I know why but I just wanted to discuss this with you guys...

As you may know Hydroquinone has been banned in the UK and parts of Europe and I keep asking myself why this ban was imposed. I know that there have been many horror stories but generally these have been where HQ has been used with other substances like steroids mercury etc. Other factors may also have been where it has been incorrectly used, like with no sun protection, too long at high concentrations etc.

It does not make sense that in the US and other parts of the world, it can be bought over the counter and yet here, anyone caught selling it could be fined and if found persistantly selling it, possibly imprisonment.

What gets me, is that we all know the dangers of smoking and drinking and YET these prodcts have never been banned. I know that the taxes collected on them would always mean it would not get the same sort of ban but have you seen some of the pics of people who have developed oral cancer through smoking? To me, it is more horrific than anything that I have seen from a skin lightening product. I am going to warn you that the pictures are very graphic, so do not scroll further if you do not want to see them. Just tell me your thoughts.

WARNING PHOTOS BELOW

I apologise if this is upsetting for anyone, but I just don't get the hypocrisy of banning one thing and allowing such a damaging product to continue. I know this is not the outcome for everyone, thank goodness.

And apologies again !!!

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Wow!!!! my blood is running cold i don't even know what to say.

OMG!! I thought I had prepared myself well enough but....
To me it looks like a type of discrimination over hydroquinone to be banned for things much minor than this. I read that theres no cases of skin cancer linked to using hq, at least in same amounts. But this makes me never want to try a cigarette again, I'm in no way a smoker but I did try it a couple of times in the past.

Trust me when I say, there are much worse photos. but do you get what I mean when I say, why a total ban on HQ when smoking has been known to cause such horrific damage, as well as premature death .


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And I am sorry cordellpuss, I felt the same when I saw them too !!

Kandiluv, apparently part of some giving up smoking therapies involve meeting patients and viewing pics like this. It does really work for a lot of people. I am not a smoker either but this would definitely put me off.

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Those photos are enough to make anyone consider nolonger smoking. I'm sure there are worse photos, but that first one takes the cake. There is this electronic cigarette to help smokers have a safer alternative, for those who smoke.

I agree with Sara, I think it's more to it than "safety" because if it was about safety then they have a long list of other things to ban. I'm never lived in Europe, so have the government also banned major tanning ingredients or are they turning a blind eye on it?

Just an idea, maybe some sort of petition with many people backing it might help. Banning isn't going to stop it, it only pushes the worse of products to sell illegally. They should just keep hydroquinone at moderation and have products tested on a regular basis to make sure no mercury or steroid is in them and hq being used at safe levels. But, as some already said, it wasn't about safety or concern.

I will never, ever touch another cigarette again that is for sure!

So, can you show some of the worse pictures of this? Just a little curious.

Sara can you tellme the amount of time it had taken for your arm to reach that shade?

kandiluv,

I can't believe that was not enough for you !!! You are definitely a blood and gore type of gal !!!

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sara, you said something that I was waiting for someone to mention. I truly believe that part of it is, wanting to keep people the way they are and it feels almost like an act of repression. Normally worrying voices are hardly heard above the louder voices of those who have a great demand for something and YET there were some who had a bad experience and WHAM, they decided this has got to GO !!!

And like LiteNYellow also mentioned, tanning salons have, for a long time now, been known for their possible damaging effects and YET this is still ok. And in addition to this, you do not get programmes continuously asking why tan in the first place. No one is asking, why don't you like yourself the way you are. Is there some sort of insecurity or psycological issue here?

I very much doubt that they will overturn their decision, at least in the near future anyway, BUT in the meantime, I agree that this has let the floodgates open to seeing what I consider to be far more harmful products hitting the shelves. I don' t think that in any one of the shows condemning lightening, have I seen them offer a viable alternative that actually works.

Golden Girl wrote:Sara can you tellme the amount of time it had taken for your arm to reach that shade?

Lol I have replied in the thread but 2 months with mon 255 and retin a once a day, you guys can see the difference a lot??

sara wrote:

Golden Girl wrote:Sara can you tellme the amount of time it had taken for your arm to reach that shade?

Lol I have replied in the thread but 2 months with mon 255 and retin a once a day, you guys can see the difference a lot??

Yes there is a definite difference .
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yah your arm has really lightened up.

Sadly I've seen worse in real life. They should show this everytime a person buys the cancer sticks. I used to say two minutes when my mother would light one. It meant those were two minutes less I'd get to spend with her....it worked.

I know what you're going through maharani, my fanily is in france and we french are a wine culture so good luck banning that lol. I think banning hq simply encourages the scamers to pray on innocent people. Look at what prohabition did to the US in the 20s and 30s.
I guess hq will always be a hot topic and I think it has more to do with people uncomfortable with others altering their skin. Well I'm a psychology major and I find nothing wrong so long as you don't abuse and you first learn to love yourself.

This seems to sum up the fact that the system does not want us to have control over achieving any sort of real lightening and we end up using all sorts of dangerous things

eeeeewwwwwhhhhhhhhh!!! Gross gross gross. Those pics are way worse than some of the photos that I have seen being pedaled against any kind of skin lightening products. I am so never gonna become a smoker

That sums up most things. We seem to be in so little control and the way things are often we are being steered into using dangerous products.

well in south africa HQ is at every corner although they enter the country ILLEGALLY... i have never used HQ before but one thing for sure is government has bigger things to ban than focusing on HQ...
HQ, SKIN LIGHTENING PRODUCTS whether it is HQ based or not- I HAVE A STRONG BELIEF THAT IT IS A BIG MARKET IN A COUNTRY, so why dont they just give good education of it like "pamflets" on what not to do and what to do when using HQ etc... smoking is not ban, weed in some countries are like cigarettes too but no gov goes and close down their business but they have time for HQ...come on...
i believe it should be allowed in all countries at own risk like smoking...

100% agreed.More information is needed and then the user can apply at one own's risk. There are so many more things that should be banned that aren't.