Can't anyone get a facial moisturizer here without skin whitening? Living in CWB, I've noticed there's a big fascination with skin care or more specifically skin whitening, make-up, and weight lose.

Weight lose is a also big deal here. If you're bigger than a size 6 you're pretty much considered obese here. It's amazing how skinny many of the women are here. I remember seeing an ad on the bus for someone who was probably a size 6 saying she was sooo fat and then get hooked up to some kind of contraption that got her to a size 0. Imagine my frustration of knowing I've lost over 40 lbs. already and arrive here to hear that I'm still obese from various fitness trainers. Aiya! Of course I know none of the products you smear on your body or ingest will help whiten your skin or help you loose your weight.

If anything some people are pretty vain about staying white and being super skinny. If they were skinny and had lots of muscle tone that's one thing, but most of the folks here are just really skinny. If anything there are no J-Lo or Beyonce shapes here. It's almost like their bodies are in a transitory pre-pubscent state.

In some way I've fallen for it, but there's no getting around it. I still need a moisturizer and I like getting massage oils. It just seems that they try to sell harder by telling you the product will make my skin whiter or the oil will help combat fatty deposits in your legs...or something like that. Gosh with my working out for 2 hours every other day and trying really hard to stay vegetarian, I know I'm doing it the old fashion way...I'm working it off! As for my freckles, I really like them. They set me apart from most folks and they build character :)

Maybe in the US people are really in an unhealthy state and I was desensitized that it was ok to be fat. But here, I've swung the other way. You definitely stand out if you're bigger than say a size 6.