Beware of dangerous skin lighteners
SKIN-LIGHTENING creams from India and Pakistan sell in various spice shops in South Africa and many Indian customers love using them.
Unfortunately, the creams are entering SA illegally and contain various illegal products, including Mercury and Hydroquinone.
The authorities in Luton, England, seized 640 products in 2013 after they were tested and found to contain dangerously high levels of chemicals.
These products included Faiza Beauty Cream, Golden Pearl, Seven Herbal Ubtan and Roop Amrit.
The creams are affordable and achieve amazing immediate results and this could be the possible reason for the continued sale of these products in South Africa. The owner of hair and beauty parlour Changing Faces, Jayshika Manikam, is well aware of the dangers that accompany certain face creams.
As a business owner in the aesthetics industry, she comes into contact with many people who want to sell their beauty products at her parlour.
A father and son team from Pakistan, who now live in Durban, approached her to sell a skin lightening face cream, which was manufactured in their home country.
“The cream was in a clear blue tube. It had no ingredients printed on it and the retailprice was R80,” she said.
There was no name on it but the product claimed to lighten dark spots.
Manikam was not willing to sell it to her customers before testing it.
“I tried out the product on a willing friend to test how safe it was. We tried it on his neck at first and noticed his skin became fairer. This prompted us to then try it on his face and we found it produced good results and made him lighter skinned.”
After the “good results” Manikam ordered eight more tubes of the product.
Two months later her friend’s skin was fine.
However, when she decided to take him off the cream, things took a turn for the worse.
“Within three days of leaving it, he started breaking out in big pimples on his face and it reached a stage of bad adult acne. His skin only improved slightly when the face cream was re-applied. We decided to take him off the cream completely and now he has severe acne and his skin has become darker.”
Manikam’s friend is now on medication recommended by a dermatologist, which includes lotions and tablets.
She has also put her friend on a skin care regimen called Vitasure.
The businesswoman also tested a popular brand skin cream.
Although it helped with pigmentation and lightened her skin, she broke out in blotchy red patches and her skin darkened when it was discontinued.
“I feel the responsibility is on me to test any product we are unsure of before selling it to clients. My friend is experiencing severe pain and he never had acne before. This is proof of the devastating effects of such creams. I feel people, especially women, need to be aware of the harmful products out there as many of them are being hoodwinked.”
Her advice is to use well known brands, so that if you have a problem, there will be reputable representatives to consult.
She said the product her friend tested was being sold in Overport, Sherwood and in Musgrave.