Skin lightening is the latest rave. Here is why

It seems like the preaching on people embracing their natural skin color is falling on deaf ears, in fact, the skin lightening industry is seriously booming with people investing in skin lightening products and even procedures.

This post will cover what skin lightening or bleaching is, why people bleach, dangers of bleaching your skin, and how to get glowing skin with natural home remedies. I always come with the full package..... Yunno

Disclaimer!!! I didn't write this post to bash anyone as we are all entitled to whatever decision we decide to take, rather, this post is just to raise awareness on the subject matter, encourage people to embrace their natural skin color against all odds and maybe convince you to change your mind in case you are contemplating on bleaching...Ranterholic cares a lot about you in case you didn't notice. With that being said let's get into this eye-opener shall we?

1. According to Wikipedia, skin whitening also known as skin lightening and skin bleaching, refers to the practice of using chemical substances in an attempt to lighten the skin or provide an even skin color by reducing the melanin concentration in the skin. 

Before going further into this writeup, let me quickly state that the problem of skin lightening is not an issue limited to a specific race or continent. Over the years bleaching has been associated with various ages, races, and continents in the world.

    There are various products manufactured to lighten people's skin with skin lightening creams and soaps being the popular ones. Most of these products contain harmful chemicals like hydroquinone, mercury, Corticosteroids, and in most recent times Kojic Acid. This is why it is advised to check the content of any skincare product you want to purchase. Sadly, some companies are making use of these harmful chemicals without including it in the product's description.

  Embed from Getty Images A procedure like chemical peeling and laser skin therapy can also be used in achieving a fair or paler skin tone although the use of products is still the most form of skin lightening. The reason being that anyone can walk into a store with or without a doctor's prescription and purchase any skin lightening product. It is so bad that some people now sell these products by the roadside to make it even more convenient for people to buy them. 

(Laser treatment sounds scary or am I the only one that feels so?) 

Companies on their parts don't even care about the effects these harmful products have on the users, instead they are constantly milking the available market. No wonder we can't stop seeing billboards, social media adverts, and even celebrities all promoting bleaching products.....God help us!!! 

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I was scrolling through Facebook last week when I came across a post, the poster posted the picture of a lady that was at least four shades lighter than her and asked how she could get skin like that. I went to her profile to check out her pictures and behold she had a beautiful, dark glowing skin, in my mind I was like ewo o see fresh even skin tone. This made me wonder why she wanted to damage her lovely skin by herself. What also caught my attention under that post was that a good number of comments under that post were also requesting for the same thing.... Very disheartening 

Despite the dangers associated with skin lightening which I will get to later, people are constantly on the hunt for these products. Then why exactly do people bleach? 

• To Be Attractive 

Over the years, fair skin has been seen as a sign of beauty, prestige, and class. Imagine ranking these three things based on a person's skin tone. Who even came up with something as pathetic as this sef... 

The issue of bleaching to be beautiful or attractive is more common among the ladies due to the excessive belief of male validation in the society we live in, this is not to say that some men don't also bleach. The dark-skinned lady is forced to believe that her dark skin is not enough to attract the opposite sex or the man of her dreams, hence she turns to what the society publicly promotes. BLEACHING 

Some people that lightened their skin still believe that they wouldn't have met their spouses but for their fair skin..... I don't subscribe to this belief though. Love should be beyond skin tone and color not limited to them.

• To Get Jobs

Dear employers, your assumption of a person's ability to work shouldn't be tied to their skin color. It is shameful that most employers believe that fair skin people make better employees when compared to their dark-skinned counterparts. This mentality should be erased

I grew up watching a lot of Bollywood movies and when I say seeing a dark Indian playing a lead role in a movie is one of the rarest events in the world, I'm not exaggerating. They are mostly given menial roles that even if their scenes were to be removed, no one will notice any difference in the movie's storyline, it's that bad. 

Let's Be Guided, skin color is not a measure for one's ability. Click to tweet

I was once given a calendar by a brand that makes antiseptic soaps. In my usual fashion I went through the calendar to see if anything will capture my attention and Yes! Something did. All the models used for that shoot (about 6 of them) were all light-skinned. Coincidence? Nah, I highly doubt that. This proves that this brand just like many others are perpetrators of what I call "light skin favoritism".

Apart from the modeling industry (a major culprit), other major industries like the entertainment and the banking industry (These are the coded masters, iykyk..) are all guilty of this. What can we do to let these people know that black is beautiful... Sighs heavily

• Racial Discrimination

This is another reason why people bleach. Despite the fight against racism, people are still experiencing it daily. I said in one of my posts that our level of tolerance differs and this is why some people succumb to skin lightening in the face of racial discrimination. A woman once said that bleaching her skin was her way of fighting racism and colorism.

There is this feeling of acceptance and inclusion that comes with a dark person bleaching to become light-skinned, it's as if they have just been accepted into a system they were shut out of for so long. Racism occurs at the workplace, the store, the bus station, basically everywhere, another reason why skin lightening is on the rise. Imagine hating on someone because of their skin color, weird I say weird.

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• Low Self Esteem

This is another reason why people bleach, especially when these people live in an area that is dominated by people of lighter skin color. In most cases, this low self-esteem is usually as a result of the three factors discussed already. While some can find confidence boosters elsewhere in the face of discrimination, humiliation, and unfair treatment, others turn to skin lightening.

The reason why a person decides to bleach doesn't take away from the dangers associated with skin lightening (product or procedure).

Below are some of the side effects of bleaching your skin

• Skin irritation and inflammation which usually come with redness and swelling 
• a burning or stinging sensation
• skin turning dark or too light
• thinning of the skin (this is the result of continuous use of skin lightening products) 
• visible blood vessels in the skin
• scarring
• kidney, liver or nerve damage
• High blood pressure 
• Sensitivity to light 
• Dry, scaly skin, and even skin cancer

Check out Healthline for more on dangers of skin lightening 

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Even Fela raised awareness concerning skin bleaching in his song "Yellow Fever". You should check it out.

As promised I will be sharing some natural home remedies that can be used to achieve a glowing skin 

•  Turmeric
• Coconut Oil
• Aloe Vera
• Papaya
•  Cucumber
• Honey

Check out the instructions for these home remedies here

CONCLUSION

I believe this post has done justice in explaining the Rationale behind people bleaching, why you shouldn't bleach your skin, and how to achieve glowing skin with natural home remedies. Remember, every decision taken has its consequences. Embrace Yourself and Be Wise. You are wonderfully made.

   Do leave a comment, share this post to raise awareness about this topic, and subscribe to this blog to get updated whenever a new post is published..... Kisses