Why to say no to lightening your skin

By Timothy Muthee

Human skin colour can range from almost black to nearly colourless depending on the amount of melanin, a dark brown pigment, in it. The darker your skin, the more pigment you have.

Melanin serves many functions. One of them is to protect our bodies from harmful rays of the sun that can cause skin damage and even cancer. The darker your skin, the more protected you are.

Many youths are tempted to lighten or bleach their skins. There are many products in the market for this. However, many of them contain harmful chemicals such as mercury and hydroquinone, which are suspected to cause kidney failure, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer and even death.

Hydroquinone and mercury work by blocking the skin from producing melanin. This leaves the skin exposed to harmful rays. Be proud of your beautiful, healthy dark skin and stay away from life-threatening bleaching chemicals.