Skin Bleaching And Low Self Esteem

It seems like everywhere you turn to these days, there is a skin bleaching or rather a ‘toning’ product.
Though I am dark skinned, there are times when people I know have said “you’re getting darker, you should do something about it. Try to tone your skin. I know a soap/cream/oil that would do the trick”

And I wonder why it matters if I get darker due to exposure to the sun.  I am after all an African. Africans have dark skin. It is one of our characteristics.

Personally I feel people that bleach their skins have low self esteem. They aren’t comfortable in their own skins. They don’t love themselves the way they are. They feel they can’t be beautiful with dark skin.

It is just skin!! It shouldn’t define who you are!
What makes skin darker?
Answer: Melanin.

“Melanin is an effective absorber of light the pigment is able to dissipate over 99.9% of absorbed UV radiation. Because of this property, melanin is thought to protect skin cells from UVB radiation damage, reducing the risk of cancer. Furthermore, though exposure to UV radiation is associated with increased risk of malignant melanoma, a cancer of the melanocytes, studies have shown a lower incidence for skin cancer in individuals with more concentrated melanin, i.e. darker skin tone.”

We have got it good!

Yet, a lot of women and men spend lots of money to rid their skins of melanin in order to ‘look good’

Skin bleaching has evolved. It doesn’t just involve the use of soaps, creams and oils. Now there are tablets and shots for skin lightening. Wow yea?

Some people who don’t have the money to safely bleach are exposed to harsh products which have some terrible side effects.

Some of the side effects of skin bleaching are:

1. Stretch marks

2. Uneven skin tones

3. Inability of wounds to heal normally. Wounds take forever to heal. So you can imagine what would happen if they had to have an operation.

4. More exposure to UV rays

5. Increased chances of developing skin cancer

6. White skin, dark knuckles.

Is skin bleaching really worth it?

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