Monday, April 11, 2011

More Bleaching in Jamaica

Another interesting, shocking and devastating article regarding the bleaching activities of the poorer population in Jamaica... There is only so much you can do to help ignorance but if people want to ignore the health warnings and continue doing something in the HOPES (not the guarantee) that they might eventually become someone else in time to still be young enough to enjoy it, what more can you tell them?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_jamaica_skin_bleaching

Again, I will state that this has nothing to do with Vitiligo or people who have chosen to depigment due to having lost the majority of their natural skin colour. I do not condone bleaching for bleaching sake under any circumstances. Furthermore, I think this phenomenon is making an absolute mockery of what people with actual skin diseases have to experience who have no choice in the matter.

Give me cocoa brown buttery skin any day if these people don't want it...

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Re-Pigmentation During Pregnancy

Since becoming pregnant, I've noticed a definite increase in re-pigmentation on my face and other parts of my body. Again, they are still only the size of little moles but it is adding up over time and it seems that a new one appears daily. At this point, there is nothing I can do to treat them, as I refuse to take any medication or put any chemicals on or in my body for prolonged periods during this time (understandably so). Not to mention that production of melanin increases in all women during pregnancy, so even those who don't have Vitiligo may notice darker areas of skin when expecting. So right now, this is normal.

However, it is making me even more determined to get rid of these marks once and for all once the baby comes. The up and down of re-pigmentation/de-pigmentation has become too much of a roller coaster in the past 2 years, accelerating beyond my wildest imagination and triggered by the slightest change in my lifestyle or mood. Furthermore, I want to know what it feels like to wake up and walk out of the house with some mascara and lipgloss in this hot climate and not have to layer my face with foundation to cover the thirty-something spots of pigment on my face every time. 

What's more, in my line of fashion work, people see me a certain way and believe that how my skin looks with makeup on is also how I look naturally (despite following this blog or my progress with Vitiligo in general) and it seems hard for them to remember to be discreet the one or two times that I have ventured out with my marks showing, only to hear the remark: "Oh, you're breaking out!"

It's not encouraging. No, I am not breaking out. I have the same condition I've always had that you have always known but just forgot to hold your tongue about in your shock that my skin is not flawless or that my feelings may not be affected by such insensitive comments.

Anyway, those are my thoughts for the day. Still struggling with the decision...