While the older generation prefers lotions and creams, the younger generation opts for injections and pills such as glutathione capsules.
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The modality for these products used in skin bleaching in Africa varies by age group as well. It’s estimated about one of every three women in South Africa uses the products, even though mercury-based products have been banned in the country since the late 1970s. Nigeria leads the purchasing trend with 77% of women using skin bleaching products (cream and non-cream based), followed by 59% in Togo, 27% in Senegal and 25% in Mali. The trend is not isolated to one specific region either. Data collected by the World Health Organization (WHO) determined that 40% of African women regularly use skin lightening or bleaching creams. The messaging surrounding these products, whether via word of mouth or straight from the packaging, appear to be working. Education Is Key: Addressing the Trend as a Public Health Problem Anecdotally, the appearance of lighter skin means faster and easier access in landing higher paying jobs, particularly in sales and marketing. Skin bleaching in Africa is therefore a business-oriented decision. The pay-off comes in the form of job security, progress, and power. The retailers selling these products sometimes refer to and promote skin lightening creams as “up-marketing” one’s appearance. Consumers of these bleaching products, wanting fairer skin, believe they will achieve a higher level of social capital, be viewed as “pure” and more desirable for marriage.ĭoctors who have studied the phenomena of skin bleaching in Africa have concluded that while some women bleach their skin for vanity reasons, others are very calculative in their decision.
In other words, darker skin is stereotypically associated with a life of economic disadvantage and struggle. They believe that darker skin is associated with unsatisfactory traits such as inferior beauty, education and social class. The legacy of racist views which positions white Europeans as superior has remained a structural belief system among the women who choose to use the skin lightening products. The caste systems that entitled European slave owners and traders to reduce African blacks to indentured servants perpetuated disparities in political status, wealth and beauty, furthering discrimination based on skin color. The practice finds its roots in the transatlantic slave trade and continued during the European colonization of African nations. Skin bleaching in Africa is not a new beauty phenomenon.
Market trends project these bleaching products, many containing mercury, will make $31.2 billion in profits by 2024. While many African women prefer to refer to this method as “heightening your glow” or “skin lightening,” it involves skin bleaching. Unfortunately, some of that diversity is lost when beauty standards are dictated by other cultures that are not native to Africa.
The continent of Africa is revered as one of the most diverse continents on Earth, toting genetic, linguistic, cultural and phenotype diversity.
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