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RE: Skin lightening cream

missy — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:28:38 GMT

Wait...wait....Hold On.....Isnt' this the same look that the white folks are paying for that some black folks are rejecting.?....I mean ...the full lips, the tanned skin, the high cheek bones, breaststicies (:D)...and yes the ***....This look is in demand now....so sisters appreciate what was given to you......

RE: Skin lightening cream

missy — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:20:03 GMT

But...but....wait nah...The look that the white folks are paying for now....isnt this the same look that the black folks have and don't realise it (some arwe)? High cheekbones, full lips, high forehead, tanned skinned and breasticies...lol....and yes big ***...bumper?l Well my man cannot only get fluffiness from a pillow.... ...Sisters, be grateful

RE: Skin lightening cream

missy — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:05:07 GMT

Aque said he likes his women with short hair or dreads....Well mine is not Caesar's cut but it it short and natural.....i twist and loose out so they look like dread....I think Aque will like me....maybe we can hook up:P?? And the Blessed One can marry us??:D

RE: Skin lightening cream

BlessedOne — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:02:06 GMT

Yes Aque, Malcom X, Rosa Parks, Marcus Garvey and the other Giants would probably turn over in their graves. But they would never give up, they didnt give up during their era and neither should we. We dont need to go back as far as Adam and Eve, the soloution is in front of us; we start by saving our young ones through teaching and reaching out to them, by giving them something else to live for except what the things that the western Culture have poisoned them with.

But it first starts with you, like Michael Jackson says, 'the man in the mirror" thats you, thats me. Lets educate ourselves then disperse the information to as many of our young ones as possible. We cant sit around and blame society forever we have to take some responsibilty also. Aque if we save one person we have done our part. Just teach them that being Black, is a true gift.

RE: Skin lightening cream

Aque — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:44:02 GMT

P.S It hurts no-one more than myself to say this, but this is where all the evidence points to

RE: Skin lightening cream

Aque — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:41:07 GMT

We do understand that in all likelihood it will never happen, right Blessed? I have said many times over how impressed I am with the Israelis and the other Middle Easterners and the reason being that they know their history and will NEVER forget it. They also are more interested in their sustenance as a people rather than the individual. For us to change we have to go back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. I kid u not.
Now with that being said, it may be because of the way in which our history developed why we were not able to grasp the importance of of history but I say that at some point in time we have to be held accountable for our actions. It doesn't jus stop with the hair, it continues with Tiger saying he his some mixture of three ethnicities. it continues with our high profile athletes, a la Michael Jordan, taking the fifth on issues where they should be the loudest. Why? Because they don't wanna jeopardize the extra 50 million they may get in endorsements. How selfish are we? Somewhere in their graves, people like Rosa Parks , Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X are turning when they see the power that some of us do have and the very little impact that we have effected.
Like I said, it will [b][i][u]NEVER[/u][/i][/b] happen.

RE: Skin lightening cream

BlessedOne — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:51:40 GMT

Aque, In response to your question, why we hold on to our hair, or why we think our hair determines who we are, is directly linked to what we have been taught by society. As girls you feel inferior to the other girl who have long hair or curly hair. So its not why we do the things we do but rather how do we stop this plague. We have to re-train our brains and thoughts, by understanding the strength of our color and also understanding that our hair is yet another accessory. You should be able to feel sexy or beautiful no matter how short or long your hair is as long as you are happy with who you are as a person. The hardest part of this task is loving your body from the crown of your head to your feet with all your flaws and assets, being able to say this is "me".

RE: Skin lightening cream

Aque — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:52:18 GMT

It is a sad state of affairs, and what is even more significant is what I believe to be factual. By this I mean that this way of thinking wont change, can't change but most importantly is that we don't have the desire to change it. Ever wondered why when a group of guys see a light skinned female quite a distance, their interest is immediately piqued. Don't make her have long straight hair. The responses you will immediately hear are those of disbelief and excitement at the apparent beauty of the princess that is coming towards them. Now bear in mind that she is much to far away to distinguish her features to really see if she is "beautiful", matters not though because all the black man needs to know if she is attractive is her light skin and her long. straight hair. Let not this be a really dark skinned woman, she may have to sit in a chair and go through an interview before a panel before she is declared not beautiful but merely acceptable.
There are so many things I wish to say about this topic and I have only just scratched the surface. I will leave u something to ponder though. I love a woman with dreads or a really short hair cut. I mean really short, like a "Caesar cut". Why if we ask a black woman if she would cut her hair, the responses range from saying that her head is too small, to not shaped to facilitate such a hair style, to it wouldn't fit me and such nonsense. Hear is the kicker, I have never heard one say that long, straight hair don't fit her, and believe me, I have asked many.

