Recently, I have been seeing a lot of bright girls pass by. You know what I mean by “bright”? You decide to take a stroll round your neighbourhood and all you find is orange– Now I know why they say orange is the new black.

People who are naturally dark skinned- black! Would decide to go orange, they wake up one morning with the decision to bleach their skin and turn themselves orange. I hear the men are not left out of this craze.

The orange I see everywhere has left me wondering why girls bleach.

According to Merrick Garland, there is a general perception that the fairer you are, the more successful and attractive you become either socially, economically or romantically.

For instance, most people have come to believe that about 7 out of 10 men are most likely to date a light complexioned girl compared to a dark one, doesn’t matter how equally beautiful they both look. Thus the perception that many men will choose the fair complexion woman over the dark ones.

Racism

People have concluded that being dark skined makes one disadvantaged. They see the light ones as being superior and at the centre of things, thus the decision to bleach their skin.

Look at it as racism between people of the same race/colour. These women have become racist in their thinking/mindset hence a decision to brighten themselves to be classified amongst the supposedly favoured ones: the fair skinned side.

Blemish

Some women have come to say that bleaching their skin fades away skin imperfections like acne/pimples. These skin lightening products fade scars, spots and discolourations, before finally giving in to the temptation to completely lighten their skin.

Low Self-Esteem

Ladies with low self esteem are not comfortable in their skin, they have not come to embrace and adore their pretty dark skin but believe that the only way one can be beautiful, attractive and accepted is to be light skinned. These ladies will stop at nothing until they have lightened their skin away to suit their belief.

Bullying 

Some light complexioned ladies make other dark complexioned ladies feel very uncomfortable in their skin. They make hateful comments such as: “blakky, charcoal, duduyemi, black monkey etc”. As such ladies who have self-esteem issues may not be able to handle the comments and pressures that come from this, hence may be pushed to succumb to bleaching.

No confidence

Some women are raised to loathe the dark complexion, because colourism is sometimes transferred from generation to generation. This fosters self-hatred and a desire to forget all they have been told, mars their beauty. Hence they lighten their skin.

The Bandwagon Effect

Some ladies are not complete in themselves, they are hardly satisfied with anything not even their skin or complexion. Just because their friends are bleached out/toned up they get all so jealous of their friends and decide to do same. People like this have no reason for making certain decisions, they see all their friends/contemporaries do, they become jealous and become a “copy-cat”  all because they find others do so.

The Man Factor 

Just because a selected few are of the opinion that fair-skinned individuals tend to be regarded as better looking or beautiful by Nigerian social standard, we have considered it fashionable to bleach our dark skin to look good and attractive to the men. Some even say the are toning all to make themselves appealing and acceptable to the opposite sex.

Ladies forget the side effects of these creams, all they see is the “glow” they get all so carried away and begin to use all forms of skin lightening creams with low doses of over protective pigmentation which has negative effect on the skin. Many people who bleach ruin the melanin in their skin. Once the skin has been ‘bleached’ it loses its natural protective barrier, making it susceptible to damage by the sun’s rays.

Black will always be firm and beautiful: an adorable complexion worth celebrating and embracing.

What do you think about bleaching? Would you bleach your skin?

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Your kitchen can look good without you breaking the bank, with few not too expensive essentials you can have your desired kitchen. We will be discussing how this can be made into a reality in the subsequent paragraphs.

Space

This is an important factor in setting up your kitchen. Irrespective of the things you will be placing in the pantry, an accurate space should be considered. Cooking will require you moving around to get some things together and it is therefore imperative that you have a considerable space left in the pantry for the exercise.

Good Furniture Setting

This includes your Cabinet, Center table, Stool, among others. You can make or buy your preferred design of these furniture. The cabinet does the job of storage which means different items should be allocated their own corner in the cabinet/shelve; this will reduce the frustration of searching for objects. It allows orderliness in the kitchen area, you can also sit around the center table while cooking to relax.

Colourful Painting

Your kitchen should be a place of attraction for you always and the colours should be quite exciting. Colours that can be easily stained should be avoided because steams can stain the walls especially white.

Good Lightening

Cooking takes place at any time of the day, mostly at night, so we need good lights to enable easy movement. You also need the light well projected to enable clear vision while cooking: you would need to look closely at the ingredients. In actual fact, nothing can be compared to cooking with good lightning, the cook/chef will feel relaxed and confident.

Cooking Appliances

Style your kitchen with colorful appliances. It gives an elegant look. Ranging from your blender, orange squeezer, toasting machine, microwave, electric cooker, pressure pots, etc These are essentials you need, so you can always walk into your kitchen and get yourself anything you desire.

Dish Holder

This is vital because your dishes need to be properly placed in a neat area, you will also need a dish towel to clean and cover just to prevent dust.

