Abstract
This study is about the “maquillage”, the practice of bleaching one's skin by use of cosmetics. Our objective was to appraise the extent to which the “maquillage” is accepted in the population of Brazzaville and to measure attitudes toward this practice. Administering a questionnaire to 420 subjects (190 youth and 230 adults; 210 women and 210 men), we obtained the following results: bright complexion is suitable for women while a dark one is preferable for men. A quarter of the men and half of the women are users of brightening products, when we do not take into account antiseptic soaps. The motivations put forward were chiefly a longing for beauty and skin care (64%), seduction to be noticed in society (44%), identification with the white (18%), and fashion (14%).
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