My Confession On Dencia's Whitenicious And Gluthathione - I Have Used Skin Toning Creams Too

I've been meaning to write this post for almost a month now, since the soaring popularity of Glathathione hit the news. Now I'm reading news that Dencia's whitenicious skin care line has just sold out within one day of being launched. It could be a marketing gimmick, but being here in Lagos, it's not hard to see that a lot of girls are actually crazy about lightening up their complexion.

I remember ruminating on my own history of getting and keeping a smooth, evenly toned skin as I watched Tiwa Savage and Banky W discuss the topic of bleaching on the first episode of their show on EL TV. Omawumi was a guest on the show and she and Tiwa confessed that while younger, they had used toning creams - hot movate I think Omawumi called one of them - to try to clear spots or fade dark patches on their skin, or just to get generally lighter.

I confess, I did the same, my problem being that my face is much darker than my body and back in my late teens, I wanted an even look. My face actually got to the same tone as my quite fair thighs at some point, but I stopped when I realized I was becoming a slave to those creams and had got into a vicious cycle - from using them on only my face, I began using them all over as my face got lighter than my body. And there was also the fact that I got more enlightened about the active ingredients in those [supposed to be prescriptive] creams and the side effects of long term use.

So I quit. Cold turkey. But like an addict, I have gone back once or twice, and on the occassions when tough weather means my face is at its darkest, I think longingly of those lighter days. I am older and wiser now, and I don't bother to hide the marks to prove my flirting with skin toning, but it also means that I understand what some younger women may be going through and what's on their mind as they buy whitenicious and other creams like that.

Ms Jaie and the EL presenters of The Spot were discussing body image on their show yesterday, though focusing on being big, or parts of one's body they like. One thing that came out was that acceptance of one's self as you are is usually a process and may come only with age and maturity.

What do you think? Have you ever used a skin toning or bleaching product? Are you still using it, and if you stopped, why and how did you come to accept the color you are?

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PS _ please no bashing. You can share your own story as anonymous and/or vote by the right.