Know the complete truth about your fairness cream

Recently Ghana, a Small African country banned and cautioned its citizens against indiscriminate use of fairness creams .According to the CEO of FDA Ghana, Mr Hudu Mogtari the use ,selling, buying and marketing of all fairness preparations which contained steroids like Betamethasone, Clobetasol ,Flocinonide, Acetonide and hydrocortisone are to be banned from 1st August 2016. Preparations such as Betnovate,Dermovate,Tenovate, Epiderm and Dexacort can be sold and bought only on the prescription of a qualified medical doctor.

1. Most of the medical stores in India are run by unqualified persons who are not eligible to run the stores under Drug and Cosmetic Act. They take their licences on rent from the pharmacists who work elsewhere. The pharmacists don't only sell their certificates on rent but also their dignity and self respect is sold in mere Rs 200-300 per month. In most of the cases pharmacists sell their drug licences to the drug inspectors which in turn rent those licenses to any unqualified person by taking hefty sum of money. Are the pharmacists not responsible for their deeds? Please answer.

2. Most of the pharmacists are the residues of people who could not qualify the pre-medical exam. They enter pharma field with a great sense of frustration and anguish. Through the entire study they are heard cursing the system, their seniors, their teachers and if it is not sufficient, they blame the government. Is this frustration and anguish not destroying your own proffesion ?

The circular further cited the dangerous effects of the creams which included risks like:

1. Thinning of the skin leading to difficulty in holding the skin during surgery.
2. Making the skin more prone to damage ,and worsening of acne,pimples, permanent stretch marks, hyperpigmentation, glaucoma and even cataracts.
3.  Making skin more prone to fungal and bacterial infections.
4. Absorption into blood stream and adversely affecting other parts of body when applied widely on skin topically .

 Now coming on to the Indian prospective of using these fairness creams.You might have seen a advertisement on TV. It mocks at a  dark skinned girl. The ad tries to say that the only thing which matters and which should matter in a girl's appearance is her skin colour. Dusky girls can't be models. The girl is  not selected because of her skin colour.Then the girl applies the fairness cream to become more fairer and more lovelier. After applying that cream she becomes a superstar and photographers line in a queue to take her photo. Then the ad says you should also apply that cream to give wings to your dreams.

Just think what is the meaning of that ad ????

Does the darkish complexioned girl has no right to Dream?

Does the darkish complexioned girl has no right to become a star? 

Here I can give examples of number of girls who excelled in their respective fields despite their complexion. But I will not name them here because they excelled  not because of their skin colours but due to their talent.
There was a documentary where a dark girl's mother was asked whether prospective grooms prefer fairer women. She immediately said, "No no". Men want women with good facial features and a good figure but in India condition is quite different . Most of Indian mothers refuse a darker girl for her son, because they want their grandchildren to be fair. These mothers would strongly prefer an average-looking fair girl over a very attractive dark girl, because they feel fairness is associated with upper class. There was a mother who said, "My son is dark. That is why I want a fair daughter -in-law, so that the grandchildren will not be too dark.

There was another Facebook status about Miss Universe where a black woman from Ghana or something was the "featured beauty". And a huge number of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis mocked her saying, "She looks just like my servant, Lolz. Once again, invoking a "socio-economic class factor" as opposed to visual aesthetics alone.

3. The drug inspectors, who are themselves pharmacists first, don't have enough courage and calibre to fight against the chemist and druggist associations. They often have some vested financial interests in all the medical shops. Their commissions in form of some gifts or money from each shops are fixed. At present the conditions is such that if any person approaches a drug inspector for a medical store then the drug inspectors will provide them with everything, even the drug licences. Are they not responsible for the pathetic condition of pharmacists?

 4. Many of fresher pharmacists are seen working in some companies in Baddi , Sikkim or Daman etc at a mere salary of Rs 5000 per month. When asked they say that 'we are working here to get experience'.  My question for them ' Is your theory and practical classes in college not enough for the experience and expertise you get while working in sampling section of the local pharma companies? Are not you setting wrong example for the future pharmacists who will have to search jobs?

