Black to white to black; Tales of “na nso eben”
Many women are parading our communities with disfigured faces due to excessive bleaching.
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This condition is popularly known as ‘na nso eben’ in Akan; a rebuke emphasising “it serves you right”.
People with this condition are those who use various crude methods of bleaching.
For example, they may have spent hours rubbing their skins with harsh chemicals such as hair relaxers, milk mixed with alcohol, sea sand and shells mixed with about 10 different grated medicated soaps.
It is very common to see people with such faces at the various market centres and some public offices.
This condition is not only a woman’s thing as there are some men with such conditions.
The burns are not just limited to their faces; they are found on other parts of their bodies.
Some have their necks and shoulder area burnt, to the extent that they always have to wear clothes to cover those parts or their whole body, no matter the weather condition.
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Madam Afia Konadu Bimpong, a trader at Makola in Accra, who has such a condition, told The Mirror she had been bleaching for the past 37 years.
“When we were growing up most men of our time preferred fair-coloured women to those who are black. Even just listen to some of the songs our musicians compose; they are always glorifying fair ladies so I decided to change my colour,” she narrated.
Nii Amugi, a driver who has also bleached his face and has a disfigured face, said he now feels ashamed when passengers steal glances at him.
Research shows that the discovery of the most commonly used bleaching agent, hydroquinone (chemical formula C6H6O2), came about by accident, after Black workers in a rubber plantations found that when a certain chemical came into contact with their skin, those areas assumed lighter shades of their skin colour.
The workers sued for damages as a result of their injuries, but their ‘discovery’ led to the commercial production of cosmetic creams containing hydroquinone as a bleaching agent.
Hydroquinone is a very powerful chemical that is used as the key ingredient in the photographic process of development, but it is also used in the rubber industry as an antioxidant and as an agent in hair dyes.
Mercury is another product often used in some cosmetic products as a bleaching agent. Severely toxic, it can change the skin colour to grey or blue black, rather than lighten it, and in many cases has resulted in the user suffering from mercuric poisoning.
Dr Nancy Adams, a Ghanaian skin specialist based in Canada, told The Mirror that it is believed that light and pale-skinned people portray beauty, richness and success.
“In some parts, dark-complexioned people are considered inferior and so people opt for skin-whitening or bleaching creams, pills and other products”, she pointed out.
According to her, skin bleaching agents contain certain harsh chemicals that may burn the skin and cause irritation so it is always best to be treated by professionals.
She explained that naturally bleaching ingredients like turmeric, yogurt and lemon are mild and better for the face than applying hair relaxers and other harsh chemicals.