Nomazulu,* peruses shelves at a Grahamstown pharmacy on High Street for skin bleaches, lightening creams and salves. The young woman whose own complexion is a rich cocoa claims to have used skin lightening creams for over ten years. She doesn’t see anything wrong with trying to enhance her beauty by making her complexion fairer.
Nomazulu,* peruses shelves at a Grahamstown pharmacy on High Street for skin bleaches, lightening creams and salves. The young woman whose own complexion is a rich cocoa claims to have used skin lightening creams for over ten years. She doesn’t see anything wrong with trying to enhance her beauty by making her complexion fairer.
“Our men find lighter women very attractive."
She says skin lightening creams are popular among her friends as they want to brighten their skin. Her husband and other people even compliment her on her complexion now and again.
“I rarely get the blemishes, but I am light most of the time, so I will not stop using these creams,” she says.
Dermatology researcher and consultant Dr Nonhlanhla Khumalo says many black women are blissfully unaware of the dangers that some skin creams pose in the long run.
“Some creams contain mercury, which is known to cause neurological and kidney damage, speech and hearing impairments, and can also lead to psychiatric disorders,” Khumalo told a recent talkshop.
“I would advise ladies never to attempt using skin lighteners as they are not good for your skin.”
Khumalo explained that some skin lighteners create a thick black pigmentation which is irreversible and can even make the skin darker. Look out for ingredients like hydroquinone, which can cause blue-black discolorations and also lead to neuropathy, a disease of the nervous system.
Local cosmetics clerk Elizabeth Jacobs says she usually discourages her clients from using skin lighteners.
“A person can use them for some time, but after a few years they will see the repercussions. You get pimples, rashes or black spots that turn into wounds and they hardly ever heal."
Jacobs says she encourages her clients to use moisturisers which revitalise and repair the skin.
Racist beauty
Rhodes Politics department, Dr. Louise Vincent says that in societies like South Africa where men and women’s views of the world have been influenced by racism, to be beautiful is frequently confused with being white.
“My research is replete with personal testimonies of young black girls growing up wanting long flowing hair, lighter skin and so on. The important point is not so much that they want to be white but that they want, like most young girls, to be beautiful.”
Khumalo agrees that the image of black beauty is socially constructed. “It does not matter who you are or where you are from, how poor or rich you are,” she says. “What matters is what is inside of you,”
* Not her real name
Dr Nonhlanhla Khumalo presented ‘Under my skin’ at Sasol Scifest.
