I walk around town and look at the young beautiful girls some young enough to be my daughters walking around in bleached faces, and I wonder what it is with our children.

These young girls seem to want to forget their origins by lightening their skins to look like Madonna, not realizing that they don’t share the same genes with Madonna or Alicia Keys! Everybody was born and meant to be how they are.

The idea of bleaching started somewhere, and even became more famous with the late Michael Jackson when he bleached his entire body. Nobody knew what drove Michael to bleaching and changing the color of his skin completely, but it was only after his death that doctors revealed he had a disease called vatiligo.

Vitiligo is a pigmentation disorder in which melanocytes (the cells that make pigment) in the skin are destroyed. As a result, white patches appear on the skin in different parts of the body.

Similar patches also appear on both the mucous membranes (tissues that line the inside of the mouth and nose), and the retina (inner layer of the eyeball).

The hair that grows on areas affected by vitiligo sometimes turns white. As a result Michael Jackson turned to skin bleaching for fear of letting his fans know that he was suffering from such a disease which was not dangerous compared to the bleaches he was using which eventually caused him to suffer from skin cancer for some few years before his untimely demise.

Some famous African musicians both men and women are still bleaching their skins, others have died of skin cancers because of using creams with bleaching substances, and then you wonder how thick one can be to go ahead and use the same creams, just so that they can have a fairer look! Fairer or not, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

To start with, variety is the spice of life, such as variety in food, clothes, hairstyles, etc. Variety also abounds in nature.

That is why all people on Earth belong to different types of skin colors, from white to yellow and to black. Our living environment accounts for the different skin colors we have. For example, in cold climatic regions such as Europe, inhabitants tend to have a lighter complex due to the cold weather, whereas in Africa, darker skin is better suited in the hot and humid climate.

However, many people nowadays are bleaching their skin. Why do they want do that? Is fairer skin really more appealing than darker skin? Actually many beauticians and doctors advise us that by eating healthily, exercising and using body cream rich in Vitamin E, Aloe Vera and Collagen will produce more fascinating effects than applying mere bleaching creams.

Ageless Beauty

International models like Iman, Naomi Campbell and even the famous TV talk show host Tyra Banks have been successful all over the years yet they are black, and their skin color is what kept them in the limelight all these years.

They took advantage of their being black and beautiful and used it for their gain – while we on the other hand are trying very hard to look purple while we are very green.

These women were asked what they use to keep them beautiful, and they talked of nothing like bleaching their skins. In fact all of them said they follow a routine of cleansing, Toning and moisturizing their faces twice a day with the right products, which do not contain any bleaching substances.

Iman is among one of the most beautiful women on earth yet she is black! She even went ahead to create a cosmetic line in her name for women of color.

All skin bleaching products contain one of the two active ingredients; hydroquinone and mercury.

Hydroquinone lightens the color of the skin areas to which it is applied by killing off the melanin-making cells—the melanolyte. It is also the active ingredient in ‘fade-off’ creams for freckles, age spots, etc.

Historical background: Hydroquinone was first use in the thirties. Some of the African-American employees found that spots of discoloration appeared on their skin. The chemical substance responsible for it is Monobenzyl Ether of Hydroquinone (Monobonzone for short). Monobonzone thus became a newly discovered bleaching agent. However the daughter molecule of Hydroquinone later replaced it as it caused spots of depigmentation all over even in unapplied places.

Mercury-based bleaching creams contain ammoniated mercury chloride as a bleaching agent. Some of these creams may contain up to more than 2-5% mercury that will be harmful to health, thus resulting in chronic mercury poisoning.

Using the right products for one’s skin is all what is needed. It is pathetic to look at most of our young women today with tired looking faces and hair all over the face brought about by the bleaching products is very sad. People who bleach have different skin colors in different parts of their bodies, thus making one look ugly. If you are looking for beauty; eat right, do some exercise and use the right products depending on your skin type, and stay beautiful forever.

Ends