Why Would Women Want To Change Their Complexion?

Becky, a millionaire and mother of four, is in her 50s; she
frowns when people address her as “Madam” because of her insistence to remain
young.

She has invested a fortune in toning up her skin using all
sort of lightening creams; she has also visited a couple of cosmetologists
around just to pull off a younger look.

However, her wrinkled neck and knuckles tell more of her
age, contrasting with her facial decorations.

One of her kids, Jane, 27, takes after her style. As a
banker in her middle management cadre, she can afford to tone up in spite of
her already fresh-looking skin.

Nowadays, a number of dark-skinned people are yearning for
fairer complexion and the lighter skinned ones want to become even fairer.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than
77 per cent of Nigerians use skin lightening soaps and creams on a regular
basis, especially females between the ages of 15 and 35.

So, why do women want to change their colour? To attract the
opposite sex, to look forever young or even to enhance their self-esteem? Or
could it just be as a result of lack of self confidence?

Studies have shown that many African and Asian women
secretly desire this so-called beauty enhancement because they believe the
lighter your skin is, the more attractive you look and the more attention you
get from the men.

However, Equolor, a 27 year old dark-skinned public servant,
says that she does not understand why people want their skin to look lighter.
For her, she is satisfied with her colour.

“Why would I want to spend so much money trying to change my
skin colour especially now that we know the damage it can cause to the skin? I
think if women were content with their looks, they wouldn’t venture into such
extremities,” she said.

Dumebi, a 40- year- old banker says that she thinks people
who bleach have complex issues, adding that if you are proud of your skin
colour you wouldn’t want to change it.

Angela, a 25-year- old student, says “a little enhancement
of the skin completion is not a bad idea, but once it gets out of control, it
becomes an issue. You see some ladies who have fair faces and black necks or
have green veins or stretch marks as a result of bleaching.’’

She also says that some ladies want to change their skin
colour because they feel men are attracted to light-skinned ladies.

A psychologist, Mr Adetoun Ajiboye, says that the issue of
bleaching or toning has to do with social conformity and inferiority complex,
explaining that a woman may see another lady, admire her looks and decide she
wants to look like her.

“For instance, if a lady is trusting God for a husband and
probably the last four ladies she knew who got married were light skinned, she
may begin to think, OK, if I’m lighter in clolour, I would probably get a
husband.

“Another thing is the feeling of inferiority and low
self-esteem; some ladies have this misconception that the lighter skinned
ladies are more beautiful, so they begin to feel inadequate with their darker
complexion and start using creams to change it.”

Ajiboye says that the decision to bleach is a function of
the mind and such people should ask themselves: Why do I want to change my skin
colour? Is it to look “beautiful’’ or because being light-skinned is the vogue?

A dermatologist, Dr Olanrewaju Falodun says: “After some research
I did on the era of slave trade, I discovered that the lighter-skinned slaves
were given better treatment and they were sold for a little more.

“So over time, people felt that being lighter gives a
greater advantage somehow and that is how this thing came into our part of the
world.

“I also read somewhere that people have this notion that the
lighter your complexion is, the more beautiful you are, which is very wrong,’’
he said.

Falodun explained that bleaching and toning is the same
thing because the products that are used for either purpose are things that
will lighten or bleach the skin.

“In our own context, toning appears to be more acceptable
and when you talk about toning, it is OK, but when you say bleaching, then
people look at you as somebody that has committed a crime,” he noted.

Really for a greater majority of people, they want to do
bleaching and they just call it toning.

There are several agents women use to lighten the skin which
include hydroquinone, steroids and kojic acid.

Studies have shown that hydroquinone is a naturally
occurring compound and it is commonly found in skin lightening creams and
creams meant to reduce age spots or blemishes.

“Hydroquinone lightens your skin by breaking down cells that
produce the skin pigment melanin. After four weeks of using a
hydroquinone-containing product, you should notice lightening of the area to
which you applied the cream.”

Melanin is what gives the skin its colour and it is nature’s
way of preventing the skin from the sun’s harmful radiation.

According to studies, prior to 2006, creams featuring
hydroquinone could be obtained over the counter in the U.S., but since then the
Food and Drug Administration banned it because of its potential toxicity.

Falodun also says that there are severe side effects of
using these lightening creams which include predisposing the skin to injury.

“ The skin is meant to be a particular layer thick. By the
time you do a lot of bleaching, the skin becomes very thin and that is not good
.

“So, the tendency for the skin to easily get injured is very
high and when injury is there, healing is very poor.

“If someone who has bleached the skin goes for surgeries,
wound healing is also very poor. There have been instances when one does some
procedures, you realise that when you use your instrument to pick the skin, it
begins to tear apart,” he says.

Falodun adds that these agents, especially in hydroquinone,
cause patchy discoloration and pigmentation, adding that steroids give rise to
diabetics when used over a long period of time.

Other side effects include ugly stretch marks, bad odour
from some of the agents and infections to the skin.

“Some people are allergic to some particular components of
those bleaching agents and they can have idiosyncratic reactions. Some people can
even have allergic dermatitis form these agents,” he says.

Falodun notes that some studies have also shown that some of
these bleaching agents predispose people to cancers because the protective
layer of the skin called melanin is being removed.

The dermatologist says that older women experience more
severe side effects as their skin is less likely to heal faster than the skin
of younger women.

He says those who discontinue the use of these lightening
agents will eventually get their skin restored, while for others, the skin
colour may become uneven.

Sunday, an owner of a cosmetic shop in Abuja, claims that
many ladies in the Federal Capital Territory want to change their skin colour.

“Even mothers come to my shop to get lightening cream for
their children, saying the children are celebrating birthdays, adding that a
package can cost N15,000

“Whenever I ask them why they want me to mix cream for them,
many say, I’m travelling home for the Xmas and I want to find a husband, so I
want my skin to be lighter and glowing,” he says.

Emeka, a 30 year old banker, says some women want to become
lighter in colour because they believe being fair is beautiful, adding that
such is a misconception.

Another bachelor, Fortune, a 32-year-old businessman says:
“it is unhealthy and indecent, I see no reason why women should change their
natural colour to achieve temporary satisfaction. I am easily turned off by
them.”

Mrs Ogbue, a church Minister, says that people who want to
change their skin colour do not appreciate God’s beauty.

“So when you see someone who has bleached for a long time
and you see the way their skin looks, then nobody will tell you it is wrong,”
she noted.

The truth really is, whether you are dark or light skinned
is immaterial because your colour does not determine who you are, neither can
it set your achievements high.

Oghenekoro writes for the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Okeoghene Oghenekaro