Natural Skin Care Blog

Whatever you call them, these are types of skin discoloration and I can guarantee you don’t like the one that’s afflicting you.

What to do about brown spots and freckles?

If the so-called pregnancy mask is what’s bothering you, relax. It should go away by itself shortly after you have that baby. So, we’ll be talking only about the other annoyances.

First, you have to know what your enemy is — melanin. This substance accumulates in the outer layer of your skin and eventually shows up as a brown spot, freckles , etc. It started years ago but has only now become visible.

And where does this annoying substance come from? Sun is the biggest culprit here. Avoiding brown spots and freckles is one reason to be religious in your application of sun protection. There is something in sunlight that encourages the production of melanin. Slow that way down and you will decrease the brown-ness.

There are a number of popular treatments for spots of discoloration in skin. Some involve irritating the top layer of skin cells until it peels off. This might make your complexion look better for a time, but has the real potential of irritating those precious skin cells to the extent of inflammation. And there you are — now you have red splotches along with those brown spots.

Any of the popular products makes the skin more sensitive to sunlight so your sun protection is even more critical – more than you usually use may be necessary to avoid even greater problems. You see, your skin will react by producing more melanin in order to protect itself. So now you have traded a few brown spots or freckles for even darker discoloration and more of it. Oh, yes, And it’s much harder to get rid of.

The safest thing you can do to minimize freckles and brown spots is just that — minimize them. Use a therapeutic, concealing make up base — and get on with your life.

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Relax. “Liver spots” are misnamed, to start with. They have nothing to do with your liver. Perhaps it was the color that attracted the name. They are also called brown spots or age spots.

Most brown spots are the result of sun damage. (How about calling them “sun spots”?) It would be more accurate to say that brown spots are a visible sign that your skin has been trying to protect you against sun burn. That sun tan you worked so hard to get is the same sort of thing… Your body doing its best to keep the surface cells from burn damage.

Back to those brown spots — They did not jump up overnight and paste themselves on your face. The process started years ago, as long ago as 15-18 years. And it built up from deep inside your skin layers. Each exposure to the sun without adequate protection added a little bit to them. Then, one day, you began to notice them.

The usual recommendation seems to be bleaching. Your dermatologist will be able to suggest chemical mixtures that may or may not bleach the surface of the spot without harm to other cells. The difficulty is that, because these are not strictly surface blemishes, the color will return as your cells grow toward the surface. And the process will have to be repeated.

The same difficulty comes when you try to bleach brown spots using natural skin care products.

In the end, it’s going to be your choice. Do you prefer to reach the same temporary result using chemicals or using natural products?

Either way, the best you can do is reduce the appearance of those liver spots.

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