What is Brown Skin & How a Woman of Color Can Look Her Best..

What is Brown Skin

Brown skin is Diverse, Unique and Beautiful. Our diverse backgrounds span the globe and include Asian skin, Latino skin, Black skin, Indian skin, and Middle-Eastern skin types. Our unique skin care, hair care and nail care needs are different from those of Caucasians. Our Beauty shines in mind, body and spirit. We are women with Brownskin.

Brown skin is skin that has a naturally warm, glowing complexion and ranges in shade from tapioca to cinnamon to deep chocolate brown. Brown skin is skin that contains increased levels of the pigment, melanin as compared to other skin types.

The melanin in brown skin is made in cells known as melanocytes. These cells, which are contained in the upper layer of the skin, are very reactive in our skin. Melanocytes can and do produce more melanin when stimulated by a diverse array of factors including sunlight, inappropriate skin care products or cosmetics, irritating topical medications, certain oral medications and many medical conditions.Brown skin also reacts differently and at times more severely to common conditions such as acne, eczema, psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis . Increased facial hair growth and the curvature of the hair follicles of some women with brown skin can lead to unsightly ingrown hairs and painful bumps.

How a Woman of Color Can Look Her Best

As a woman of color, you’ve always desired radiant, even-toned skin and healthy, fast-growing hair, but you may not have always had the facts and the guidance you need to look your best. Few books and magazines offer details about the skin and hair of women of color.

The books that do offer only superficial, and sometimes inaccurate, information. To get the skin and hair you long for and deserve, you first need to become better acquainted with the skin you’re in.

 As a woman of color, the better you understand what makes your skin and hair unique, the better you’ll be able to care for your looks and uncover your natural beauty. In this chapter, you’ll begin to learn about skin-of-color characteristics. Skin of color is quite different from white skin in many respects. Also, among women of color there is great variety of skin tones and types. As you gain a better understanding of the differences between skin of color and white skin, and what makes your skin distinct, you’ll be able to make wiser decisions about your skin’s care. With this knowledge you’ll gain the power to look your best.

In Black and White: What Makes Skin of Color Different?

The distinctions between your skin of color and white skin are numerous.

The most notable differences include:

• More melanin, or brown skin pigment, resulting in a warmer skin shade
• Greater natural protection from the sun and lower risk of skin cancer
• Fewer visible signs of aging, such as deep wrinkles, fine lines, and sun spots
• Potential problems with pigmentation, or uneven darkening or lightening of skin
• Greater risk of keloid (raised, often large scars) development
• Skin of Color Characteristics

Our skin is made up of three distinct layers: the epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutaneous layer.

Another advantage to having more melanin is that people of color are less susceptible to developing skin cancer, particularly the more common types known as basal and squamous cell skin cancers. The rate of skin cancer among African Americans, though significant, is many times lower than the rate for Whites. As women of color, we also have the advantage of possessing the naturally warm, glowing skin sought after by White women without having to go to the beach or a tanning salon.

Skin of color is also more susceptible to developing certain conditions such as keloids, or large, raised scars that grow beyond the original site of injury. We are more likely to be affected by several different types of disfiguring bumps, such as razor bumps or bumps that occur in the back of the scalp called acne keloidalis nuchae.