Thoughts on Mena Cream

When I was a kid, I remember our househelpers raving on cheap drugstore whitening products and applying these whitening creams all over their faces until they're espasol-esque. Even back then, whitening products have always been a hit among Filipinas. And with affordable products, even those with very tight budgets can whiten their skin - one of such whitening products, according to our househelp, is Mena Face Cream.

Mena Face Cream
(Image from Mena website)

The product claims it can "work miracles on spots, acnes and blemishes" and is marketed as a whitening cream. As a kid I never knew why the ates wanted to whiten their skin and if their HG whitening cream was safe. At that time, they did seem fairer when they used this cream but their faces were always peeling since they were also using a popular "peeling" exfoliator.

While we cannot question their motivation for a whiter skin, we can try to investigate if the product actually works and if it is safe. The best way to go about this is to check the ingredient list and see if there are melanin inhibitors or at least exfoliants in the cream.

The ingredients
According to Mena's Amazon page for Mena Face Cream, this day and night moisturizers have the following ingredients:

Beeswax - a natural ingredient commonly used as an occlusive in skin care products. It may be found on various moisturizing product such as creams, lip balms, hand creams, and even makeup products.

Vitamin E - an antioxidant which keeps free radicals at bay, slowing down aging while aiding the repair and reduction the appearance of damaged cells. While Vitamin E seems like a very good skin care ingredient, it could exacerbate skin care problems as it can be comedogenic and it may cause allegies.
    
Titanium Dioxide - Titanium Dioxide is used as a sunscreen filter and/or whitening pigment. According to Wikipedia, 80% of the compound's consumption is allocated as pigment for paints, varnishes,  paper and plastics. The function for this product then may be dual: as an instant whitening pigment and as a UV filter which can prevent further pigmentation of the skin. Yes, it can help make the skin look whiter instantly due to the white cast, prevent further darkening of the skin and prevent to some extent UV damage to the skin.

Lanolin is produced by sheep. All natural.
(From Wikimedia Commons)

Lanolin (Anhydrous) - wax derived from sheep's sebaceous glands which is used as an emollient for the skin. Lanolin also helps keep the skin smooth and moisturized.

Cetyl Alcohol - a fatty alcohol, and contrary to the usual "alcohol can cause dry skin" belief, this ingredient is used as an emulsifier or emollient in cosmetics.

Mineral oil, Paraben, Propylparaben - unlike what "natural" advocates say, these ingredients are safe and effective. More detail can be found in the links.

Isopropyl Myristate - is a synthetic oil used in cosmetics as a binder, skin conditioner, solvent or as component in perfumery.

Glyceryl Monostearate - a very safe and green (according to Collin's Beauty Pages) cosmetic ingredient used mainly as an emulsifier, surfactant and preservative.

Does it whiten the skin?

Somewhat. Mena Cream actually can whiten the skin immediately because of the white pigment in it, but the whitening is gone as soon as the product is washed off, kind of like the sunscreen we use which makes us look like ghosts. In the long term, Mena Cream only aids in whitening of the skin because of the UV protection, but is not actually the whitening product as it has no melanin-preventing ingredients or even exfoliants.

Tl,dr; Mena Cream is more of a moisturizer with SPF, not a whitening cream.