Vybz Kartel launches a line of skin bleaching products for men

Fans of Vybz Kartel were shocked and outraged earlier this year when the Jamaican dancehall artist appeared several shades lighter than his normal brown complexion and exclaimed: “This is my new image.” He has been brazen about bleaching his skin. And, despite the fact that it is actually quite an ugly look, he seems convinced that he is now more handsome. And now he is encouraging others to do it.

The star is currently in Jamaica facing murder, conspiracy to commit murder and illegal possession of firearm charges, but that hasn’t prevented him from launching a range of skin bleaching products.

Despite medical advice against using skin bleaching products, bleaching advocates see pale skin as desirable as it is thought to imply wealth.

As historian Elsa Goveia puts it, the structuring principle of Caribbean societies is ‘the belief that the blacker you are, the more inferior you are and the whiter you are, the more superior you are.’

Clearly, this has very negative connotations on issues of race and self-confidence.

In defence of his controversial beauty regime, Vybz Kartel has explained that he sees lightening your skin as no different to straightening your hair or getting a tan.

In a statement to Vibe.com, the artist defended his use of cake soap. He said: ‘When black women stop straightening their hair and wearing wigs and weaves, when white women stop getting lip and butt injections and implants … then I’ll stop using the ‘cake soap’ and we’ll all live naturally ever after.’

Jamaican health authorities see the matter a little differently.

Local doctors are dealing with increasing numbers of patients who have burnt their skin with black-market bleaching products.

The craze is so serious that in 2007 the Jamaican government ran a campaign called ‘Don’t Kill The Skin’ to highlight the dangers of using the products.