Due to the heavily melanised melanosomes in darkly-pigmented skin, it can absorb more energy from UVR and thus offers better protection against sunburns and by absorption and dispersion UV rays. Darkly-pigmented skin protects against direct and indirect DNA damage. Photodegration occurs when melanin absorbs photons.
Black skin has thicker, tighter and smaller collagen fibres, formed into bundles, and melanin acts like an overcoat protecting these bundles from the damage that UV rays cause when it penetrates the skin. So they stay intact for longer, firmly propping up skin.
The dark pigmentation protects us from DNA damage and absorbs the right amounts of UV radiation needed by the body, as well as protects against folate (Vitamin B) depletion. We are less prone to sunburns. White skinned individuals often have inflamed sunburns on exposure to sunlight.
There exists substantial evidence to support that Black skin has a higher TEWL, variable blood vessel reactivity, decreased skin surface pH, and larger mast cell granules compared with White skin.
Black skin produces more sebum which protects it, allows it to be more flexible, but it also makes it shine.
I wanted to test skin color separately to find out whether it's important to perceptions of beauty. I found that without regard to physical features, people prefer light brown skin over dark brown skin or pale skin,” said Frisby, associate professor of strategic communication at the School.
Science does back up these sayings. Darker skin can show age more slowly because it has more melanin (dark pigment that determines sun sensitivity). The more melanin you have, the more protection you have against photoaging, or skin damage from too much exposure to the sun's rays.
Natives of Buka and Bougainville at the northern Solomon Islands in Melanesia and the Chopi people of Mozambique in the southeast coast of Africa have darker skin than other surrounding populations. The native people of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, have the darkest skin pigmentation in the world.
From about 1.2 million years ago to less than 100,000 years ago, archaic humans, including archaic Homo sapiens, were dark-skinned.
But different groups of people in Africa have almost every skin color on the planet, from deepest black in the Dinka of South Sudan to beige in the San of South Africa. Now, researchers have discovered a handful of new gene variants responsible for this palette of tones.
The preference for more golden or 'yellow-toned' skin as healthier might be explained by the 'carotenoid pigments' that we get from the fruit and vegetables in our diet.
“Work in our lab has shown that darkly pigmented skin has far better function, including a better barrier to water loss, stronger cohesion, and better antimicrobial defense, and we began to ponder the possible evolutionary significance of that,” said Peter Elias, MD, professor of dermatology.
The darkest skin color indicates the presence of three dominant alleles (AABBCC). Therefore dark skin is a dominant character. The lightest skin color indicates the presence of recessive alleles (aabbcc). Because melanin is a dominant phenotype, and all-white skin genes are recessive.
Black skin contains more melanin than lighter skin. Melanin-producing cells may be more susceptible to the effects of inflammation and injury, which may be more noticeable in dark skin than in light skin.
Melanin protects your skin by absorbing harmful rays, including UVA, UVB, UVC and blue light. Protection against reactive oxygen species (ROS). Reactive oxygen species are byproducts of your body's cell processes.
The rarest skin color in the world is believed to be the white from albinism, a genetic mutation that causes a lack of melanin production in the human body. Albinism affects 1 in every 3,000 to 20,000 people. People with albinism usually have very pale or colorless skin, hair, and eyes.
Nature selects for less melanin when ultraviolet radiation is weak. In such an environment, very dark skin is a disadvantage because it can prevent people from producing enough vitamin D, potentially resulting in rickets disease in children and osteoporosis in adults.
Humans first evolved in Africa, and much of human evolution occurred on that continent. The fossils of early humans who lived between 6 and 2 million years ago come entirely from Africa.
Americans with darker complexions still face a real risk from the sun, many dermatologists say, including a higher risk of death if they do get melanoma. Those same experts stress everyone should wear sunscreen to protect against forms of skin cancer and other harmful effects.
Most people associate Africans with dark skin. But different groups of people in Africa have almost every skin color on the planet, from deepest black in the Dinka of South Sudan to beige in the San of South Africa. Now, researchers have discovered a handful of new gene variants responsible for this palette of tones.
If you want to look young and have a great complexion, adapt a lifestyle similar to Japanese women who are known for having smooth, clear and youthful skin. Many Japanese women maintain a diet rich in vitamins and minerals that contain antioxidants.
Caucasian skin has very little pigment to protect your collagen from breaking down at an early age. Northern European caucasians with thinner skin develop visibly rough skin texture with aging and ultraviolet (sun) exposure. Wrinkles can appear as early as your 20s.
Darker skin is adapted to sunlight and has increased quantity of a pigment called melanin. The more melanin you have, the darker your skin. And the safer you are! Melanin along with other factors, acts as a “natural umbrella” and prevents harmful radiation from entering your skin.
However, recent scientific evidence shows that black skin is not completely impervious to sunlight. Both clinical and -experimental data have reported sun-induced effects on black skin. Black skin can warm, burn and peel when -exposed to the sun.