Women are now embracing anything thrown at them to increase the size of their breasts, hips and change their complexion to suit the community 'standard of beauty'.
The Kenya Bureau of Standards banned cosmetic products containing hydroquinone, steroids, mercury and hydrogen peroxide elements which are harmful to the human body in the 1990s.
However, unregulated clinics offering backstreet skin-bleaching injections, butt- and hip-enhancement injections have become increasingly popular with Kenyan women — a trend that health professionals find alarming.
Nairobi's River Road, a bustling area with a reputation for prostitution, black market goods and crime, has become a hub for illicit beauticians. They provide these injections, pills and creams that contain high levels of cancer-causing chemicals, such as hydroquinone, mercury, lead and cadmium.
The 'beauticians' often sit outside their booths, hissing at passing women to attract customers.
One says, "Sasa mrembo, mafuta ya kutoa pimples, blemishes na ya kulighten iko. Tuko pia na za hips na bust. Njoo aunty nikurembeshe upate jamaa wa nguvu (Hello beautiful, products to fade blackspots, make you smooth and light are available. We also have pills for enhancing your posterior and bust. Let me make you attractive to woo a 'sponsor')."
The star sort to find out some of the practices women are indulging in to change their appearance.
ARVs TO GAIN WEIGHT
“My friend showed me a conversation from her private messages on a Facebook group, where women claimed to have used antiretrovirals (ARVs) to gain weight,” Monica Njeri* (not real name) says.
Njeri says she was hesitant, for the idea was risky and illegal. "I also wondered where I would get the drugs from," she recalls.
Her friend convinced her that a pharmacist friend, who was HIV-positive, got the drugs and sold them to group members at Sh5,000.
CHICKEN FEED FOR SEXIER HIPS
"I started using growers mash and I have never looked back. The result is this great body you see here, ” Jane Nyambura says as she boastfully gestures at her broad hips.
She began eating it raw then graduated to seasoning it with milk and sugar. "It tastes great. In fact, just like any other cereal meal," she says.
Although she has attained her desired figure, she says the practice is addictive. "You just want wider and wider hips. I’m so addicted to it and there is no way I’m going to stop, not even if my boyfriend confronted me with a court order and a jail term threat," she says.
She says men should not be surprised that women go to such lengths. “We do these things because of men. Therefore, they should not make a big fuss over it. And by the way, this is just a tip of the iceberg. There are so many things we do just because of them.”
SILICON FOR BIGGER HIPS, BUTTS
"I tried the injection," admits Martha, a young woman we found at one of the stalls on River Road, "but after some time, I realised it was affecting my menstrual flow and my hips did not widen, so I stopped and returned to pills."
The senior civil servant now imports herbal body enhancer pills from China. "It gives me a headache getting the 'maca pills' into the country because of costs and customs included," she says.
However, she says she does not regret it as it keeps her sane. "Look, I have proper hips, a killer behind and breasts I am proud of, but I don't spend evenings in the gym. Instead, I spend them looking hot and getting admired!" she boasts.
Rose, who owns a cosmetic stall on River Road, says she charges Sh25,000 per butt injection.
She says the treatment can require a number of visits before results begin to show. Once they are visible, she says, the results are permanent until old age, unlike pills, which you will be required to pop occasionally.
MERCURY/HYDROQUINONE TO BLEACH
"I've been black and dark-skinned for many years. I wanted to see the other side. I wanted to see what it would be like to be white, and I'm happy," Annita Mureithi* says candidly.
Over the past two years, Annita has been using a mixture of creams bought from what she calls skin doctors on River Road. Her cream cost around Sh5,000, she says.