Social media influencer Diana Kihoti, popularly known as Liebe Kiki, says her brief journey into skin-lightening was driven by curiosity, childhood influence, and a desire “to experience the other world of being light-skinned.”
But the fantasy barely lasted a year. At 25, she speaks openly about the pressures she faced and why she chose to return to her natural dark complexion.
I was born in South Africa and came back to Kenya when I was three years old. My family settled in Eldoret. Years later, when I was 20, I moved to Nairobi. I studied up to Form Four. I have never bothered to go to college.
I had a very cool mum who gave me my first job in her spa in Eldoret after I completed Form Four. She passed away a few years later.
I was raising my younger brother and running the spa after mum passed on, and it soon felt very limiting. It was time to move to a bigger life.
When I came to Nairobi, I did not know anyone. I made a friend at my first gig, which was modelling for a lingerie brand. That is how people first became aware of me. She introduced me to the digital spotlight.
It didn’t take long to build my audience. But I am still shy, and there is still a part of me that I don’t like online.
I have worked with two brands already, but I dropped one for personal reasons. I also have a fashion store, Vetement by Kihoti, which I opened in 2020.
I have been lucky enough not to have ever been unemployed. I save any coin I get. I started the store from savings from modelling gigs. I was also dating a rich man at the time who used to fund my lifestyle, and from that, I saved some money and added to the business.
My mother had me when she was 16. I was quite a dark-skinned child. My mum was bleaching her skin, and she started encouraging me to do it. She achieved the skin tone she wanted, and so it was a bit awkward for her to introduce me to her friends because I was so dark. At some point, she asked me to stop calling her mum and instead call her by her name.
Skin lightening creams on a display in a retailer shop along River Road, Nairobi on October 10, 2019.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
One morning in January last year, I called one of my friends, and I told them I wanted to lighten my skin. They were all shocked because they believed I was confident in my skin. I bought the creams in Nairobi, and within a month, I had achieved the colour I wanted.
Just like I thought, the reactions were immediate. I was treated better because of my light skin. I remember meeting someone who told me that I would now have cute babies.
I spent around Sh600,000 to transform my skin tone. My entire body was light-skinned, including my knuckles. I used high-quality products, and maintaining my skin tone was a lot of work. Seven months down the line, the whole thing felt off, so I told my boyfriend I wanted to stop skin lightening. He supported me.
Returning to my natural complexion involved intensive skin treatment. I was put on seven drips to boost my immunity from the inside. We did skin repair, rejuvenation, collagens and more ions.
I feel I have achieved everything, living with both light and dark skin. I feel like I have done it all at 25 years.
I have veneers to fix my teeth. I want to look fake and plastic and so I will change the colour of my eyes permanent. I also want to have my boobs done, to be bigger and work on my waist. I want to look like a living doll.
I will never despise anyone for fixing their insecurity, but ask yourself whether it is worth it? If you have to do it, do it for yourself and not for anyone.