Before the advent of waxing, it was common for women to have hairs on their hands. But the way the product was marketed, the society accepted waxed hands as a feminine norm. Over the years, marketing of things makes an impact on our brain and lives. A ban on these is important because they propagate their unfairer practices in a flamboyant manner. And that won't stop until such ads are prohibited from being telecast.We the people of India are so much  used up with these ads that even when a boy or girl adds a photo on Facebook or Watsapp ,they don't forget to increase the brightness of their photos. 

In the above lines I basically gave a blow to racism and inferior feelings which these creams promote. But now coming to the dangerous effects of the creams which are scientifically proven. Several countries including USA, Japan and Australia have either banned or imposed regulations on the over-the-counter sales of products containing hydroquinone, which doctors, say, can lead to many skin-related ailments, such as increased exposure to UV radiation, sensitivity to sunlight, hyperpigmentation, allergies and thick, leathery, and bumpy skin.

But until the  fairness creams promote themselves of giving people instant results, who's going to care! For the countries and continents of black or brown people, whiteness of the skin is the yardstick to measure beauty. Fairness is aspirational and people, especially women don't think twice before caking their faces with dubious products.

The skin-whitening products industry is said to be a multi-billion one with the Indian fairness cream industry alone being worth around $450 million and one that is continuously growing (Data taken from Wikipidea). Doctors believe that over the past two to three years, cases of skin infection increased from 2% to 15% as a result of application of fairness creams. But we would prefer a fair skin with all sorts of skin problems than a dark one.

The target consumer profile for fairness creams is the 18 and above age group, and the bulk of the users are in the age 21-35 category,though there is evidence that girls as young as 12-14 also use the cream. Marketing for the fairness product in all countries implies whiter skin equates to beauty and self-confidence and it is aspirational, like losing weight.

Long term use of skin whiteners can lead to pigmentation increasing to the joints of the fingers, toes, buttocks and ears and the skin of the face can become thinned and the area around the eyes can have increased pigmentation causing a 'bleach panda effect'. In 2012 sales of skin lightening creams in India alone totaled 258 tons and the global market for skin lighteners is projected to reach US $19.8 billion by 2018 based on sales growth primarily in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.(according to wikipedia).

Most of the fairness creams use one among the following contents as its main ingredients hydroquinone,Kojic acid,Azelaic acid,Alpha hydroxy acids,monobenzene and even mercury. Hydroquinone does not bleach the skin but lightens it, and can disrupt the synthesis and production of melanin . It has been banned in all European countries (e.g. France) because of fears of a cancer risk.

Hydroquinone has been shown to cause leukemia in mice and other animals.Kojic acid can cause allergic contact dermatitis  and skin irritation.

If you really want good health ,longer life span, youth and beauty,then this Japanese secret might be beneficial for you.

Recently a movie named Mohan Jodaro directed by very renowned director Mr Ashutosh Gowarikar got released. Mohan Jodaro is believed to be the first planned city in the Harrapan civilization. The movie depicts the actress of fairer skin. But according to many Historians Harrappan people were of blackish complexion. Does it mean that the Bollywood is not yet ready to accept a dark skinned girl as its lead actress or the Indian viewers are not ready to see a dark girl in the lead role??? It clearly depicts the mindset of the Indian society. 

One can say that boycotting these products can help. But I feel, it won't help because the cream  makers have very cunningly correlated their products and beauty in such a way that it has deeply instilled the feeling of inferiority in the minds of people .Here one thing is to be noted that the black complexion is a dominant trait and fair complexion is a reccesive trait according to genetics.So one should be genetically proud of his or her dark skin colour but as long as these ads keep reminding people that being dark leads to difference, there's hardly any scope of change. There's no denying the fact that marketing of a product affects the human brains drastically.

So before you get bored after reading this long article I would like to conclude this blog. Since the aspirations of everyone of having a fair skin is very deeply rooted, the government will  have to really do a lot of hard work .

If Ghana can do why not we? Infact many countries have in past banned those creams.

Viplove Thakur, Congress Rajya Sabha member, has recently called upon banning of all sorts of advertisements of fairness creams which are becoming a tool to malign a girl's beauty. I had recently seen an episode on DNA in Zee News in which they showed the dangerous effects of those creams. There steps are really commendable.

Now its time to conclude my article.

Feel proud of your skin colour. Stay healthy and safe.