Glo in the Dark

Going through a myriad of fashion eras in my modest age, I commend my mother now when she banned make up (among many other things but that is another story) till we hit at least age 16. Even then, it was restricted to lip gloss, kohl (eye pencil) and a touch of tasteful lipstick if it's a very glamorous occasion...

While in high school, I learnt several important lessons on what I didn't want in life. Among them was to steer clear of those Gwad awful fading creams. My domestic science teacher applied the stuff daily and she had this outline of chalky pastiness that just about missed the hairline. And for her lips, she used Irene lipstick, that green stick that turned plum red when applied on skin, it was used on her bottom lip (only). It was a gruesome sight that haunts me till today. I still have nightmares about it.

So I slowly got into a life of little bits and pieces of sophistication, I at least knew what I could not be caught dead in.

I grew up during the times of Shabadoo and break-dance (yeah break-all-your-bones dance) and disco, funk, the post soul era. Polyester clad folk with big hair. It evolved to stone wash jeans and box shaped haircuts and luminous colored shoelaces probably in different colors.

It was a time when my mum's friends and my aunties swore by Ambi and Cleartone some nasty skin lighters women thought works wonders….. I saw the effects of those mercury-laden creams when the faces that once were bleached and lightened beyond belief (and they always forget to bleach their legs) turned into red blotches and angry sores on the skin. Some even turned into skin cancer.

Needless to say the stuff was banned and it wasn't fashionable anymore to try and lighten skin. But this did not last, Kenyans have a poor memory.

Now, my girlfriends are swearing by all these creams in the market called skin toners and fair skin creams. Sure, they don't have mercury, but they defy all morality on the subject of changing your skin-tone a couple of shades lighter to be noticed. How would you explain those ridiculous adverts with audacious themes insinuating that a girl is hardly noticeable to a guy or cannot ace a job interview unless she boosts her image and gets a fair complexion? Basically telling the masses..your too dark to be seen... @@@@***** GIVE ME A @¤£$§§ BREAK! How low do you need to go to make an extra buck????

Oh hey! By the way I have nothing against our natural fair skinned sisters, but these twisted notions make me sick to my stomach. How can one fall for this gimmick that gets you hooked on to the offending substance for at least 6 weeks (for optimum results, of course) and think that algorithms will start spewing out of your mouth, you will become an instant man magnet and finally get the job you have always dreamed of....Aw come on girls get a grip!

When you start thinking in that direction then something is wrong. Very wrong. You are either hanging out with the wrong crowd or your heading to a path of destruction. Look where pigmentation adjustment took MJ?

What is soo cool about lightening skin?

Do you think you will glow in the dark?

claws are out... meaaaaaoooowww!