[b]
Toxic
creams for sale as thousands seek whiter
skin

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_ne, 593303,00.html

Young black and Asian women are using
illegal and harmful skin bleaching
creams in an effort to follow fashion.
Antony Barnett and Zoe Smith report

Sunday October 16, 2005 The Observer

Gina did not like the look of her skin.
It was not that she had too many
wrinkles or spots. Gina thought she was
too dark. Gina was black, a dark rich
black. But she desperately wanted to be
lighter. Unfortunately, her desperation
nearly proved fatal. An Observer
investigation has uncovered a booming
multi-million-pound market in illegal
and highly toxic skin-bleaching creams
being sold across Britain to black and
Asian men and women. Many are
manufactured and sold in the UK and
exported to Africa.

Gina, a Jamaican in her mid-twenties,
from south London, is typical, although
what happened to her is one of the worst
cases doctors have seen. She felt that
to be successful and attractive in
modern-day Britain her skin needed to be
paler. After speaking to friends she
visited a shop in Peckham and bought
some skin-lightening cream that promised
it could bleach her whiter.

Gina used it twice a day and noticed
that after a few days her skin looked
fairer. Soon she was applying it more
frequently, up to six times a day. After
several months she noticed strange dark,
blotchy marks on her thighs, legs and
the sides of her face.

Her doctor referred her to a
dermatologist who diagnosed an acute
skin disorder caused by the cream.
Gina's blood pressure was very high and
her adrenal gland was malfunctioning.
This proved almost lethal.

Dr John Meadows, the hormone specialist
who treated Gina, said: 'It was a truly
shocking case. Although I have seen
similar cases, this was the worst.
First, her skin was permanently
disfigured. But most alarming was that
her adrenal glands had stopped producing
one of the hormones essential to life.'

Field quickly identified the culprit as
Movate, the skin-bleaching cream Gina
had been using. One of its active
ingredients is a powerful steroid known
as clobetasol propionate. This compound
is not banned in this county, but such
is its potency that it can be used only
as a licensed prescription drug to treat
extreme skin conditions such as acute
eczema or psoriasis. Yet, for less than
�2, Gina had bought it over the counter
in a corner shop with no questions
asked.

As The Observer has discovered, Gina is
not alone - thousands of black and Asian
British women are using similar creams
to make them whiter. While some contain
steroids which thin the skin, others
contain the poisonous chemical
hydroquinone, banned in Britain in
January 2001. Hydroquinone interferes
with the skin's pigmentation process and
increases the risk of skin cancer.

Anybody caught selling creams containing
hydroquinone can be fined �5,000 or
jailed for up to six months. Yet an
Observer reporter who visited several
shops in London - including in Southall,
Tottenham and Brixton - and Birmingham
was able to buy these illegal products.

The Observer has learnt that this summer
alone customs officers made two massive
seizures of illegal skin-bleaching
creams at Gatwick airport involving
hundreds of thousands of products. On 27
July, more than 46,000 tubes were found
in a cargo container from Lagos in
Nigeria, labelled 'body cream'. The
lotions were found to contain the
steroid and were en route to a warehouse
in north London whose owner was planning
to sell them on to retailers as
skin-lightening products.

Less than a month later customs made
their largest seizure of illegal
cosmetics when they inspected a
container from West Africa marked
'foodstuffs'. Inside were thousands of
skin-bleaching products containing the
illegal chemical hydroquinone, with
names such as Miss Caroline Lightening
Body Cream and Crusader Skin Toning
Cream. Both seizures are subject to
criminal investigation by trading
standards and the Medicines and
Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
The authorities are probing who are the
rogue traders behind the illegal
imports.

Danny Lee Frost, head of enforcement at
the agency, said: 'It appears there is
still huge demand for such products and
big money to be made.' He admits the
seizures are only the tip of the
iceberg.

The adverts have a clear and simple
message: dark skin means failure; fair
skin is beautiful and equates to
success. These images are not a
throwback to apartheid South Africa or
the slavery era in the United States,
they are the images now staring out of
products on thousands of shelves across
the UK, not just in beauty salons but
grocery stores, newsagents,[/b]

To get your safe skin lightening creams made ONLY from natural ingredients call me on 08037261207
Love 2 all .
Jemila

@beatyguru,
Do well to put the names of those cream hear 4everyone.
Rgds.

Hi Frank !
Lol ! Did u think i was hiding the names from anyone ?
I make custom creams suited to skin type. I make these from scratch using natural components. Im not even thinking of branding them yet.
Did you think that any of these 'cosmetic' creams on the market for black women are safe ?
You see Nollywood stars with moonface and bulging necks with fat in the wrong places and ppl think it cos theyre well fed. NOTHING cld further frm the truth !
These ppl are suffring from imbalanced thyroid and adrenal hormones: giving them high BP , mood swings, sexual problems and depression.
I can proudly say that a few of these stars men and women patronise me and keep coming back but the others sadly, dnt know what bleaching is doing to them

Dear Ladies & Gents
If need a skin test, or already know your skin type and want a cream thats made for YOU. Then just CALL ME !
Love,
Jemila.

why the hell, do ladies bleach for goodness sake,we luv they way you look

Not all skin bleaches are dangerous only the ones sold and made by Europeans.
I know a cream which whitens skin permanently and safely and can be used on pregnant women. These creams to bleach are made harmful because they are made by people who do not even test the products and do not care of the safety of black people. There are many pirated products in Africa but I found a cream made by a lady originally from Ghana that lightens skin effectively in three days without any side effects. She has been white for ten years now and is healthy. And her skin has the same uniform colour everywhere: no dark knuckles, lips, elbows or knees.
You can contact me if you are interested but prices are not over the counter ones.
They are made for people who can really afford it.
markap21@hotmail.co.uk

I have used miss carolina and it contains hydroquinone, and nothing happened to me. dark skin is good but very very dark skin is not good and is as a result of the sun, you need products that contain some hydroquinone cos those natural things don't work and besides. clear esscence contains some hydroquinone, fair and white might contain clo, you cant avoid hydroquinone. the skin should be lighter a bit. if you are bying the tubes its worse. just keep it two percent. . well i still think it;s a choice. i think its the tube that worksfast. keeping it real. Sohlahtie

-Whitening/ lightening creams
-Custom made creams...
-Pimples/Acne Remover...
-Complexion Maintaining creams (for all complexions ...
-Hot Chocolate creams(for dark people)
-Treatment for pimples... Stretch marks, Dark knuckles, dark Armpit.

-varieties of asantee soaps ( tamarind goat milk soap etc)

(Effects seen under 2weeks or before, it depends on the individual's skin)

Contact us for your skin issues or needs.
Thanks.

Call or text 08104841233 BB pin: 25B32D9E

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Just minimal