Whitening cream: "My father didn't recognize me. He begged me to stop using these creams." | infodesk4n

After using a skin whitening cream for more than ten years, a woman's complexion has changed so much that even her father didn't recognize it.

Grace, from Bradford, quit smoking last year at the age of 18 after using steroid-based creams on a daily basis.

She says she was surprised when her father saw her because she was so white.

A The News Agency study found that creams that cannot normally be bought without a prescription are sold openly in stores.

These creams are usually used for a short time for specific skin conditions such as eczema.

According to the UK National Health Service, these creams shouldn't be used continuously for more than a week.

The side effect of these creams is that they lighten the complexion, which is why many people use them as a beauty product.

Dermatologists warn that using these types of creams can lead to chronic skin problems.

Is it really you

Grazia she is now 29 and eight years ago she moved to Bradford from Italy, where she continued to use Clobetasol cream.

Being out of the country, she has not been able to see her father for many years.

"My dad once told me he didn't recognize me because we hadn't seen each other for a long time," she says. He was very angry and begged me to stop using these creams.

When Grazia started using these creams at the age of 18, her skin color was completely different.

"I thought it was bad and now I'm worried that I've used it for so long. I think liking it is a process."

Consultant dermatologist Dr. Wilayat Hussain recommended examining Grace for the long-term effects of this steroid cream.

When he saw the picture of Grace and her true colors at the age of 18, he couldn't believe it. They asked, "Is this really your picture?"

Reporters working undercover found the creams in six of the seven hair and beauty salons, while the cream was not available in the seventh store.

Dr Hussain says he is very worrying that these creams are so readily available.

"Then it came to our attention. You shouldn't get it that easily because the downsides are so serious.

The best selling product on the steroid market is this whitening cream. They are faster than the creams you can easily get for eczema and are not illegal. These creams contain hydrocortisone.

"You just have to be more discriminating with the help you give to others." This is very concerning. The average user will not know what clobetasol propionate is. They think it's sold as a whitening cream, but they're actually buying a powerful steroid that could cause a lot of problems beyond its use.

Heather Nelson of the Black Health Initiative in Leeds says whitening creams are widely used.

We cannot accurately estimate it because many people do not count or recognize its use. But why do they use it? Because they want to look beautiful Europeans. They think that if they want to advance in their field, they have to look at it a certain way.

When Binti Asomani moved to the UK from Tanzania with her husband and her children in 2013, she started using whitening creams for her skin.

"I wanted to be right because my friends were right," she says. So I thought, 'Why am I not pretty?'

When she asked her friends about her where the cream was available, she told Asomani the address of the local market where those creams are sold.

But after using these creams for two years, they started to feel the negative effects.

"I started getting rashes on my face and every time I opened the lid of this cream, my eyes got sore and tears came out."

When she went to the doctor and they showed him her cream, she told him to stop using it immediately. But she also affected her self-esteem.

It takes time to whiten and beautify the skin, but it doesn't take long to stop this process. In two months, my complexion is back. I stayed home for two months because it was too dark. "

Now he uses a steroid cream from a local store, which he mixes with other creams and applies to his skin. According to her, she doesn't want to go back to her "dark complexion".

She says she wants to change things for her daughter before her daughter follows in her footsteps.

"What's the point of constantly hurting yourself because of beauty?" I hope my daughter understands that I have been through the dangers of using these creams.