Moisturizing,Anti Wrinkle,firming Facial . As the outer skin cells gradually reach the. on skin lightener use in sub-Saharan Africa. Recent Comments. Finding reliable information on skin lightening in Nigeria is difficult, Prof Yetunde Olumide, who has studied the practice, told Africa Check. My book also attends to intersecting dynamics of class and gender, changing beauty ideals and the expansion of consumer capitalism. In many parts of Africa, lighter-skinned women are considered more beautiful and are believed to be more successful and likely to find marriage. The beauty industry in Africa is worth several billion dollars and increases by 8 to 10 percent every year. In Nigerias erratic weather, oil, dirt and other impurities can collect on your skin surface as you go through your day. The WHO said the number came from a 2008 mercury awareness pack by the. 10 tips for clearing acne in skin of color. (n.d.). 9 Recent studies done among some select groups in Nigeria show high though differing prevalence rates. The natural protective barrier of your skin will function optimally if your face is well moisturized. But whether the tide of opinion is turning in Africa itself is another question. In Nigeria alone, 77% of women by extrapolation, more than 60 million people are using lightening products on a "regular basis", the World Health Organization (WHO) said in 2011. Ghanas Food and Drugs Authority warns it has not approved any glutathione products either for oneself or in the form of a tablet to lighten the skin of an unborn child.. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @AfricaRenewal, To receive us straight in your mailbox, subscribe to the monthly Africa Renewal newsletter at this link: https://bit.ly/AfricaNewsletter, Huge risks, including cancer and liver damage, accompany the desire for fair skin. Check out the ingredients, and you would be able to tell if that product will suit you or not. In 1973, the administration banned all but trace amounts of mercury from cosmetics. Do this many women in Nigeria use skin lighteners? Both local and imported products line the shelves of Rashida Lawals cosmetics shop. In light of these dangers, African countries, including Ghana, Cte dIvoire and most recently Rwanda, have begun banning skin-lightening products, mainly creams with hydroquinone. And the perception is that lighter skin tone can bring such advantages as better job and marriage prospects, the critics say. Hewett, L. (2018). She notes that acceptance and contentment in oneself was key to a successful life. People with eczema often experience flare-ups that alternate with symptom-free periods. We produce our own content, commission content from freelancers based in different African countries, and curate content from the UN system and the African Union, working closely with Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD). Instagram skincare star Pela Okiemute's "Russian White" body cream claims to give "firmness, intense beauty and a mixed race complexion". Keloids are patches of raised, scarred skin, while hyperpigmentation is when spots of skin are darker than the surrounding skin. In this article, we discuss different types of scarring and the treatment options for people with black skin. Your close friends recommendation would not even be useful because all of us are unique in our ways. Many of the tubes are unlabelled as to their actual ingredients. Still Iya Femi is incredibly proud of the light skin color. media, must feature other types of beauty beyond the Western ideal, to end this colour bias.. Eczema causes itchy, dry, irritated skin. However, starting with a low concentration (2.5%) will help people avoid potential irritation. At a health centre in Lagos, a mother brought in a two-month-old infant who was crying in pain. After more than a year of protests, this coalition of antiracist, health, and environmental activists persuaded Amazon to remove some 15 products containing toxic levels of mercury. Skin lightening in Africa is not a new phenomenon. Added to all this was a fear of being stigmatised, Olumide said. She pointed out problems in studies made so far, including the ones discussed in this report. LAGOS - A recent World Health Organisation report has revealed that Nigerian women are the biggest users of skin-lightening products. And the skincare and cosmetics industry is taking advantage of African womens craze for lighter skin. all say 77% of women in the west African country use the potentially harmful products. Roberts, W. E. (2004). 2 Skin bleaching in Nigeria. Chemical peeling in ethnic/dark skin [Abstract]. It was distressing," said Sobande. Nigerias 'Melanin Movement' Swims Against a Skin-Whitening Tide. My study was conducted among traders in Lagos. "Omowunmi Akinnifesi is not that fair to begin with. But in my opinion, for someone who girls look up to and isn't too fair or too dark, to then come out and say, 'fairer is better!' ABUJA, NIGERIA . Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. Skin-lightening products are sold on Amazon, an e-commerce marketplace. "Oyinbo is a good thing. Seasonal tanning embodied new forms of white privilege. These effects are known as hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation, respectively. Trailing Nigeria closely is Senegal with 60 per cent, Mali at 50 percent and Ghana at 30 percent. In the early 1960s, colour photography and printing saw skin lightener ads feature a range of light brown and reddish skintones. Not that it wasn't acceptable but people who bleached their skin were regarded as women who were trying too hard to get attention. For a lot of people, it's the path to getting a good job, having a relationship.". And theres almost no other data on skin lightener use in Nigeria. But they are well-advised to steer clear. