Category ― Culture & Society

History lesson: lead, mercury and leeches were used to whiten complexions in the 1400s

Time for a fun little history lesson. (I just love history, don’t you?) Did you know women during the Renaissance period (1400s-1600s) used to be obsessed about getting their skin as pale and as white as possible? In those times, only very rich, white women pursued porcelain skin. Why was white skin so coveted during … Continue reading History lesson: lead, mercury and leeches were used to whiten complexions in the 1400s

Bleaching in some parts of Africa is nothing less than a way of life

  The African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters (CAPSDH) disclosed that skin diseases now constitute one of the top five out-patient cases in most hospitals in Ghana. “The humidity, vectors, ignorance, way of life of people and skin bleaching which now starts at an early age have compounded the situation and Ghana is … Continue reading Bleaching in some parts of Africa is nothing less than a way of life

Bleaching and lightening products remain popular, but few admit to using them

Skin-bleaching products were common in the United States among African-Americans during the 1920s and 1930s. Advertisements for creams and ointments such as Bleach and Glow, Plough’s Black and White, Artra and Nadinola appeared in black publications. These, like Artra, bluntly advertised that they would offer a change, promising “lighter, lovelier skin.” By the 1950s, it … Continue reading Bleaching and lightening products remain popular, but few admit to using them