Many black African women today, see light skin complexion more beautiful than their original dark complexion hence going to the extreme of buying all sorts of creams and products just in the name of toning or lightning their skin color but this act has lots of side effects which needs to be considered.
Skin bleaching is the intentional alteration of one’s natural skin color to one relatively, if not substantially lighter in color, through the use of chemical skin lightening agents, either manufactured, homemade or the combination of the two as defined by The World Health Organization (Konlan 2016).
Research however shows that one can result to skin lightening products to improve the appearance of blemishes such as birthmarks and dark patches (melasma) on some parts of the body. Some of the products used include bleaching creams, soaps, and pills, as well as professional treatments like chemical peels and laser therapy.
However, it shows that there is no health benefit to skin bleaching because results aren’t guaranteed and there’s evidence that skin lightening can result in serious side effects and complications.
Bleaching as normally referred to as “skin lightening” can cause lots of health challenges like numbness, high blood pressure, fatigue, sensitivity to light, kidney failure, neurologic symptoms, such as tremor, memory loss, and irritability, Lung damage, and greater risk of developing skin cancers
By: Clara Obuobi