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. Amira Adawe, an activist with The Beautywell Project pickets outside Amazon. An especially disturbing element is the resurgence of mercurial products. How Viagra became a new 'tool' for young men, Ankylosing Spondylitis Pain: Fact or Fiction, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/acne/DIY/skin-color, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/717636, https://nationaleczema.org/research/eczema-facts/, https://nationaleczema.org/eczema-in-skin-of-color/, https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/skin-care-secrets/routine/fade-dark-spots, http://skinofcolorsociety.org/dermatology-education/eczema/, https://dermnetnz.org/topics/postinflammatory-hyperpigmentation/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15113287/, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3560164/, https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/a-z/scars-treatment, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539693/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23652891/, https://jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=1877417. Black people may also have other symptoms, such as dark circles around the eyes. "You can have stretch marks, the skin becomes fragile, doesn't heal properly, sometimes you can havesome of them can give you abnormal skin odor, abnormal odor, excessive sweating, poor wound healingso, and then it ages faster, Haroun said. Excessive oil, makeup, dead skin cells and other impurities from the environment need to be wiped off daily. Nigeria is one of the prime destinations for many beauty agents produced abroad. In China and Japan too, elite women and some men used white lead preparations and rice powder to achieve complexions resembling white jade or fresh lychee. Super-benefits of humble charcoal? to treat pigmentation disorders and to lighten skin for cosmetic purposes. In apartheid South Africa, the trade was especially robust. What are the roots of this sizeable trade? That hasn't always been the case, Shoneyin adds. If you stick to the basic skincare routine steps discussed above, you should start to notice a visible improvement in your skin after a few weeks. I dont bleach, they say, I tone!. Global media reports claimed 77% of Nigerian women regularly used skin lightening products, giving a World Health Organization factsheet as the source of the figure. It found that 77.3% (348) of 450 people surveyed had said they used skin lightening cosmetics. For the best results, a person should speak with a dermatologist. There is no gainsaying that the pressure of white beauty standards and colourism mostly drives the demand for skin-bleaching products, writes CHUKWUEMEKA OLUKA. We promote Africas achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris climate change agreement and Africas Agenda 2063. Those who start using skin lightening say they invariably stay with the practice. "But it's going to take a lot of effort to change the mindset. So she spends her meager savings on cheap black-market concoctions that promise to lighten her pigment. Any womens or mens skincare routine will benefit greatly from these natural African products. people already aspire to be like you.". The trade in skin lighteners, nonetheless, continued as other active ingredients most notably hydroquinone replaced ammoniated mercury. The rich tend to opt for pricier registered products which are available in standard doses. The Nivea ad features Omowunmi Akinnifesi, a beauty pageant winner in Nigeria, promoting a lotion that promises "visibly fairer skin." "Skin bleaching is one manifestation of folks trying to get power and privilege aligned with whiteness," said Yaba Blay, a researcher at North Carolina Central University. A lot of people dont readily have this information. We also produce Talk Shows on African dialogues, and celebrate people. He only gives certain dosages for a limited amount of time, he said. It also serves as an excellent hair shampoo. 10 REASONS WOMEN BLEACH THEIR SKIN | THE OPEN SECRETS OF NIGERIAN WOMENHi!I'm Glory Elijah; a Nigerian YouTuber, Nigerian Vlogger, Lagos Vlogger, you name it. People around the world often try to alter their skin color, using tanning salons or dyes to darken it or other chemicals to lighten it. 2023 Healthline Media UK Ltd, Brighton, UK. Skin lighteners can be physically harmful. By combining antiracist, health, and environmentalist arguments, activists held one of the worlds most powerful companies accountable. Eczema does not look the same on black skin as it does on lighter skin. A gentle skin exfoliator will help remove dead skin cells so your hidden flawless skin can emerge. According to the World Health Organization, 77% of women in Nigeria use skin lightening products. Statistics compiled by the World Health Organisation in 2011 showed that 40% of African women bleach their skin. Lightening creams are not effectively regulated in Nigeria where even roadside vendors sell tubes and plastic bags of powders and ointments from cardboard boxes stacked along sidewalks in market districts. That compares with 59 percent in Togo, and 27 percent in Senegal. There's been particularly severe criticism in Ghana, with several social media users calling for a boycott of Nivea products and for the ads to be pulled, using the #pullitdownnow hashtag. % ( 348 ) of 450 people surveyed had said they used skin lightening cosmetics studies among! In this article, we discuss different types of scarring and the options. Show high though differing prevalence rates done among some select groups in Nigeria is of. Our ways people, it 's going to take a lot of effort to change the mindset Swims a... It found that 77.3 % ( 348 ) of 450 people surveyed had said they used skin lightening Africa... 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