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A lot of people have come to par with the recent northern aphrodisiac made famous by some contemporary online sensationalists and charm entrepreneurs.
With the rise of some aphrodisiac sellers, a lot of people have attributed the stuff to some spiritual powers or divination thereby demonising it. Here are five harmless beauty accessories ‘demonised’ in recent times:
· Waist beads (Jigida). The history and use of waist beads or jigida as called by the Hausas and ola uku by the Igbos precedes this time. It has been in use since inception. It is basically a beauty accessory embraced by different cultures around the globe. Funnily enough, some men have begun to adopt the wearing of waist beads in recent times, some people have described it as “un-manly” and some say it is cute.
· Henna (lale). The Indians are very well known with this adornment, especially for wedding occasions. It involves drawing beautiful patterns across the body just like tattoos but henna is temporary. It depends on what occasion and how good the artist is, the henna on the skin can be very beautiful and can last for months on the skin. The henna of the contemporary days however has had some side effects on some people. In the not so distant past, the henna used to be natural leaves prepared and left on the body but we now have varying chemical substances used in making the herbs which has now become a substance. Most people have had various side effects ranging from itching, to swelling of the skin and so it is advised to use the appropriate materials for henna. A lot of people do not resist to voice out their reservations on this especially the older generations because according to them it is similar to drawing tattoos.
· Leg chains. A s3x worker in Lagos is imagined with long hair, skimpy revealing gowns, long high heel, a big ” I might spend the night” bag, the mouth moving with the cracks of a bubble gum, do not forget the bubble gum, very necessary and of cause the leg chain. It doesn’t matter if she was just leaving her parent’s house to school or if she’s returning from a legal work, she’d be named “olosho”.
· Nose rings. The perception of the nose rings and leg chains are similar. While the leg chain is much more frowned upon especially by southerners, the nose ring is a little more bearable because it is understood that it is a little more cultural than it is fashionable.
· Eye liner. Eye liner can be accepted by all and sundry except for those whose religious beliefs are totally against any form of make-up. Some diabolical actions have however been attributed to the eyeliner. For example, it is said that people have been robbed of their cash just by fraudsters who consult with traditionalists and they were hence deceived into applying traditional eyeliner called “tiro” in Yoruba. An overall makeover however requires the use of eyeliner in the eye section for the makeup to come out well.
