72 side-effects of skin bleaching

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 is gege,” 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.

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