A LETTER TO ALL AFRICAN WOMEN : EMBRACING YOUR AFRICAN SKIN.

NEGROIDS. Africans in general have always been classed on this race term for so long and for a lot of reasons. The most distinguishing factor between the Negroids, Caucasians, Mongoloids and so on has been the skin color.
Africans in general have been blessed with dark skin. Some of us refer to ourselves as fair and some of us are truly lighter in complexion than others but truth be told compared to other races, we are not as light as they are. The reason is because of the production of melanin. This is a natural pigment found in most organisms.
This is a plea to all african women, please embrace your natural skin. Be it light, dark, brown, own it and love it.
The desire to become light skinned arises from a place of insecurity and unworthiness and these signs are everywhere.All around you neighbors, friends and family, skin bleaching has become an essential part of skin management. A notion I am here to change.

Desiring a perfectly tone or bronzed skin is perfectly normal and proper maintenance and good products can give desired results. But the scourge of skin whitening has been made worse because most ladies use products with a powerful bleaching product: HYRDOQUINONE!!!!
This product functions by inhibiting the activity of the enzyme tyrosinase which is very important in skin pigmentation and melanin production. This melanin protects against UV rays and is better than any sunscreen ever. No wonder the Americans are often seen using sunscreens to protect themselves against the scorching effects of the sun during summer.
Combination of hydroquinone with some other chemicals like hydrogen and benzoyl peroxides also cause skin staining. As an African descendant here are some reasons why hydroquinone is more dangerous to you than any Caucasian or light skinned Asian.

1. It degenerates your collagen fibers during the process of lightening your skin and as a result you have a light skin with no glow and smoothness. Long term use result in dark knuckles and ankles and appearance of purplish veins on your once beautiful skin.
2. Once you stop using the products your skin after some time automatically re-darkens
3. Hydroquinone causes ochronosis ( blue and black pigments on the skin ) . This has been linked to excess sun exposure while using hydroquinone. And in hot African climate even sunscreen do not offer enough protection.
4. Hydroquinone is a carcinogen.it has been identified as both a clastogen ( a toxin that causes break in chromosomes, causes sections of this chromosomes to be destroyed and other sections to be rearranged resulting in various mutations and cancer ) and a mutagen ( a material that causes mutations and damage to DNA ).

As we age it is quite usually for our skin to lose its glow and elasticity gradually due to a lot of reasons which may include pregnancy, stress, sun damage due to over exposure, poor diet, lack of exercise and so on. But with the right diet and products you can regain what is lost without doing further damage. There are a lot of natural products that aid skin lightning take for example egg whites, turmeric, lemon, and even the least expected coffee can help. There are a lot of natural essential oils like coconut oil that help too.
In my forth coming posts I would enlighten us and natural ways to have a glowing healthy skin but until then love your skin today so it doesn't fall apart tomorrow.

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