Skin bleaching on the rise in North West.

Skin lightening creams have become an ‘epidemic’ in the North West Region with an alarming number of women and even men turning to these dangerous and often illegal products in search of fairer skin.

Talking to The Guardian Post, Lanaka Valery, a resident of Bamenda, said one of the factors that have contributed to this phenomenon is the influence of the media and societal perspectives of beauty. 

"People engage in skin bleaching for several reasons. Some do it to conform to societal beauty standards, influenced by media and cultural perceptions of beauty. Others feel pressured to lighten their skin due to discrimination or bias based on skin colour. Some believe that lighter skin will lead to better opportunities or social acceptance," he said.

Lanaka added that skin bleaching may lead to skin damage like thinning of the skin, and can equally result in harmful side effects such as skin irritation, burning, and permanent scarring.

On her part, Marie Clare Anye, said it is just a show of ungratefulness to God that leads to skin bleaching.

"People bleach their skin because they are not grateful to God for giving them a dark skin colour. They equally lack self-confidence. At times others do not even know if the rubbing oil they bought suits their skin or not. One of the consequences of bleaching is that it may give your body multiple colours," she said. 

Meanwhile, Ngwi Blessing, also resident in Bamenda, said: "What really encourages skin bleaching a lot is the fact that girls are not confident and also there's competition in which they want to look like their friends who have a light complexion. They think, wrongly, that someone with a dark skin is not beautiful enough and does not have a place in the society".

The skin lightening also has financial and severe health consequences. 

Khan Emmerencia said: "When you bleach your skin you destroy your skin. The inconvenience is that you have to keep doing it to maintain the light complexion. It is like a fulltime job that you have to buy all bleaching products to make sure that your skin remains the way you want it to be". 

Others explained that skin bleaching can destroy the skin, resulting in complications especially for ladies if they are supposed to give birth to a child through cesarean section. Skin bleaching, medics say, can also cause skin cancer.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3178 of Wednesday July 24, 2024