Dark spots –old news
Loving your skin to flawlessness
It is every woman’s dream to be complimented on their “flawless skin” while this is definitely a goal for most, 90 percent of women will tell you that their skin does not look flawless all the time and guess what its normal. Hyperpigmentation is one of the greatest struggles that most people face today in the pursuit for beauty and youthful skin. Due to multiple factors such as hormones sunlight and inflammation the skin fights on a daily basis to maintain an even skin tone and again this is more than normal. There are ways however to treat and pamper your skin into gradually achieving the exact appearance you want it to. I like to call it a love story between the queen and her precious skin. Here are some tips to love your skin to flawlessness.
In case I left anyone behind, when we speak of hyperpigmentation on the face we are referring to dark spots and discolorations on the skin so this may appear as,
1. Melasma which surfaces as patches of discolorations on the skin.
2. Post inflammatory pigmentation which are the dark spots that appear after acne bumps.
3. Solar lentigos which are dark sun lesions or age spots and
4. Freckles (ephelis) these are a genetic predisposition to little blotches of pigment on the skin.
Zoe Foster Blake said “Best thing about beach holidays: beach holidays. Worst thing about beach holidays: hyperpigmentation. (Not freckles, rather the large clusters of brow.) the worse it gets, the harder it is to shift, and aside of the fact it’s the skin under siege/an inflammatory response, my belief is that its uneven skin tone- not wrinkles- that makes the skin look aged and TERRUST ME, I know all the tricks. Mrs Blake is not the only celeb to feel some type of way about hyperpigmentation. Miss Olivia Munn says she loves her freckles however “over the past couple of years I’ve seen more come up and merge with other freckles to make large dark spots. Dark spots prevent your skin from reflecting light”
Looks like Miss Blake isn’t the only one whose about to be a boss over hyperpigmentation. So, lets break it down! The idea is not to walk into any store or pharmacy and pick just anything that reads anti dark spots. The idea is to know exactly how your skin works therefor exactly what you’re looking for. Hyperpigmentation occurs primarily within 3 stages,
· Pigment production- melanocytes create pigment through the enzyme Tyrosinase
· Pigment transfer- that pigment is transferred to the skin cells
· Deposition of pigment — the pigment is deposited into the skin cells
This is important to know because your treatments need to target all 3 steps in order to identify prevent and deal with the pigmentation completely. Here are some ingredients to look out for in some of your famous treatments and brands.
Aside from topical treatments there are also some procedures that can be undertaken such as superficial chemical peels and laser therapy. Chemical peels include glycolic acid, salicylic acid and trichloroacetic acid. Pre-treatment with hydroquinone topically is said to improve the outcome. A study of of 27 women showed 50 percent clearance of melasma after the first month of laser therapy.
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THE ROLE OF SUNSCREEN.
In the same study carried on these 27 women, daily application of a broad-spectrum sunscreen was required immediately after the procedure. Catch this. With any type of treatment, you decide to use sunscreen is of the utmost importance to the protection of your skin. It is the base of any procedure or treatment.
Understanding your skin type
Different skin types respond differently to UV light. If you are of a darker skin tone you will experience greater pigmentation when exposed to UVA compared to fairer skinned individuals. A good sunscreen to explore especially in correspondence with hyperpigmentation treatments for most skin types would be tinted sunscreen. It comes in different shades for various skin prototypes. Studies have shown that applying sunscreen alone consistently may improve the appearance of PIH. Before using any kind of sunscreen make sure to get counselling about proper sunscreen use and application from a dermatologist.
The secret ingredient
I’m glad that you managed to stick around because this last point will blow your socks off.
SELF –LOVE. Girl, I know that the patches can make you feel insecure. Afraid even to be confident around people, sometimes they even make you feel dirty, but you are not dirty. Your skin is just doing what everyone else’s skin does. It reacts to changes and surroundings; it genetically responds, and you should
Accept it
Work on it
But work on it with love, because you deserve that.
Refrences :
Nordlund JJ, Grimes PE, Ortonne JP. JEADV. 2006;20:781–787. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]Indian Journal of Dermatology 65(1):p 5–10, Jan–Feb 2020. | DOI: 10.4103/ijd.IJD_295_18
D.G. Yeager et al.
What’s new in photoprotection: a review of new concepts and controversies
[PDF] Treatment of hyperpigmentation
H Woolery-Lloyd, JN Kammer — Seminars in cutaneous medicine …, 2011 — cdn.mdedge.com
