'Women wey dey use dangerous 'skin-lightening products' dey risk dia health'
"I look very bad on my wedding day. I ugly wellwell," na so Shiroma Pereira (no be her real name) tok with plenty emotion for her voice.
Se dey live near di Sri Lankan capital Colombo. Like so many odas for South Asia, she decide to lighten her skin ahead of her big day last year. She bin dey hope to get beautiful, radiant skin.
''Two months before di wedding, I go salon and dem give me one cream to whiten my skin. After I use di cream for one week, my face come bleach," she tell BBC Sinhala.
"I bin wan lighten my skin but I end up with burnt skin."
DARK PATCHES
Instead make she dey focus on di guest lists and shopping plans for her wedding, di 31-year-old come dey spend time and money ontop treatment.
"I get white rashes wey later turn to dark patches."
The whitening cream she get from di salon no join di list of authorised beauty products for Sri Lanka. Dem bin import am legally and na black market dey sell am.
Di scars still dey Pereira neck, even after one year of treatment.
MARKET
But dis palava no dey limited to Sri Lanka. Millions of people - mostly women for Asia and Africa dey take extreme measure to lighten dia complexion.
Sabi pipo estimate say di global skin-lightening industry worth $4.8bn for 2017 and dem dey project say e go double to $8.9bn by 2027.
E include products like soaps, creams, scrubs, tablets and even injections wey dem design to slow down di production of melanin pigments, and dem dey very popular.
According to the World Health Organization, four out of 10 women for Africa dey use skin-lightening products.
For Africa, Nigeria top di list with 77% of women wey dey use skin lightening products. Followed by Togo 59 % and South Africa 35%.
For Asia, 61% of Indian women and 40% of Chinese women dey use dem.
NA GLOBAL CHALLENGE
Last year, authorities for Ghana warn pregnant women, make dem no take one skinlightening pill wey contain one antioxidant glutathione.
Women for Ghana bin dey take di medicine with di hope say e go lighten di skin of dia unborn babies inside dia womb.
South Africa get some of di toughest laws against skin lighteners. Gambia, Ivory Coast and early dis year Rwanda all ban skinlightening products wey contain hydroquinone, wey dey reduce melanin production, but wey fit also cause permanent skin damage.
Melanin na brown/black pigment wey dey give skin e colour.
EFFECTIVENESS
Di British Skin Foundation tok say, "pesin fit use products with hydroquinone safely under di supervision of consultant dermatologist to treat areas wey get skin problem with good results."
SIDE EFFECTS
Most women dey buy and use cosmetic skin-lightening products without any medical supervision or guidelines, and dem fit get serious side effects, like: * Skin irritation and inflammation
* Burning or stinging sensation
* Itchy and flaky skin