What is wrong with this shade of dark? Anything out
of place: eyes, nose, lips, jaw…anything?
The WHO have said that ‘ 77% of women in Nigeria
use skin lightening product, the highest in the world’; mind you, this
statistic does not includes the number of men who have also discovered their own
‘beauty’ in being fair complexioned. 77%! Now that is a lot of skin lightening
happening! …A complexion lightening that usually excludes the knuckles, elbows,
knees and the et&c of some parts of the body.
I am not talking about the slight skin toning that
is…well, not so bad, but it is about the total skin bleaching: from dark to a very
obvious ‘false’ fair complexion…which, trust me, even the best one done still is
noticeable.
It is a wonder what these fine people really hope
to achieve when they bleach their skin. Is it that they have the ‘wacko jacko’ syndrome
which has made them yearn for acceptance by both the white and black races- in
Nigeria?! Or is it ‘the wacko’s ‘alleged’ skin discoloration disease that they
have? Or again, is it a Beauty trip?- am hoping the men who bleach will also give
me an answer here.
‘WHO said that some chemical properties used in
those lightening cream are toxic and harmful to a normal skin and to health when
used wrongly’. These products are meant for serious medical conditions, like
injuries from burns or other skin defects, and not a beauty therapy- two
extremes by 100%!
What is mind boggling about the misuse of these
products is that despite the obvious evidence of the damage they do to the skin,
on a long or short run, a lot of people-even the beautiful young people- still use
them. At the early stage it might seem to look good, but in a while some
obvious parts of the skin will refuse to respond to the bleaching properties in
the cream, and then the burnt black patches begins to show. Even the most expensive whitening products
have its duration of effectiveness, and not to mention the tropical sunny
weather in Nigeria, that can be roasting. These skin damages are usually
permanent and ugly- and then the question, ‘Beauty trip’…really? Like someone
said “the knuckles will give you up”!
Ladies being very light skinned could be
attractive, yes, but it ends there. The eventual outcome of skin bleaching is not
worth the trouble at all. You will spend more trying to heal your damaged skin-
that is if it heals at all, or covering it up with layers of makeup.
As for the men who use these bleaching products,
what really is the deal? The poem goes ‘…my fair lady’, so where do you fit in?
There is nothing wrong with your natural skin
colour: black, dark, choc or fair, and there is absolutely nothing out of place
with it. Polish your skin with the right vitamins and skin products, and wear
it well.
