Black women will develop a decrease in melanin or postinflammatory hypopigmentation in response to skin trauma (burns, etc.). In either case, the dark or light areas may be disfiguring and devastating for women who experience them, especially because the discolorations may take months or years to fade.
That's why handling your skin gently, wearing sunscreen, and preventing pigmentation problems are keys to our skin care.
Idc what y'all say dark skin , brown skin , and light skin !
They all winning
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