Do you believe in the word: ‘the fairer the beautier’? What are the side-effects of skin bleaching? Continue reading.

Femi Kuti, afropop star and son of the late afropop legend Fela Kuti puts has this to say about skin bleaching to Al Jazeera:

“When the bleaching propaganda got so negative, they had to come up with toning. Bleaching sounds too hard, now it’s toning. I don’t bleach, they say, I tone!”

“They think bleaching isgege,” he told Al Jazeera, using a Nigerian term for cool.

Femi attributes skin bleaching to a feeling that foreign products and images must, by definition, be good.

“An African will prefer to be called John-Philip. If you said your name was Chukwu Emeka Afongkudong they will say you are from the village. You are backward. How can you have such a name? We really look down on our culture and heritage instead of being proud of it,” he laments.

Most skin-lightening or bleaching products contain mercury, hydroquinone, corticosteroids, a variety of alpha and beta hydroxyacids (AHAs, BHAs), kojic acid, arbutin, azelaic acid, ascorbic acid, glutathione and such others. These are either used as the main ingredient of a product, or in combination.

These ingredients found in bleaching creams have adverse effects on individuals who patronizes and uses them. No matter how you want to “belong” to a particular group or the excuse of the societal and corporate demand for fairer skins, the dangers, disadvantages and side-effects of skin bleaching far outweighs the so called benefits by 1000 percent.

This article is not meant to tell you how to leave your life or how to keep or choose a skin colour, rather, it is meant for your education and knowledge so you can make an informed decision on bleaching.

Below are a list of over 70 dangers or disadvantages of skin bleaching:

Side-effects of skin bleaching

  1. sunburns-walking freely in the sun becomes a problem
  2. Pimples or acne
  3. Skin rashes
  4. Stretch marks
  5. Disfigured skin
  6. Chronic skin Ulcers
  7. Poor wound healing
  8. Skin infections
  9. Skin cancer
  10. Liver problems
  11. Kidney failure
  12. Low self esteem
  13. In situations of injuries or accidents, wound are difficult to stitch.
  14. Skin thinning and tears
  15. Skin bleaching is expensive
  16. It is expensive to sustain or maintain
  17. One of the disadvantages of bleaching is skin irritation
  18. Allergic contact dermatitis
  19. You age fast
  20. It is dirty and ugly
  21. Darkening of the skin (hyperpigmentation)
  22. Cracks and fissures on the skin
  23. Itching and development of red sores.
  24. Mixing of skin bleaching products is combersome
  25. Skin bleaching ingredients such as hydroquinone has been linked to leukemia
  26. It makes you ugly
  27. Bleaching shows lack of belief in your race
  28. Visible blood vessels on your skin
  29. Birth defects or congenital abnormalities if used during pregnancy
  30. Loss of identity
  31. Nerve damage
  32. Wound breakdown
  33. Freckles
  34. Scarring
  35. Blistering of the skin
  36. Burns
  37. Crusting and flaking of the skin
  38. Secondary bacteria infections
  39. Dark patches all over your skin
  40. Stigma and discrimination from the society
  41. Black spots
  42. Mercury poisoning
  43. Mental disorder from mercury poisoning
  44. Convulsions from mercury poisoning
  45. Skin eruptions
  46. Hypertension
  47. Cushing syndrome
  48. Cataracts
  49. Diabetes milletus
  50. Immunosuppression-lowers the immune system and ability to fight infections
  51. Adrenal insufficiency or outright failure
  52. Body odour
  53. Hyperhidrosis (increased facial hair)
  54. Discoloration of the sides of the cheeks (exogenous onchronosis)
  55. Mottled skin
  56. Nerve damage from mercury
  57. Face body color incongruity -coka cola for body fanta for face
  58. Blackened knuckles
  59. Dermatophytosis
  60. Excessive sweating
  61. Body shaming
  62. Blood cancer
  63. Liver cancer
  64. Eczema
  65. Osteoporosis
  66. Uneven skin colour
  67. Wrinkling of the skin
  68. Weight gain for skin lightening creams containing steroids
  69. Permanent bleaching
  70. Cellulite formation
  71. Burns, parmanent scarring, pain on intercourse, bacteria vaginosis and yeast infection for women that does vulva bleaching
  72. It is an insult and shows your disgust for your race.
Side-effects of skin bleaching
You can see the sun burns, wrinkles and freckles on their faces.
Credit: graphic.com

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