Pigmentation 101: The Secrets to Fading Dark Spots

When the sun hits your face, those rays actually damage your skin's DNA. So your normal cells maybe part break off and float away, and now you have an irregular cell that's replicating, replicating, replicating. And that's how you went up with bumps and marks and problems and just so many things. 

Today, we are going to be talking about pigmentation. It is the end of summer and, early fall season. And I think this is a time where a lot of customers are going to be looking in the mirror and noticing maybe a few new pigmentation spots here and there. You might. Yeah. So, what do you recommend as a regimen? 

Well, that's definitely very common. We're out in the sun. That's what the UV rays are doing. They're creating more pigmentation in your skin. And if you have melasma, that's going to be even worse. And even if you're putting the sunblock on and you're trying to prevent it, you're still going to get some. So perfect time to start treating it for sure. And so if you're not already using something like this, fade bright, this is the alpha arbutin, this is going to help to turn down the melanin production in your skin. 

So that you'll be less likely to create those spots, but if you do have some, it'll help to start fading them away. So this is something that you're going to put on one to two times per day. Perfect. We recommend that you start off with maybe two, three nights a week and then just keep adding on days. And at some point, you can work up to doing this twice a day. And this is key. This is really going to help lessen those spots. And it's something that you should always continue doing. Don't just stop because they go away. You always 

Want to keep suppressing that melanin? 

Yeah, because it's not going to work forever.

True.

And I don't know this specific amount of time when that happens, but it is important to keep using that. Another great one is fusion A, so retinoids. So this is going to make your skin turn over more quickly. So what hyperpigmentation you do have in those upper layers is going to start shedding off more quickly. This makes its turnover, and the spotting is going to go. 

Away, so it will speed up that process. 

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I always recommend this anytime I talk to somebody, it's fabr and retinoids fusion, and there's a little bit of gran active in here, so you do get some retinoid in here, but the combination of the three retinoids in here I think is super important and exactly what's needed. 

Absolutely. 

And of course, if you're not already using SPF every day, I mean that's doing yourself a disservice. Even if you are using everything perfectly, you're going to take a step forward and three steps backwards because every time you walk outside, 

You're exposing yourself. 

Yeah. I mean, even in the car, anywhere you go that it’s still hitting your face. So 

The good thing about this particular one, we use physical sunscreens as opposed to chemical sunscreens. So this is titanium dioxide or zinc. We have a couple of different versions of it, but what they do is they sit on the top of your skin and they reflect the sun away. So that's how it protects them. There's no opportunity for the sun to penetrate the skin. We're just reflecting it away. So super, super important. Okay. Vitamin C, 

Love it. 

This is another super duper one for preventing pigmentation because when the sun hits your face, those rays actually damage your skin. DNA. So your normal cells maybe part break off and float away, and now you have an irregular cell that's replicating, replicating, replicating. That's how you went up with bumps and marks and problems and just so many things. So if you put something on, like vitamin C, this is an antioxidant. So you put this on and it shares one of its molecules and helps to fix your cell. So now you have this perfect cell again, that is replicating, replicating, replicating. And your skin is just healthy and new, and you don't have excessive pigmentation of things. And that is how vitamin C helps and makes sure that the cells on your face are normal, new, and round. 

Perfect. Great. 

Not irregular. Yeah, super helpful. And I have personally used this for my melasma. I think we've talked about this in the past, where I used to get big dark marks on my face because, of course, I would try to get a suntan still, and it just doesn't work. But this really helped me. 

I do recall that. Yes, I remember 

It really helped. 

You would come back from vacation, and he would suffer a little bit with the pigmentation on the forehead. 

Here and here. Oh, here. Terrible. That really helped. We didn't even have this back then. 

Right? 

So helpful. 

Absolutely. And it’s just really bad. What about chemical peels? Which peels would serve best for someone with 

Pigmentation? Yeah. Now, if you want a mild peel, of course, you can use lactic peel, or I really, really like the mandelic peel. I think mandelic 40 works really well, so it's not going to cause a lot of aggressive flaking, just little bits of dryness. Maybe a couple of flakes. You could do this once a week, once every two weeks. Mandelic acid is so good for pigmentation. I mean, and not just surface pigmentation, even deeper pigmentation. Just continue using this. Do a peel one, two, even up to four peels a month, and this will make a huge difference. And if you want something a little stronger, of course, there's nothing better than Jessner because this not only has lactic salicylic, but it also has urinal. And urinal is very, very similar to hydroquinone. So it's helping to remove pigmentation, break it down, turn it over, and lighten it really quickly. So this is stronger, its layer. You start with one layer and just work your way up. There's really no end to how many layers you can put on, but this really helps to get deep melasma, all those kinds of problems off. This is a super one. 

