Sammy Sosa before: dark skinned. AP Photo/Peter Kramer
Sammy Sosa does appear different in these before and after pictures.
Sammy Sosa appears to have been doing something to lighten his skin as these before and after photos show. It isn't just an effect of the photographers lights as we can see that while his wife's complexion does indeed look lighter in the second, after photo of her and Sammy Sosa, the contrast between the two complexions changes. Thus there must have been a change in their relative coloring, whatever the absolute change brought about by the lighting.
It also does not seem to be a case of vitiligo, which is what Michael Jackson had. This normally advances in patches (it exists in your humble reporter's own family) and does not change the entire complexion at one go.
Sammy Sosa after: light skinned. AP Photo/Eric Jamison
We might also consider one other point: Sammy Sosa used to play baseball and as we might note about that, it takes place outside, in the sun, in summer. Yes, everyone tans, however dark their natural skin color, so we would expect that sort of deep tan to perhaps fade a little over time once he had stopped playing. But these Sammy Sosa before and after pictures seem to show something more than that.
And indeed, Sammy Sosa's own explanation is that he has been using a skin cream to soften his face (along the lines of a conditioner) and this is what has lightened his skin color. Luckily for this particular story it is indeed true that the use of skin conditioners will lighten skin, at least conditioners of a certain sort. If you think of what is called "dermal abrasion", the concept will seem obvious. The propensity to have one skin color or another is genetic of course, but the expression of it comes from the skin's exposure to sunlight. And it is the melanin in that top layer of the skin which actually darkens to give the skin color (a scar on the face of a dark skinned person is just as pink as that on the face of a lighter skinned one).
So if the form of skin conditioning is this dermal abrasion, the rubbing away of that very top skin layer to reveal younger skin underneath, then a side effect will be to lighten a person's skin color.
Some combination of all of the above would seem to explain the Sammy Sosa before and after pictures displayed.
Comments
What in God's name did he do that for? What was the problem did he look too dark. I do know that he is not an African American man but please tell me what was wrong with the color God gave him.
HE LOOKS LIKE A ZOMBIE,....LIVING DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!
to hell with him, who's the babe?
Great photos!
Dermal abrasian does not make your skin lighter...do your research. It is abrasive procedure to get to clearer skin. Smoother skin for African descent people is not white. The skin would turn shades of red from the abrasiveness and return to the original color when it heals. "Smoother skin is white underneath..." You people kill me with your arrogance!
Sammy.es una lastima que tu no seas feliz como Dios te hiso lo que tienes que hacer es entregarle tu corazon al senor Jesucristo, porque Jesus te ama como tu eras"y el puede quitarte la baja autoestima que tienes, pienzo que no tiene nada de malo que te dieras una manito de gato si lo necesitaras pero no te ves bien con la tonteria que te estas haciendo.
I've seen women on the street who look like they use something to lighten their skin, their lips are always darker. Check out the colour of his hands to the shade of his face. His skin looks awful and unhealthy, why would you put yourself through this? What western aesthetic is he trying to aspire towards?
SAMY,QUE LASTIMA QUE EN VEZ DE CAMBIAR TU COLOR Y GASTAR TANTO DINERO LO HABIAS PODIDO DONAR A LOS HAITIANOS QUE ELLOS SI QUE LO NECESITAN Y MUCHO MAS DESPUES DEL TERREMOTO,QUE PENA QUE SIENDO DE LA TEZ NEGRA TE DISCRIMINAS TU MISMO Y A TU PROPIA RAZA,QUE PENA QUE QUIERAS SEGUIR AL MICHAEL JACKSON,PERO MIRA A VER SI NECESITAS INYECTARTE PARA PODER DORMIR Y SIQUIERES BUSCATE AL MISMO MEDICO DE MICHAEL QUE EL PUEDE AYUDARTE
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