What drives one to change their skin color?
The bleaching debate has taken a front line in the Kenyan beauty industry following a featured aired by a local media house which unmasked shocking details about the product.
Revelations made include skin lightening products that have been banned by the government for containing mercury and its compounds.
Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has listed dozens of creams, gels and liquid products which, when used unregulated, have cancer-causing effects.
The products which most people go for in a bid to lighten their skin despite the known side effects are acquired in beauty shops along River Road.
The pills have no KEBS sticker and proper expiration date and the cream is also in an unlabelled container. Also available is a yellowish fluid which is used for injections.
The ‘mkorogo’ mixture identified as a perfumed body cream is found to contain high quantities of hydroquinone – a banned carcinogenic agent.