I love my melanin skin, I really do! What I don’t like are those pesky dark marks left after a breakout or any kind of irritation caused by mosquitos, bug bites or allergic reactions. I struggle with hyperpigmentation like so many other people. I’ve tried so many products to help clear it up and some work well, others not so much.
The first thing to figure it is the source of the breakouts and/or irritations. Breakouts can be caused by all sorts of things – diet, hormones, stress, hair products, makeup, skincare products with fragrance and that pesky time of the month. There isn’t a whole lot you can do about the time of them month except try to lessen the severity during that time, just something to deal with.
I started my skincare journey during the pandemic, and last year finally figured what was causing my breakouts, my IUD. Yep I know, that should’ve been a dead giveaway and honestly I wasn’t ready to take it out, I didn’t have a cycle and wanted to keep it like that. I had a bad breakout right before my birthday trip last year and that was the last straw. I was in a never-ending cycle of breakouts and dark marks, and dark marks take forever to go away, and I just was not getting anywhere. Now, I only get them when I’m not consistent on my skincare routine or around the time and it’s usually one or two pesky ones.
Here are some products that really helped me after I figured out the cause of the breakouts:
Good Molecules Discoloration Serum
The Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA Spheres 2%
Naturium Vitamin C Complex Serum
Naturium Vitamin C Super Serum Plus
These products gave me really good results; the only problem was that my hyperpigmentation was old and stubborn. The problem is that most of the products worked really good at clearing up the recent dark marks and not the ones that were driving me crazy. So if your dark marks are more recent, than these or the ones below should give you some really good results.
Tranexamic Acid – this is a really good ingredient for dark marks and is found in so many skin care products – I haven’t personally used these, they might work for you
Naturium Tranexamic Topical Acid 5%
The Inkey List Tranexamic Acid Hyperpigmentation
Versed Out of Sight Dark Spot Gel
Apostrophe was a game changer for me! After making some progress with the over-the-counter products, I needed something stronger to get what I was looking for. The process was so easy. I was skeptical at first because I thought of course, a dermatologist needs to see me in person. I was wrong, I signed up and answered a few questions about my skincare concerns, and uploaded some pictures. The dermatologist sent me a customized prescription for 3 months. Every 3 months, I upload recent pictures of my skin and my dermatologist adjusts my prescription based off my feedback and the pictures. I worked my way to up to Tretinoin .1% and Azalaic Acid 15% and it’s working out really well for me.
Now keep in mind; what works for me may not work for you. Skincare is different for everybody, so you really do have to try and see what routine works for you. I know it can get aggravating trying all these products and nothing is working, please REMEMBER to be consistent for a good 3 months. That means twice a day EVERY SINGLE DAY, including weekends to do your skincare routine.
I sincerely hope my suggestions help and if you have any of your own, please let me know friend!
love always,
Image credit: Photo by No Revisions on Unsplash