Many African women at that time simply used water, soap and Vaseline on their skin. European cosmetic giant L'Oreal took a leap into the African market for ethnic cosmetics 10 years ago with the acquisition of Carson's. Its products include hair relaxers and specially formulated creams for men that are aimed at moisturising dry skin.

L'Oreal operates from South Africa with affiliates in Ghana, Morocco and Egypt.

Philippe Raffray, L'Oreal's manager in Africa, said the continent is a barely developed market with about 1 billion consumers, who long for quality products that meet their needs. The market there has been ignored too long.

Market research shows that South Africa's cosmetics industry alone experienced double-digit growth every year through 2007. It may be a few more years until the entire palette of modern cosmetics are deployed in the African market.

But as before, particularly in South Africa, there is mistrust among many people. During apartheid some companies put bleach into products for black consumers. Today these skin whiteners are not allowed because they lead to serious health problems.