Kenyan Model Ajuma Nyasenyana speaks out against skin lightening products

Skin bleaching gone wrong

I'm glad someone is speaking out against this skin bleaching phenomenon! Walking down the streets of Kampala and many other cities in Africa, you can't help but notice women whose skin is light in appearance from a distance, but is highly damaged up close. Dark patches around the eyes betray their efforts, in some cases the face is lighter than the hands and feet, and the skin appears scaled. The banning of bleaching products with components such as hydroquinone and mercury has been fruitless, as these products are still available on the black market.

Why would women do this you ask? Unfortunately we are still living with a colonial mentality. The perception that lighter is better and closer to white still resonates with some. The media often glamorises the lighter skinned, straight-haired (weave) woman as the beauty queen, with the darker natural woman being hailed as exotic. 

I have to admit when I was about 14, I had really bad eczema on my legs which left me with some serious scars. My aunties and mum mixed up a serious concoction which no doubt contained all manner of bleaching products. I stopped using it after a while and the scars have slowly healed over time, but skin bleaching is common in African households and people may just be ignorant of the adverse side effects.

Ajuma recently spoke out about skin bleaching and wants to start an all-natural line of cosmetics for women of "ethnic" or dark looks in hope that the products might keep skin-bleaching cosmetics at bay, she says:

 "I have never attempted to change my skin. I am natural. People in Europe and America love my dark skin. But here in Kenya, in my home country, some consider it not attractive" 

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