Japanese ideals of beauty include snow white skin, as anyone familiar with the culture knows. Geishas paint their faces a ghostly white to harken to an ideal of beauty that is centuries old.
But the new skin lightening creams sold in Japan might be causing more than just lightening of the skin tone.
A slew of complaints have been filed against the cosmetic powerhouse Kanebo, producer of the most popular skin lightening cream called Rhododenol, that highlight a potential danger associated with the use of the cream.
More than 15,000 complaints of skin blotches, rashes and other skin ailments were filed against the company.
In some cases the blotches covered the entire face, in others there was a single blotch but very large in diameter - 2 inches of more - all problems that are putting the cream's future in doubt.
Authorities are now investigating the claims, some of which have been reported from outside Japan. Kanebo exports to several countries in Asia, including Thailand and south Korea.
Kanebo has had to implement a world wide recall of the products, including some in Britain, because the active substance called 4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butanone, is deemed to be responsible for the adverse effects.
The company has also been mired in a scandal after news were released that the compnay kept shipping the cream for a week after deciding on the recall.
To make amends, the company has asserted it will pay the medical bills of those affected, but the problem is that some of the customers who have used the cream seem to have a permanent blotching condition, even after they discontinued use of the cream.
The unfortunate situation has been created by Kanebo's exploitation of an Asia-wide fad that sends women, and sometimes men rushing to find a way to lighten their skin.
Source : France 24/ 10.22.13
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