I come from a place where many women dye their skin to be lighter. The chemicals in the dyes seem to eat away at their skin, and make them extremely sensitive to sunlight. These are women who live in a country where the sun is always shining, and even with that knowledge, they still use … Continue reading Bleaching for beauty: cultural perceptions of what’s attractive→
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→
View this incredible short documentary on skin bleaching in Jamaica. Highlights: A boy started bleaching his skin since he was 13 to attract girls. In Kingston, Jamaica, there are “vampires” – people who have bleached so much that their skin has become sensitive to sunlight. So they can only go out at night. One girl … Continue reading Video: Skin bleaching in Jamaica→
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→
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→
Objective info on safe & effective skin lightening