Change in appearance

Jackson's skin was a medium-brown color throughout his youth, but, starting in the mid 1980s, his skin gradually grew more pale through what was widely considered to be skin bleaching and changing of his features to appear European. According to Jackson biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, Jackson began making his nose smaller around the same time his skin became very gradually lighter and that he was using the over-the-counter skin-bleaching cream called Porcelana to achieve the lighter skin. Taraborrelli reported that Jackson's sister La Toya used Porcelana too, and that they had crates of this cream stored at their family home Hayvenhurst, "hoarding it as the most valuable beauty product ever produced."

] Jackson's physical changes gained widespread media coverage, and provoked criticism from the public. African American psychologists argued Jackson was "a lousy role model for black youth". Dr. Dennis Chestnut said Jackson gave "black youth a feeling that they can achieve", but also may encourage some people to think they've got to be esoteric and idiosyncratic to be successful. It was also presumed that Jackson bleached his skin just to boost his career. Dr. Halford Fairchild stated Jackson and other African American celebrities would try "to look more like white people in order to get in films and on television".




According to Taraborrelli, in 1986, Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo, which Tarraborrelli noted was sometimes considered by doctors to be a consequence of damage done by bleaching chemicals over the years.