Fair & Lovely allegedly used touched-up photos in its ads to show a miraculous change in a woman’s complexion – from dark to very fair – displayed in a series of photographs. Similar ads by Unilever had been withdrawn from being displayed in the UK market in October 2008.
In Damascus, a controversial eye surgery that changed the colour of a Syrian woman’s eyes has raised fears. The surgeon replaced the patient’s brown irises with artificial green ones made of synthetic fibres. The operation quickly drew fire from the medical profession, which believes it to be very risky.
Users of Pure Perfect whitening cream posted complaints saying it destroyed their skin. (After posting this, I received suspicious comments and e-mails, details of which have been added to the article).