By Haruna Aliyu Idris (u14MM1057)
Beauty is a feature that everyone wants to be attributed with. However, due to significance attached to beauty in our contemporary society, it has triggered people to employ different measures that will qualify them to be tagged “beautiful”. Some even go to the extent of taking measures that are extremely detrimental to their health and could cost their lives. One of these dreadful measures employed by many is skin bleaching.
Skin bleaching has been the fastest and surest route to the land of “beauty” for many people in this century- old and young, tall and short, even recently men employ this measure, all in the name of being handsome and attractive which is really baffling as well as disheartening. People of all calibers are yearning to be attributed with beauty/handsomeness.
Despite all the hustle and bustle to be called beautiful, and the entire quest to enter the realm of the adorable and attractive ones, the bitter truth is that many people are ignorant of the effects that accompany skin bleaching, and the prices they ought to pay in the nearest future. Besides, there is price for everything even looking good artificially has a price,
Before I unleash the mammoth effects that accompany skin bleaching, I would like to swiftly unearth the concept skin bleaching. Skin bleaching which is also known as skin whitening or skin lightening refer to “the practice of using chemical substances in an attempt to lighten skin tone or provide an even skin complexion by reducing the melanin concentration in the skin. Several chemicals have been shown to be effective in skin whitening, while some have proven to be toxic or have questionable safety profiles, adding to the controversy surrounding their use and impacts on certain ethnic groups.
Looking beautiful is the major fueling agent to skin bleaching as I have initially established. Nevertheless, I would like to draw our attention to a common adage that says “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”, by implication; this simply means everyone is beautiful.
Aside the fore mentioned factor that triggers bleaching, another cause of bleaching is inferiority complex. Most dark skinned people and colored skin feel inferior to the white skinned. This is as a result of the common narrative that white/fair skinned people are beautiful, adorable, special, intelligent and above all superior. No matter how beautiful the dark skinned are, the white/ fair are often chosen over them. As such, the dark skinned are provoked to whiten their skin.
Another factor that triggers skin bleaching is lack of contentment. Most dark skinned/ colored skin are not contented with the beauty nature has bestowed on them. This lack of contentment cajoles them into skin bleaching. They fail to understand that every region of the world has a specific skin color/type that fits it. For instance, in cold climatic regions such as Europe, inhabitants tend to have lighter complex due to the cold weather, where as in Africa, darker skin is better suited in the hot and humid climate.
Looking good is a good business, but when you choose to deviate from the tide of nature, then there is a colossal repercussion attached to it. Skin bleaching is self-destruction and its effect justify this.
According to Doctor Azadeh a senior lecturer at the Medical School University of The Gambia, and a senior consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and a Clinical Director of Medicare Health Services, explained that “bleaching creams and products contain mainly two substance which are hydroquinone and mercury. Hydroquinone is very harsh chemical present in the bleach which makes the cell of your skin completely dead and this if once happens cannot ever be repaired”. He further stated that “the harmful effect of bleaching is also seen if you start bleaching your skin at a very young age of twenty. As this is a young age your skin is very tender and delicate and thus the chemicals present in the bleach have many harmful effects on the skin. Today, in our society, girls below the age of twenty are deeply engaged in skin bleaching which is quite unfortunate.
Hydroquinone lightens the color of the skin areas to which it is applied by killing of the melanin-making cells-the melanocyte. Melanin is the pigment produced by skin cells. It is triggered which creates color of skin, eyes and hair shades. Melanin has three forms that combine to create varying skin tones. These forms are Eumelanin, pheomelanin, and neuromelanin. Eumelanin produces a range of brown skin and hair color, while pheomelanin imparts a yellow to reddish hue. Melanin provides some amount of sun protection for the skin by absorbing ultraviolet light. Darker skins are less susceptible to sunburn and the overall effects of sun damage.
Having seen the function of the melanin, skin bleaching is the “killing of the melanin making cells”, this by implication simply means the skin is prone to destruction and by the time you are old your skin will shrink beyond ordinary that is if the bleacher lives to that stage.
“The most popular bleaching creams contain 4% hydroquinone, a severely toxic and very powerful chemical also used in photo-processing and rubber production that can destroy the outer layer of the skin. Other dangerous ingredients in bleaching cream according to Doctor Azadeh include “Cholic acid (also used to preserve pink and red colors in seafood has been linked to systemic toxicity and liver cancer), alpha hydroxyl acid (also used in chemical skin peels, causes increased sensitivity to the sun and UV light); and sodium hydroxide (also used in the manufacture of pulp, paper textiles and detergents, can cause burns, scarring and blindness).”
Furthermore, hydroquinone exposes bleachers to “increased risk of cancer, risk of adrenal gland problems, and risk of all health. Mercury increases the risk of developing a rare metabolic disorder called Ochronosis, which can cause physical changes to the skin and tissues surrounding the eyes, ears, and joints.
Imagine the myriad of problems bleachers use their hard earned money to buy, all in the name of being beautiful/ handsome. It is really hilarious and disheartening how bleachers reduce their life span with their money. Digging their graves all in the name of looking attractive and beautiful. When you see something natural you would know, and vice versa. I for one cannot marry a lady that is artificially beautiful, and I would like to think it applies to many others too. In fact when I see a bleacher, it gives me a negative impression about them.
There is a common traditional maxim that says “where there is no way there will definitely be a way”. In spite of the fact that there are myriad of problems attached to looking beautiful artificially, there are other natural routes and channels through which you can enter the realm of looking good and beautiful without putting your health at stake. Doctors and beauticians advise that you can look beautiful, fresh and glowing by eating healthy foods like beans, fish, chicken, vegetables, and fruits like apple, banana, oranges, pawpaw, pineapple, etc. They also advise the use of body cream rich in vitamin E, Aloe Vera and Collagen Elastin which will produce more fascinating effects than applying mere bleaching creams to dark skin color.
Finally, from the fore written effects of skin bleaching, no one needs a prophet or a fortune teller to tell him/her that skin bleaching is self-destruction and self-perniciousness of the 21st century. Health is wealth, take heed and be cautious.
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