By THANDIWE MOYO –

‘USE for real natural curves and faster results… one of the world’s top rated enlargement pills and cream for enlarging hips and bums. They consist of herbs and exotic plant extracts that have been proven to increase hips and bums size by naturally stimulating new cell growth in the hips and bums tissues of a human. They will physically increase your hips and bums appearance.’
This is how an online advert described a concoction of herbal remedies that is believed to make women have fuller breasts, wider hips and bigger back sides.
Such are just some of the body enhancing creams whose makers claim can improve physical outlook, and are selling like hot cakes in Lusaka despite warnings from medical professionals over dangers inherent in their use.
In a world where people go to great lengths to achieve an attractive, athletic and perfect body, women, in particular, have continued to succumb to the pressure of maintaining what society defines as an attractive image even by use of the body substances whose efficacy is unknown.
Traders selling the herbal creams and powders are a common sight in Lusaka where they are on every shop corridor and at every street corner selling all kinds of substances that are said to enlarge buttocks, hips and breasts. These attract hordes of women interested in the perfect look.
Aphrodisiacs popular with men are equally on sale, side by side with substances that are said to alter, seemingly for the better, certain body organs.
For the women, bum, hip and breast enhancing remedies are an attraction that some womenfolk find difficult to ignore.
Of particular interest are substances being supplied by one business woman in Lusaka.
A Kabwata-based trader is popularly known as Mama Eve or Mama Faith, but her real name is Faith Muyola.
What is of interest about Ms Muyola is not only the herbal products she sells, but also her body appearance, which she claims, was achieved by the products she sells.
She is of a medium height and boasts of breasts, hips and a backside that turns heads wherever she goes.
And she gives credit to her herbal products which she claimed enhanced her feminine features and transformed her body into the work of art that most women would kill for.
About 10 years ago, Ms Muyola, still single, was a slim looking woman who wanted to have better body features.
She dreamt of having features like those of American super star Nicki Minaj.
In her search for the perfect look, she heard about herbal products in the United States of America (USA) which women were using to change their outlook and she went for the opportunity.
She ordered the products and started using them and it was not long before she achieved the perfect look that she has today.
The results were so impressive that wherever she goes, Ms Muyola attracts men who are ever proposing love to her on account of her looks.
But she believes that her perfect man should love her for the person she is rather than fall for her looks only.
Ms Muyola has used the body altering creams for over ten years without experiencing any side effect.
The results she achieved in her own body gave her reason to start providing a service to other women in need of a boost.
Ms Muyola claims that her creams transform slim women into physically attractive females with curvy hips and bums in a duration of seven days.
“My products are effective and have no side effects. When you use them consistently for seven days, you will begin to see the results,” she said in a recent interview.
Ms Muyola said she tried the creams on herself before making them available to the public.
She said she was a living example of what the herbal products can do as her hips and her backside bulged in a duration of one week.
But even though Ms Muyola sells the hip and bum enhancing creams, she is mindful that beauty is not about the size of a woman’s bottom, but it is based on how one feels towards one’s body.
“I believe beauty is based on how you carry yourself. Women need to feel beautiful,” she said.
Ms Muyola is said to be making a fortune as she has built up a clientele of women who are flocking to obtain her services.
This is not the first time women are expressing a desire for body enhancing substances like the creams which Ms Muyola is supplying.
If anything, Ms Muyola is simply trying to provide a service which already has a high demand.
It is not too long ago that some shops stocking women’s underwear in Lusaka became popular for selling artificial bums and hips that could be put on by women who wanted to look more appealing to men.
Those underwear are still available in the shops although the market seems to have shifted towards herbal remedies which deliver the same results by altering the body appearance.
In fact, such underwear comes in different shapes and types, some being more subtle than others but with the same cosmetic effect of making women look physically attractive.
Subtle items of clothing, like pullers, tights or the popular skinny jeans brand all deliver varying effects of physical attraction by making a woman’s skin and body appear silky, smooth, evenly coloured, lighter or curved. These are the same results that most herbs being
sold produce in those who consume them.
As matter of fact, there are even types of skin lightening remedies which have to be orally ingested for one to have light skin everywhere as compared to creams externally applied by hand which leave dark patches due to uneven application.
All these constitute a long list of things women do in order to look more appealing to men who get easily enticed by enhanced feminine features.
