Bleaching – Are there safer ways of getting lighter skin?

Vera Sidika Photo: Courtesy

In 2014 controversial Kenyan socialite Vera Sidika caused a social media storm after she admitted to lightening her skin, a procedure she claimed to have cost her somewhere in the region of Sh15 Million Kenyan shillings. The socialite, often dubbed Kenya's Kim Kardashian said of the procedure, "I did it the right way...I used the right procedure. I had a great dermatologist from the UK."

She claimed that thanks to her considerably lighter complexion, she'd seen an increase in demand for her services. "My body is my business, and it's a moneymaker. I said if I have to do it (skin lightening), it has to be great, it has to be right. Ten years from now, twenty years from now, fifty years from now... I'll still look the same," she told The Trend TV show host, Larry Madowo.