Waste Bin

The absence of this gets the kitchen itself dirty/messy. Cooking involves separating garbage from useful stuffs, the waste bin will do the job of accommodating the waste and leaving your kitchen spotless.

Do ensure that all your cooking utensils are always glittering and far from being rusty. Then you can walk into your kitchen feeling totally cosy.

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Well, permit my inquisition …I did a little digging on this newest trend and my discoveries;

Palazzos are the long women’s trousers cut with a loose, extremely wide leg that flares out from the waist. They are mostly worn during summer. These pants are flattering and flowing fabrics. They became popular in the late 60’s and early 70’s.

Simply put, Palazzos can be described as comfy and stylish pants that make perfect combinations. They hide insecurities and draw attention to your slimmest part– your waist, leaving that pretty flattering look.

When rocking your palazzo, you should-

• Look out for a high-waisted silhouette, this will help balance out the volume, clinch in your waist to sit just above your hips.
• Pair up your palazzo outfits with stilettos or heels to stand out to create a long lean frame from your waist to toes. This may not be your usual style, however it will ensure your pants don’t drag on the floor.
• Pair with a fitted top; you want a body-skimming blouse that will give you the sexy pretty look.

A well fitted palazzo suit will enhance your body silhouette giving you a taller and slimmer look.

The Palazzo look suits all ages and can be worn for almost every occasion. All you need is the right styling and of course the right amount of confidence to pull off the outfit.

Go get your palazzos and begin trending…

‘Lamide Olajide

The post Top reasons why you should rock the trending Palazzos appeared first on Hermaze | Relationship, Beauty, Fashion, Family Articles for Women.

We might see some things as unimportant when we are arranging the house but really they go a long way in affecting our thoughts and mood when we are in there.

There is absolutely nothing like a comfortable home, where you have the right set of sofas, lights, curtains, tables, and carpet. When you are arranging that new house, you need to put a lot of things into consideration. Do not be in a hurry to arrange the house, take your time to put the necessary things in place. Make sure the paint colour complements every other furniture you will be putting in the house.

When you are choosing the paint colour, try to choose a cool colour instead of the very sharp ones because it cool colours do the magic of calming you. Matching a sharp colour with a cool one will look very nice and relaxing. The furniture is also very important as it helps in giving the house that exquisite look, your sofa should not be too colourful but it should be beautiful and the colour should also do the job of matching the other things arranged in the house, it should blend well with the carpet/rug. When you are picking your sofa ensure to pick what you are very comfortable with, do not go for a leather chair if you have a cross ventilation challenge in your house, if you do ensure you get an air condition to deal with the heat. Not to forget your curtains, you can make them colourful although not outside the initial colour.

After putting everything in place, you can now comfortably move in with your belongings at the appropriate place then you can look at your house and affirmatively say that you are ‘home’.

‘Tayo Ejikunle

The post Creating your home… appeared first on Hermaze | Relationship, Beauty, Fashion, Family Articles for Women.

In making our home a perfect place of deriving pleasure we need to always check out for things that make them pleasure leading to satisfaction.

Our furniture especially should be properly maintained as we spend most of the time in the house on any of them, it is apparently what completes the house.

In handling our pieces of furniture, we should know that:

• The sofas and tables should be suitably cleaned every day: dust the chairs and clean the tables to keep the house off any hidden dust.
• Avoid pouring water on the rugs and sofas as they may enhance smell and if accidentally poured ensure it is properly dried.
• The use of sharp object on the chairs will damage it and give it a not too fascinating look.
• Ensure the rug is well brushed every day and you can take it out for a wash every 6- 12 months, because the rug absorbs a good quantity of dust.
• Endeavour to change the bed cover at least every week. You should not go about sleeping on the same spread sheet for more than two weeks, it is unhealthy.
• Make sure the rooms are properly ventilated so it is not stuffy.

After maintaining these standard of sanitation, you should also know that these pieces of furniture have their own life span. It will get to a point where you will need to change them, that is why you need to always pay them attention, know when they are fading and wearing out.

Your furniture, needs a replacement, when:

• They begin to change from their initial colour into a dull version.
• You begin to see holes by the sides of the chairs which means the clothes are no longer strong and can tear at the slightest provocation.
• The external part of the furniture begin to give way for the inner content to be revealed. Which is not a good look for the house, and in most cases you are no longer comfortable sitting or lying down on them.

When you begin to see these signs on your foam, sofa and other furniture in the house, just go to a good furniture dealer and have them changed. You can either change the body or give them a totally new face beat depending on the situation of the furniture.

Remember for the beauty and comfort of your home, the care of your furniture is top-notch.

‘Tayo Ejikunle

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