Maniolas

While there is a plethora of whitening products on the market, how many can claim instant results? That you’ll look immediately whiter after — not a month or two weeks — but after one application?

Vaseline can. After doing consumer research into what Filipinas wanted in a whitening lotion, the bodycare brand found that women are more discerning — as well as a bit more demanding — now.

“They always say, ‘We want a more effective whitening lotion,’ and when they say ‘effective,’ it’s really the speed of the results,” says Julian “Jules” Gollayan, Vaseline’s brand manager. “So that’s why we came up with Instant Fair.  How fast do you want it? ‘We want it in one application,’ and we give it to them.”

How is this possible, you ask, barring skin bleaching on a Michael Jackson level?

Vaseline’s Healthy White Instant Fair lotion has micro-reflector technology that adds an additional layer to your skin that is fair, so you look instantly lighter, according to Gollayan.

“For real whitening, it also has vitamin B3 or Niacinamide, which is our patented whitening ingredient, so that has long-term effect,” he adds. “In seven days you’ll see a noticeable difference, but in two weeks, skin will really be fair based on clinical tests.

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“The third one is the triple sunscreen, because in the Philippines, which is a tropical country, if you use a whitening product but don’t have sunscreen, you will get darker again.”

Instant Fair is the latest weapon in Vaseline’s Healthy White arsenal of whitening lotions: SPF 24 is perfect for summer with its blend of skin whitening and sun protection; Perfect 10 provides anti-aging benefits plus whitening; Vitamin B3 contains Vaseline’s basic whitening formula.

To help you choose the formula perfect for you, Jules offered these tips: “It’s all about lifestyle and what you aspire for,” he says. “The architecture of Vaseline is it has a moisturizing range and a whitening range. If you’re an athlete, salesperson, or your lifestyle’s more active, then choose SPF 24. If you want anti-aging and you want body to follow (your face), it’s seldom that you have a body anti-aging product, so we have Healthy White Perfect 10. And then for those who can’t wait to whiten their skin — the real fanatics — we have Vaseline Instant Fair.”

Though Instant Fair was formulated specifically for Asian skin, thanks to our region’s continuing demand for whitening (moisturizing lotions are more popular in cooler climes like America), Jules surprised me by saying that Vaseline’s sales here are evenly split between whitening and moisturizing. “The bestseller overall is Vitamin B3 for now, which is basic whitening; probably because it caters to the mass market as well. It’s very affordable: we have a 25-ml. tube at P15.

“Second is our biggest moisturizing product, the Total Moisture in the yellow bottle, which gives 24-hour moisture. We’re seeing Instant Fair to be an instant hit, so it could be No. 2 or No. 1 soon.”

The Philippines is Vaseline’s second biggest market in Asia for lotions, after Thailand. Body lotions have been part of the Filipina beauty regimen since the ’90s, when overseas workers unofficially introduced Vaseline to the Philippines by sending the imported products home. “That was their gift, the big pack of Vaseline lotion from the States, so we’re advanced in the lotion scene,” Gollayan notes. “The name Vaseline is in the Philippines because of the padalas of the OFWs.”

Lotion as pasalubong was probably not what Vaseline founder Robert Chesebrough envisioned when he first discovered petroleum jelly in 1870. At the recent Instant Fair launch, a heritage wall documented how that first discovery evolved into an iconic cure-all balm, which has since expanded to moisturizing lip therapy and an innovative range of lotions.

But in the Philippines, let’s face it — fair is fair. And whitening lotions are still a top draw.

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Vaseline Healthy White Instant Fair lotion is available in 100-ml, 200-ml and 350-ml bottles at supermarkets and drugstores nationwide.