I had episodes of skin bleaching from trying to clear my acne back then to proper skin bleaching. It was a cycle. I was basically trapped in my own skin. I was trapped doing this thing because whenever I stopped, it was hell.
My name is Ellen, I’m 30 years old and I used to bleach my skin. During my teenage years, I had acne breakouts on my face and also dark spots. So I was looking for products to clear this out. I went to a beauty supply store and I got a cleanser.
While I was using this product, I noticed my skin got clearer. My acne scars cleared out. I was shocked to see how fast this product lightened my skin. People on social media, they were like, “Wow, they love this colour.” They want this complexion. This complexion is better than what was there before.
They were like, “I look clean, I look fresh, spotless.” I mean, I was getting compliments from people that I don’t even know, so I just continued until I looked at my pictures and I noticed that I looked way older than my normal self.
I mean I was 22 and I looked 40. My skin was stressed out. I felt worried. Whenever I try to stop I get this side effects, they are terrible. I get discouraged and I keep on going. Anytime I try to repair whatever was damaged, I need a stronger product to do that.
I always have to look for something stronger. Social media did not make it any better. You see a lot of vendors online, selling these so-called organic steroid laced products. It was like my skin was in a prison. I start, I stop, I start, I stop.
Until I said “Ellen you just need to go through this phase, let’s see what i sat the other side.” That was how I was able to scale through. I love my skin now.
I am so grateful for my melanin for fighting back for me, even when I did not want it. Because I know a lot of ladies that go through the entire process and cannot get their skin colour back because their skin is damaged.
I am happy and so grateful to be able to come out of that bondage.
