The Menace of Skin Bleaching

The skin is the largest sense organ in the human body and it can be of different colors. Skin is useful to man because it is the sense organ of touch and helps in excreting sweat from the body. It also houses the internal organs and bones.

On the basis of skin colour, humans have been classified into white and black.

However, a large number of dark-skinned women now use certain body lotions and creams to enhance their skin and turns it subsequently to a light skin. This is called toning and it employs the use of certain body creams that have active ingredients capable of altering the skin colour.

But, these creams may not be entirely free from harmful side effects. Due to their compositions, people have been able to rightly predict some harmful effects of these creams on our body.

Many times, people are not satisfied with their natural skin. They believe in the opinion of others thinking that they are not beautiful enough. From the Christian perspective, everyone is created in God's beautiful and holy image. God said "let us create man in our own image", that means your skin is beautiful enough with minimal or adequate care and even without use of skin altering skin lotions.

Why do we destroy our skin texture alongside increasing its exposure to environmental health hazards. Scientifically, certain toxic chemicals implicated in chemical-induced skin diseases includes Isopropyl myristate, Centrimonium bromide, etc. These have been recorded to cause skin cancer, eczema, rashes and others.

It has also been proven scientifically that the reaction of these chemicals on our skin make us age faster and wrinkle earlier.

Skin toning had become a hard nut to crack, spreading like virus from place to place, gender to gender and cuts through different age groups.

The sun rays contain different radioactive waves and toxic gases that penetrate the skin and causes it to redden or darken (sunburn). And we can prevent sun burns by using sunscreens and by eating natural food and fruits, we maintain a bright, shiny skin. Some of these fruits are carrots, tomatoes, cucumber etc and these naturally helps to lighten up the skin due to the high vitamin A content in them.

So is you desire your bright or slightly fair skin colour to be enhanced, it can naturally be done without the use of toxic lotions.



And if you are Black or dark-skinned, you are not disadvantaged. Also if you are White or light-skinned, you are also not disadvantaged.

Even in this age when Blacks are celebrated too, so many are still caught in the web of underestimating themselves but it is still worth noting that toning is a deadly risk factor for development of certain skin diseases including cancers. far more deadly than most skin diseases including cancers.

Skin bleaching is indeed a menace and it should be discouraged. The use of toxic chemicals in the form of toning lotion should be avoided.


By Owolabi Esther