RE: Skin lightening cream

Yute — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:41:14 GMT

The use of bleaching cream is directly linked to our rejection of blackness. And I will continue to say that our belief that white skin is some how more superior, is some how more beautiful is linked to our acceptance that our Africaness is ugly, barbaric and inferior. I had an experience with a good friend who I thought was a conscious African sister. Her statement in reference to another woman was that the woman was beautiful because she had brown skin but had she been blacker she would have been ugly. This was an educated sister talking and sadly it mirrored the way we have been socialised into believing that the white skin is so much more superior. We need to reeducate our people!

Have you ever wondered why some black mothers massage the noses of their babies just after birth? What is our definition of "good hair"? Straight nose, soft curly hair! What is the common thread here - how closely our features resemble the white.

Am too conscious to bleach; beauty is in the blackness of my skin, the width of my nose, the thickness of my lips, the toughness of hair. Plus bleach money could get me a good book. :)

RE: Skin lightening cream

missy — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:45:41 GMT

I rarely use a bleach cream ....only if i get a very dark spot as I am easily marked. Most times though, I use cocoabutter. but in case of "emergency" I may use a qtip to apply the bleach cream to the area and when it comes back to my skin colour, i STOP.....done with that.... BUT....BUT when black sisters and even bros are DILUTING their beauty then it becomes a problem.. they suffer from inferiority complex and in my opinion low self esteem. ......Many of them go around with black hands and white faces....sometimes whiter than the white people themselves.......They look horrible especiallly in the dark....or low lit places...ghostly creation......It is sad because it seems that we have not yet accepted our colour ...some of us that is. We have become chemical indians and hydroquinone whites. Why not just be thankful for such richness. We come in all shades and that's what makes us special....a beautiful garden of beautiful colours....black or white...So let's embrace what we have....You may be mocha, I may be almond joy....You may be cafe au lait, another person may be lait......Dont look like an oreo cookie....part brown...part white....That should be in your genes not a bleaching bottle....Be yourself!

RE: Skin lightening cream

Yute — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:57:12 GMT

Skin lightening is not specific to women but increasingly men are also engaged in this practice as well. A few years ago I read an article in one of the Jamaican newspapers which pointed to the increasing use of bleaching agents among men. The effect of these lightening agents are severe but this phemonenon points to the very core of our existence as a people.

Many people are uncomfortable discussing slavery and it legacies, but our definitions and concepts of beauty were and still continue to be influenced by our past. One of the psychological tools of our enslavement was to have us despise our colour and by extension ourselves. Thus, beauty and that which was beautiful were determined by how close we could replicate the physical qualities of the whiteman; his hair, his nose, his lips etc and of course his colour.

Hundreds of years after the formal emancipation of slaves we are yet to "emancipate ourselves from mental slavery", for we have accepted aspects of our socialisation which have engendered the belief that blackness is not a blessing, that mobility and self acceptance is somehow tied to the whitening of self . Sad, but the bleaching syndrome will continue unless we begin a drastic reeducation of our people.

Skin lightening cream

BlessedOne — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:47:07 GMT

In a story posted last week, by Carifuna.com, it was stated that women in Senegal are using lightening creams that have now been determined to be a health hazard. These skin lightening creams contains steroids or hydroquinone, that will start to peel away at the skin. The worst part of this story is that many women are not focused on the effects that these creams may have, they are more concerned that they won’t have the necessary supply to help them "look better".
Why do black women feel it is necessary to use products such as these to determine their beauty? This is not just an issue in Senegal it is very popular amongst the women in the Caribbean. Is it that we really do believe that anything white is better than black. I grew up hearing the saying, "anything black never good".
Tell me your opinion, do you use these creams? what are you're concerns? how does this affect us as a people?