However, although most men believe that a woman is better off with her natural beauty, most of them admit that they get easily attracted to women with wider hips and bigger buttocks.
A Kabwata resident, Felix Michelo said he was more attracted to women with big hips and bums because they looked more feminine.
He said a woman without large hips or bums had the appearance of a man.
Michelo said he was more sexually attracted to women with enhanced hips and buttocks because they put him in a romantic mood.
He said slim women were also attractive in their own way and that there were some men who were attracted to slander women.
Another resident Mweene Hamoba said women with bigger hips and bums looked pleasant to him than slim ones.
Mweene, a single man, admitted that he looked forward to marrying a woman with pronounced hips and bums since that was what attracted him to women.
“I love women who have hips and bums because they are pleasant in my eyes. But I do not think it is right for slim women to go for hip or bum enhancement. Being natural is a good thing to uphold,” he said.
Besa Kulima, a bus driver who operates at Lumumba Bus Station in Lusaka, said he was not happy that most women had what he called “fake” hips and behinds which he taunted as appearing “funny”.
He said the idea most women had that men get attracted to women with big hips and behinds was not true.
Quoting the Bible, Besa who is a Christian, said a woman has been fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalms 139:14) by God.
Mr Kulima said using creams to change the body showed desperation and lack of self-esteem on the part of women.
He urged the women to stop buying hip or buttock altering substances which he said showed that the women did not appreciate God, their creator.
“I for one can fall in love with either a fat or slim woman. The only important thing is to love your body as it is,” Mr Kulima said.
A doctor based at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka, Emmanuel Mukomango said hip and bum enhancing creams which contained tamoxifen, phytoestrogen herb and estrogens were a danger to women as they could cause infertility, increase the risk of stroke, cancer, difficulties during child birth and many more ailments.
Like many other medical practitioners, Dr Mukomango cautioned people against the usage of hip and buttock altering creams before they are verified and proven to be harmless by qualified doctors.
Mthunzi Medical Centre medical in-charge Robert Mutonga said substances which are said to improve women’s feminine outlook are caused by social beliefs and culture which dictates what beauty in a woman should look like.
Dr Mtonga, who is a general medical practitioner, said the pressure on women to satisfy what society defines as beauty has become so much so that women resort to such body enhancing creams to fit into what society defines as beauty.
He said whereas it is not arguable that herbal products can have healing properties that can help bodily functions, they need to be studied and tested before they are certified safe to use.
“When you look at medicinal plants, you can make medicines from them and such medicines would be able to treat or cure a particular ailment.
“Even most Western medicine comes from medicinal plants or from chemicals that occur naturally,” he said.
He said the problem has been the question of isolating the active ingredient that works in the herbal concoctions in order to fully understand and harness their medicinal properties.
He said isolating active ingredients in a substance is not a complicated procedure and can be done even in Zambia.
The Tropical Disease Research Centre (TDRC) and the National Scientific and Council Research in Zambia carry out such work.
Dr Mtonga said once the active ingredient is isolated, the next stage would be to work out the dosage of the particular medicine.
He warned that because the dosage of most herbal creams and medicines was not known, it could lead to horrendous, and in extreme cases, fatal results such as kidney or heart failure.
USA based plastic surgeon, Kenneth Hughes believes that hip and buttock enhancement is only done by surgical procedure rather than through use of creams.
In an article published on his official website www.hughesplasticsurgery.com, Dr Hughes said some complications that some women experienced were caused by what they applied such as hip or buttock creams and bleaches.
“Why are we exploiting our bodies? How can one obtain hips or bums in a period of a week surely? If you want to have hips or bums seek guidance with doctors,” he said.
But some religious leaders condemned the act of using herbal creams by women who want to change their outlook.
The leaders believe such actions are the work of the devil who lures desperate women to commit sinful acts.
Pastor Mark Simfukwe of Seventh Day Adventist Church in Mandevu Township in Lusaka said the act of broadening hips and bums was another way in which the devil used to drew more people in his kingdom.
“Can’t women just be moderate in their dressing and be proud of their natural bodiesas they are fearfully and wonderfully created?” he asked.
Obviously, some women can.
But with most men looking out for women with curves, demand for Mama Eva’s creams will only keep growing regardless of the inherent dangers involved.