HYPERPIGMENTATION & SKIN BRIGHTENING
RESPONSIBLE
DERMOCOSMETICS
YOUR SKIN NEEDS
What Is It?
The skin color of each person comes down to an important molecule produced in the body: melanin. Melanin gives your skin, your eyes and your hair their color. The more melanin you have in your skin the darker it will look. In a perfect world, the same amount of melanin would be present in all areas of your body, but in some cases, certain areas can have greater concentrations of melanin than others.
This is called hyperpigmentation.
Hyperpigmentation is a common condition that makes some areas of the skin darker than others. It is a combination of the words “Hyper” meaning more or excess and “pigment” meaning color.
Hyperpigmentation can appear as brown, black, gray, red or pink spots or patches. The spots are sometimes called age spots, sun spots or liver spots.
Age spots are small, flat dark areas on the skin. They vary in size and usually appear on areas exposed to the sun, such as the face, the hands, the shoulders and the arms. They are a sign the skin has received a lot of sun exposure and is attempting to protect itself from more sun damage. They are frequent in people who have lighter skin and are frequently exposed to the sun.
These dark spots are benign and non-painful but they can make people self-conscious and uneasy in their own skin.
What causes hyperpigmentation?
There are many things that could lead to hyperpigmentation:
1
Genetics: some people are genetically more prone to develop dark spots
2
Skin injuries which cause Post Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation: a type of cutaneous hyperpigmentation occurring after and often during an inflammatory state
3
Hormonal imbalance leads to a special type of hyperpigmentation called “melasma”. Melasma is caused by an overproduction of melanin after hormonal changes such as pregnancy, using birth control pills, taking hormone replacement therapy or after sun exposure.
4
Sun exposure: one of the roles of melanin is to help protect the skin from the harmful effects of the sun so a longer exposure to the sun’s rays will lead to greater melanin production
5
Age: as we age, the melanin-producing cells increase in size and form clusters to create the characteristic dark spots or age spots.
These transformations begin to occur at a young age, most frequently at 40 years of age. However, preventative measures and an adequate treatment are capable of slowing down the formation of liver spots and even treating them once they appear
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Diabetes can cause some areas of the skin to look darker
How to prevent hyperpigmentation
and even out your skin tone
Dark spots or hyperpigmentation can have a range of causes. If you want to get rid of dark spots, there are several steps to reduce dark spots.
The effectiveness of these steps depends on the root cause of the dark spots and their extent. Dark spots on the skin may not completely fade and it might take a while to see a difference, but the right treatment often lightens the spots.
1
Use a skin brightening product that contains azelaic acid, glycolic acid and other brightening ingredients which will even your skin tone and reduce your melanin production
2
Apply a vitamin C serum which will brighten your skin and remove the effects of oxidative stress
2
3
Use a retinol-based treatment to fade existing dark spots
4
Apply a sunscreen with at least an SPF30 every day
4
5
Avoid being in the sun when it is at its strongest
6
Cover the areas exposed the most to the sun: shoulders, chest, back
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