Skin lightening soap – Fair Child Soap – produced for and marketed by Lexmart Cosmetics Ltd is unregistered and can damage a child’s skin, the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned users.
The health regulatory agency issued the warning in Public Alert No. 20/2025, stating that it has not evaluated the product to determine whether it is safe for use.
NAFDAC specifically disclosed that the product is targeted at a demographic of children, raising alarm that the product “is a significant potential for serious health hazards, including skin damage or sensitivity, exposure to harmful or banned substances,” and could cause long-term dermatological effects.
The agency says it made the discovery after it received a complaint regarding the unethical marketing and use of the skin-lightening product among minors.
Its Lagos directorate discovered that the unregistered product had been distributed to various outlets and sold in multiple stores in the Lagos metropolis.
Apart from its potential damaging effect on children, the NAFDAC alert revealed that the marketer uses deceptive and misleading labeling as a ploy to sell to the general public.
It says the marketer, Lexmart Cosmetics Ltd, which was also planning local production of the product, has been sanctioned and directed to halt further distribution of the product as it doesn’t “fall under the scope of a validly registered product with NAFDAC.”
NAFDAC has therefore directed its zonal directors and state coordinators to carry out “immediate surveillance, identify and quarantine Fair Child Soap where found, collect and submit samples for laboratory analysis.”
The agency warned healthcare professionals and distributors to exercise caution in the kind of products they administer to their wards, urging the public to only patronize registered and licensed health products.
Who is the owner of Lexmart Cosmetics Ltd?
Details of the owner of the importer is not known, however, a check on the CAC portal shows that the importer and marketer was registered on April 21, 2022, as Lexmart Cosmetics Nigeria (BN – 3639042), even though it uses Lexmart Cosmetics Ltd on the label of the imported product.
While the name “Lexmart Cosmetics Ltd” is reserved for a limited company, “Lexmart Cosmetics Nigeria” is a business name (BN).