OUR social prejudices equate beauty with fairness, although skin-lightening products are the darkest side of the beauty world. The CCP’s nationwide probe into businesses that manufacture, sell and market mercury-heavy skin-whitening creams is welcome. Its Fair Trade and Market Intelligence wing has discovered hazardous levels of mercury in whitening products, widely available online and in stores. Health and wellness matter little for beauty peddlers. Mercury, due to its ability to block melanin production, has been a permanent, albeit hidden, ingredient. Extremely toxic, it is absorbed through the skin, causing rashes, kidney damage, neurological disorders and reproductive issues. It can be transferred to children through superficial contact. Doctors also say that the steroids and chemicals in pigment-altering products enter the bloodstream and weaken the immune system.

Fairness fare is no stranger to censure, yet its popularity does not seem to wane. The cosmetics industry has long relied on persuading people that ‘perfection’ is a lotion away — a notion that instils racism and harms well-being and social accord. Their ads, although not as brazenly biased as they once were, still feature fair skin as necessary for personal and professional success, promising rare, rapid exquisiteness. Awareness campaigns, which focus on the importance of healthy lifestyles, the misleading nature of ads, genuine skin prescriptions and rules that ensure safe enhancement formulas, can counter the stigma associated with dark skin, which has strengthened the hold of harmful products. Social pressures cannot be overlooked. Families should be aware of the repercussions that are expensive to treat, and the futility of misguided ‘beauty’. Many countries have banned these goods. Pakistan should do the same, instituting hefty penalties for deceptive marketing. The emotional trauma of users who end up with hardened skin, resistant to treatment, and permanent pigmentation, means that every shade should be celebrated.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2025