SKIN BLEACHING

Bleaching, whitening and lightening. Whatever you call it, the business of cosmetic enhancement to make dark skin look paler continues. Creams, pills and surgical treatments are used across continents by darker-skinned ethnicities hoping for a whiter complexion. But the problem, like most of those thrown up by the cosmetic industry, is often seen as largely as the concern of women.

The perception is that the fairer you are, the more likely one is to become successful socially, economically and romantically. Dark skinned people say “White people get the better things in life, yes,”  “You have a lot of advantages when you are white.” Women believe a fair complexion is the key to finding a successful partner: "In the marriage market, fairness is a big, big deal. You can go to the websites that are marriage brokers and the very fact that most of the matrimonial ads will present people as being fair skinned or not indicate that it is an attribute that the market values."

Dermatologists say, some of these creams work by killing melanin, the substance that lends skin its pigmentation and protects the skin from the cancer-causing ultraviolet rays of the sun. All people have melanin in their skin; the more melanin present, the darker the skin.

 Some of the products contain steroids and hydroquinone, which are mutagenic. This means they can cause changes in the body that can lead to cancer. Many users find their skin gradually becoming darker when they quit using the chemicals, and some develop a scaly layer on their skin. Few return to their original skin color once they have used skin lighteners.

The preparations contain large amounts of hydroquinone – a white crystalline de-pigmenting agent that is fatal in large concentrations. Victims will suffer from nausea, shortness of breath, convulsions and delirium. Damage to the skin – wrinkles, severe acne, marks – may be irreversible after prolonged use.

                                    

  

 BY: Francisca Stokes