Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, they say.

But the skin lightening or skin bleaching or skin-whitening craze that has hit most women in Harare, makes one think that saying should have been, “Beauty is when you are of lighter complexion.” The last time I visited the saloon, I just watched this craze in amazement. The hairdressers and some of the clients too, could easily be spotted with two varying complexions on their bodies. Their faces and necks are lighter – actually it’s more of an orange colour than not, as you go down to their feet you are greeted with a different darker colour which usually resembles their natural complexion. Skin lightening is common in many countries where many women view whiter skin as a symbol of beauty, health and high social status.

With these creams and lotions being sold in town on the roadside by street vendors on cardboard boxes and going for a dollar each, they are of easy access to the ladies (and some men too) who want them. The major brands on these roadside stalls are Movate and Diproson. I recently, pretended to be a customer. The vendor seemed to have got her marketing strategies right. She looked like a user of these creams, and had a friendly smile. I asked for the most effective lightening cream and she gave me Movate and told me if I wanted to bleach the whole body she also had tablets for sale! I pretended to look for my wallet, and after of few minutes of a fake search, I told her I couldn’t find it. I just didn’t want to part with my dollar for that. Too bad I couldn’t even treat myself with the usual ice cream I used to get from Dairiboard vendors on street corners.

Scientific research shows that the use of such creams and lotions frequently and at high doses increases the risk of skin cancer. This is because these products contain toxic mercury, hydroquinone and other potentially toxic substances that cause redness, itching, inflammation and other skin problems. As African governments and non-governmental organisations are busy campaigning for cancer awareness, as it’s a silent killer that has taken the lives of many, people are risking their lives by using these creams. It’s such a depressing scenario when you look at it closely.

I know of models from our African continent with dark complexions that have managed to take their professional career to an international level and are amongst the best models in the world. So as Zimbabwe turns 31, “Being black is not only powerful, but beautiful too” … Zimbabwean women embrace your natural complexions and love them because you are powerful and beautiful.

This entry was posted on April 19th, 2011 at 11:15 am by Elizabeth Nyamuda and is filed under Reflections, Uncategorized, Women's issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.