The Dangers of Skin Bleaching

HEALTH. The dangers of skin bleaching explained

"The Paris City Council has launched a campaign to prevent the dangers of black skin bleaching. © AFP

A woman at a hospital in Dakar, Senegal, shows lesions caused by skin-lightening products. Burns, spots, pimples…
The consequences are sometimes very serious. And while the skin may sometimes change color, it's not to achieve the desired complexion. This is how users of bleaching creams sometimes end up with grayish or purplish skin, far from the caramel tone they seek. The dangers of these cosmetics are known but too often minimized. This is why bleaching or skin-lightening creams continue to attract many buyers, mainly Afro-Caribbean women.

Originating in the United States in the 1960s, the phenomenon of skin bleaching has spread worldwide. According to psychologists, its roots lie in the past of slavery and colonialism. A trauma stemming from the ingrained prejudice of the supposed superiority of white people, instilled by colonizers and slave owners.
In African or Asian societies, a light complexion is still largely synonymous with beauty and social success. This traditional idea is reinforced by consumer and entertainment society, with its light-skinned models and stars with barely marbled complexions, like Rihanna or Beyoncé, teenage idols.

Seduce yes, destroy no

In the absence of precise figures, the Paris City Council estimates that approximately 20% of women of African origin living in the capital use skin-lightening products based on hydroquinone and dermocorticoids with deleterious effects: in addition to those already mentioned, there are risks of hirsutism (excessive hair growth), stretch marks, or diabetes.

Hence this campaign on new media: posters on Decaux billboards in Parisian neighborhoods primarily affected by this phenomenon (18th, 10th, and 19th arrondissements), proclaiming "Seduce yes, destroy no."
This campaign also relies on a comic book "Beauté d’ébène" (Ebony Beauty) highlighting that repeated use of skin-lightening products causes damage, and an educational booklet distributed in district town halls, health centers, and PMI (Maternal and Child Protection) centers.

"De-ghettoize" distribution channels

During a press conference in early November in the Goutte d'Or district (18th arrondissement), particularly affected by this problem, the Socialist Party's deputy mayor of the district, Daniel Vaillant, stated that it was about "raising an alarm." For her part, Isabelle Mananga, president of the Label Beauté Noire association, said she wanted to "de-ghettoize" the distribution channels for ethnic cosmetics and help consumers break free from the cycle of poor-quality skin-lightening products. Ian Brossat, president of the communist group on the Paris Council, who initially called for this campaign a year ago, highlighted the "pioneering" aspect of the Parisian municipality's approach, which "breaks a taboo."

No guarantee

All lotions, creams, or soaps containing hydroquinone or high concentrations of corticosteroids are prohibited. But while French law strictly regulates the composition of these cosmetics, many suppliers do not hesitate to circumvent it. It is not uncommon for them to alter the information on product packaging to deceive conscientious consumers. Salespeople in stores can also maintain impeccable shelves while keeping a stock of much more aggressive products in the back room. These products will be sold "under the counter" to regulars. The internet is also a fertile ground for these harmful cosmetics.

A cream that effectively lightens the skin is necessarily harmful. "There is no miracle product that lightens without risk," warned Dr. Antoine Petit, dermatologist at Saint-Louis Hospital. Faced with the impossibility of obtaining a guarantee regarding the composition of these products applied directly to the skin, the best prevention is not to use them. And to break away from preconceived ideas and unfounded beauty criteria that would have it that beautiful skin is light skin."

..."In France, the hub of skin bleaching is the "Black beauty business" triangle in Paris, around the Château d'Eau and Château Rouge metro stations. Afro hairdressers rub shoulders with beauty product stores. But some of the concoctions sold there are no better than bleach. Many of these products, at more affordable prices than those in pharmacies (a ratio of 1 to 6), contain corticosteroids. Others contain more than 2% hydroquinone, a product used in photographic development. Its medical use is prohibited in the European Union due to its potentially carcinogenic effects.

Customers of these makeshift products put themselves in danger by believing they are improving their lives. In their clinics, doctors see bodies covered in brown spots, the ultimate effect of these products. Other possible consequences include skin cancers, diabetes, hypertension, bone, kidney, or hormonal problems.
In medical practices, victims of skin bleaching cross paths with Westerners overexposed to the sun to tan their light skin. Contrary aspirations that have the same consequences: the risk of cancer."

Focus on the campaign launched by the Paris City Council against skin bleaching

.."The city council has therefore taken up the issue and is launching a major prevention campaign this week. To raise public awareness, nearly 6,000 posters, bearing the slogan "seduce yes, destroy no," will be plastered on Decaux billboards in the 18th, 19th, and 10th arrondissements. These are neighborhoods that concentrate the majority of Paris's population of African origin, and where prohibited products have been seized several times this year. The campaign, which specifically targets young people, is based on a comic strip titled "Beauté d'ébène". An educational booklet, highlighting the damage caused by repeated use of lightening products, will also be distributed in district town halls, health centers, and PMI (Maternal and Child Protection) centers. A festival is even planned for Saturday at the 18th arrondissement's town hall.

