Who steal your bleaching?Your precious bleaching?
You buy am for shopping
For forty naira
You self wan yellow
How you go find out?
Your face go yellow
Your yansh go black
Your moustache go show
Your skin go scatter
You go die o
You go die o - Fela!
Asa'm, Egovin, Oyoyo'm,Tomatoe Jos are some of the fond accolades given to well rounded, open-tooth, light skinned ladies. Its not surprising to discover that many dark ladies have entered into the quest of bleaching or toning loosing sight of the fact that beauty encompasses the total attributes of a lady.
Small wonder Aljazeera is quoted to say ' According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 77 percent of women in Nigeria use skin-lightening products, the world’s highest percentage.'
However it comes down to the ideology behind 'bleaching' which is the farce that lighter skinned people are more attractive than their dark skinned counterparts.
I do however disagree that 7 in every 10 women are very readily applying lightening creams for the sole purpose of becoming lighter. I can however say categorically that due to the fact there is poor regulation of skin lightening creams or creams with skin lightening properties, 8 in every 10 body creams sold off the shelves in cosmetic stores have the active ingredient responsible for toning or bleeching however in different proportions. This means that if you don't read what you buy there is an 80% chance that you are using a skin toning cream unknowingly and will only be aware of that fact after a few weeks of usage of which you would have become lighter.
Come to think of it! How many women are actually aware that 'Hydroquinone' is one of the chemical compounds responsible for bleaching or even the compound known as 'mercury' ? This goes to show that some education is needed and the marketers of such products have used it to their advantage that women will either not read the labels or are simply not aware.
In the constant battle for beauty, many ladies combat ACNE (what is called Pimples, black heads and so on). Here is where many women use active skin toning creams 'cos this is rumoured, maybe tested and proven to a certain degree that it is indeed successful howbeit the awareness of cancer has caused many women to drop the idea of bleaching and embrace their skin colour.
Whatever the case maybe I can say in Africa generally, 5 in every 10 women are comfortable in their black skin.
We have come to understand and appreciate that black is indeed beautiful!
Debbie Ubaru
