5 Reasons to Celebrate Your Morena Skin
Don’t try to hide or whiten your golden glow, morenas. We give you five (very good) reasons to celebrate your color.
For too long, morenas have been conditioned to think that their darker skin tone is not enough—that it needs to be hidden, or needs to be changed. Allure Philippines is here to tell you that that is definitely not the case. Your beautiful brown skin comes with benefits other than being easy on the eye.
It all begins with your melanin. Morena skin happens to have more melanin, which is what produces the pigment of your eye, hair, and skin color. The more melanin you have, the darker the color. According to board-certified dermatologist Ada Atilano-Bautista, MD, head dermatologist at PROFERO Ageless Aesthetics, “Morena skin is found to have high levels of eumelanin, a brown-to-black pigment that is responsible for the warm and rich brown hue of morena skin.”
We asked Dr. Atilano-Bautista why morenas should celebrate their skin color, instead of downplaying it, and here’s what she had to say.
1. Darker skin has built-in protection against skin cancer.
If you’ve got darker skin, that means you’ve got more melanin. And melanin is a warrior in the fight against skin cancer. “There is strong evidence that supports the photoprotective role of melanin against skin cancers,” Dr. Atilano-Bautista says, adding that fair skin is 70 times more likely to develop skin cancer than subjects with dark skin. So if you’re morena, consider yourself lucky!
But, hold up, that still doesn’t mean you can skip the sunscreen. Pick one with an SPF of at least 30, and reapply frequently, Dr. Atilano-Bautista advises.
2. All that melanin also protects against sunburn.
Your skin’s first defense against UV rays is to produce more melanin, Dr. Atilano-Bautista explains. And the melanin goes on to absorb those dangerous UV rays that can seriously damage your skin. It’s this process—producing more melanin in response to exposure to UV rays—that gives you a tan, and protects you against a nasty sunburn.
3. Skin with more melanin has less photodamage.
Because the melanin in darker skin has a natural ability to absorb the UV rays, darker skin has less photodamage or sun damage. Photodamage happens after prolonged exposure to UV rays, and it accelerates aging, causes wrinkles and changes in skin tone and texture. If you’ve got morena skin, there’s a big chance you look younger than those with a fairer skin tone.
4. Morena skin is thicker and has higher collagen content.
Dr. Atilano-Bautista says, “Morena skin is known to have a thicker dermis and higher collagen content.” Collagen helps preserve skin elasticity, and it delays the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
5. Morena skin just glows!
You know how people all over the globe chase after that beautiful sun-kissed shade of skin year round? Well, morenas, there’s no chasing involved for you. That bronzed look is all yours—with zero effort. So love the skin that you’re in. Celebrate that golden glow—no matter the season.
Listen up, morenas
Your golden glow is special. In the first place, you don’t need any other reasons to love it aside from the fact that your skin is part of you. But if you need some reassurance, then we’ve just given you five very good reasons to fall in love with your morena skin tone over and over again. So go out there and wear your own skin with pride.