The initiator of this prevention campaign, Ian Brossat, president of the communist group on the Paris Council and elected official for the 18th arrondissement, fought for a whole year to see it come to fruition and be allocated a substantial budget, in this case 30,000 euros. "I discovered the problem during an exceptional seizure of illicit bleaching products last autumn. It then seemed to me that, while the repression aspect seemed to be strengthening, nothing was being done to address the demand," he explains. "As long as people seek to obtain these products, they will find them on the internet or elsewhere," he believes. However, the consequences of bleaching can be dramatic. In addition to skin burned by more or less aggressive products, some creams, based on hydroquinone - prohibited in France but commonly sold under the counter - or cortisone derivatives, can lead to serious pathologies such as hypertension or kidney failure.

Isabelle Mananga, president of the Label beauté noire association in Évreux and a pioneer in the fight against skin bleaching, regrets, however, that only the "black" neighborhoods of the capital have been targeted. "This once again stigmatizes this population, whereas black women in affluent neighborhoods also use these creams, as do Asian women," she emphasizes. Since 2003, Isabelle Mananga has been campaigning for health authorities to address this issue. "It is a matter of public health, just like the harms of UV rays related to tanning," she argues. "We receive women from all over France in Évreux. They come from Marseille or Nice to find help. We are overwhelmed," she recounts. "The care provided is insufficient. Only five doctors in France have specialized in this problem, and, in general, dermatologists tell us that they are not trained in this field," says Isabelle Mananga.

Between aesthetic concern and social malaise

As for the reasons that push women to bleach their skin, they are diverse. "About 20% of the women I meet resort to these creams to obtain whiter skin. The others are simply looking for an aesthetic solution because, in our temperate climate, their black skin gets stressed and develops pigmentation spots," she notes. That's why the president of Label beauté noire is preparing to launch a label aimed at distinguishing real quality cosmetic products for black skin, which meet the demands of women of color, in complete safety. But bleaching one's skin also responds to a social malaise. Thus, historian Pap Ndiaye, author of La Condition noire, sees in this practice - which far exceeds the borders of France - the correction of a social handicap.

"When we go into schools, young people tell us: we want to be fashionable, to have beautiful light skin like our idols, Rihanna or Beyoncé," explains Isabelle Mananga, for whom the lack of dark-skinned role models weighs heavily. "Fortunately there's Rama Yade, young, beautiful, black, and a minister. I've never met her, but I can tell you she helps us a lot in our work." The phenomenon itself remains difficult to quantify. No serious study has yet been conducted on the subject in France. Isabelle Mananga calls for a major epidemiological study to evaluate the phenomenon. Ian Brossat, for his part, hopes that the Parisian initiative will have a snowball effect. "Other local authorities need to follow suit, as does the Ministry of Health."

Source: France Info, RFO and Le Point.

To learn more: NoireôNaturel.com, section Black Skin and Specificities and Respect Mag.

Campaign against depigmentation, the City of Paris is committed!!!

Those who have been reading us from the beginning know that NoireôNaturel wants to fight against depigmentation by informing you that skin bleaching is harmful to health and that it reflects a strong identity crisis for those who practice it.
The use of these "prohibited" creams is a financial windfall for unscrupulous cosmetic industrialists! We will never be too many to shout: S-T-O-P !!! Be NoireôNaturel and proud to be!

We can only applaud this initiative by the City of Paris!

FOCUS

A campaign to warn about the dangers of skin bleaching
"The Paris City Council is launching an information campaign on the dangers of depigmentation. Approximately 20% of women of Afro-Caribbean origin living in the capital reportedly use skin-lightening products, the effects of which are often very harmful to health. An educational guide will be published on this occasion. An evening debate (November 3 at the Hôtel de Ville) and a celebration at the 18th arrondissement town hall (November 7) are organized.

Skin-lightening products can seriously harm health. This is the main message of the information campaign launched by the Paris City Council, in partnership with URACA (an association for health and social information and prevention for African populations). Posters will be displayed in three arrondissements (10th, 18th, and 19th) from November 4. An educational guide, as well as a comic book, are also published.

Major skin damage

Because the use of creams to lighten skin seems very widespread in Paris: approximately 20% of women in the Afro-Caribbean community reportedly use them. "This public health campaign aims to warn them about the dangers they face," explains Jean-Marie Le Guen, deputy mayor in charge of public health and relations with the AP-HP. "And the populations concerned are often unaware of the risks involved."

The initial consequences can be very serious: major epidermal deterioration, resistant acne, stretch marks, extreme thinning of the skin… In the medium term, risks of hypertension, diabetes, and even vision loss can occur.

How to avoid these dangers? "No prohibited products, sold on the sly or purchased in another country, no products out of their original packaging, no mixtures," advises Dr. Antoine Petit, dermatologist, in the guide's prologue. Prevention messages are also beginning to be disseminated to medical staff, Maternal and Child Protection (PMI) services, and associations in the three arrondissements concerned. About a hundred people have already been trained by URACA.

Skin bleaching = danger!

... "The use of these bleaching products unfortunately leads to sometimes irreversible consequences (stretch marks, infections...). Fragilized skin is then more susceptible to infections with the appearance of boils and abscesses. Hormonal effects are marked by the appearance of hair or acne on the face. More rarely, excessive and very prolonged use of these cortisone-containing creams can cause hypertension, diabetes, or hormonal imbalance."...

Find the rest of this new article on the specificities linked to black skin, including a paragraph on the dangers of skin lightening, on NoireôNaturel.com!!!

Say no to these barbaric practices and yes to a Natural Black Beauty! Be proud of who you are, and you will be even more beautiful!