Now, if someone has really sensitive skin, they could also use the 22 mandelic. Correct. 

I think that would be a great option. I actually feel like that's more comfortable than the lactic peels. Right, right. Okay. And if you think about it, now we have the LED. So red and infrared can be very beneficial for pigmentation. Infrared obviously penetrates deeper. So, if you have more dermal pigmentation, people with darker skin have more dermal pigmentation. So, something like using the infrared can really help with that. And of course, just the regular red on the LED mask that helps the more surface layers of pigmentation. And something like this is so easy. You just use this 10 minutes to 30 minutes, whatever fits into your regimen few times a week. And that too will not only help with things like collagen, but it will help to lessen hyperpigmentation. So those are all super things and super easy. 

So what if somebody is working on pigmentation on their body? 

So you can use a lot of these same products. Now, fade bright, we have a couple of sizes of fade, right? This is our smaller one for the face, and we have a nice four and a half ounce one with a bigger pump. So you can go ahead and apply that to things like your arms, your legs, your body, and your chest. This works great. 

Excellent. 

And then I would suggest one or two things. Now, of course, you can get some exfoliation if you want to use it. This has lactic and glycolic. You can use this with a loofah in the shower. And this will help to physically exfoliate some of the outermost layers. There's 15% acid in here, and then let's say you washed, you put some fade right on. And then I think putting the triple treat body lotion on, so this is 25% acid. So this is really going to get some of that dead skin off. And this will help to get the pigmentation out more quickly. And if you're going to do a body peel, of course, Jessner, we can grab the Jessner. Again, that is a perfect acid to use for the body. And these products will prep you wonderfully. For a peel like that, they should probably stop using the triple treat about what, five days before their peel, just to lessen the sensitivity. 

That's a good point for the face and the body. So if we're using the fusion, a retinoid, and you want to do your series of peels, you really should stop this somewhere between, for a milder peel, three to five days before, for a stronger peel, four to six days before, stop your retinoids. Same thing with the body. These are strong acids, and you want to stop using them for at least four to six days before you do that peel.

Yeah, it's a strong treatment lotion, not a moisturizing lotion. 

I mean, it has some moisturizing properties, but it is a strong treatment lotion. 

I don't even consider this a normal daily lotion anymore. I'm like, this is a treatment.

Yeah, definitely. 

That's not something that most people can use every single day or even everywhere on their body. 

Sure, sure. 

But for sure, where you're getting your pigmentation that's out in the cell, those areas are sturdier, like your legs and your arms, no problem. 

And again, on the body, sunscreen is super important as well. 

For sure. For sure. I would say SPF 50. And even then, SPF 50 is not going to block the sun a hundred percent. You should wear some loose clothing if you're outside. If you're treating yourself, you really need to make sure that you're using things like hats, like clothing, because SPF can't stop everything. If you're putting your SPF on and then staying outside for six hours working in the garden, you're, you're still going to be dealing with pigmentation. So definitely shade yourself.

I saw a super cute photo on the Facebook guru page of a customer who did a peel, must have been on arms, hands, something like that. And she was in her car, and she lived in a warm climate. I saw. However, she had gloves, long sleeves hoodie up, and it made me laugh. 

That was so cute. Some people really take it to the level that really needs to be done. But she was in her car with the hood, I get it. And the sleeves. And the gloves. But she was in Arizona, if I'm not mistaken. I thought it, yeah, I thought it was a warmer climate, very intense sun, and you have to do what you have to do. 

But I do talk to customers on the phone who may be bus drivers or driving in their car, truck drivers, things like that. And they will have more pigmentation on, let's say, the left side of their face and their arm. So even if you're driving in the car, that still does affect you. 

Yeah, it does. It goes through windows. I suppose. You could have some really deep UV protectant on there, but most people don't. 

Exactly. Yeah. Super important. Always good to wear protective clothing. Perfect. All right, well, I think that we'll get them on a great track to help treat pigmentation. Absolutely. There we go.