Do you suffer from dark spots, pigmentation and blemishes? We chat to Clinique about how to visibly reduce the nagging appearance of age spots and improve skin tone on your face.
1. What is the benefit of having an even skin tone?
We used to think of lines and wrinkles as being the cardinal sign of ageing. Now we’ve learnt an uneven tone is probably the first sign of ageing. When skin is more even-toned, you look younger. So, whatever we can do to even skin tone will in turn make our skin (and us) look more youthful.
2. Can you define hyperpigmentation?
The most common causes are sun exposure and melasma, which is a condition that primarily affects pregnant women and women taking birth control pills. Another common cause is what we call post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, a darkening that can occur after any injury to the skin. These could be acne breakouts or a burn. A dark patch will mark the area where skin has healed.
4. What’s the best way to treat pigmentation issues?
Number one: don’t be aggressive. These areas must be treated gently to produce results. Secondly, use mild, regular exfoliation to help lift off the excess pigment. In addition, use anti-irritant ingredients to help soothe and calm the skin since irritation is a leading cause of hyperpigmentation. And finally, protect your skin from sun exposure since ultraviolet light darkens skin – especially areas already affected by hyperpigmentation.
5. Can skincare products really make a difference?
Yes. It’s possible to have more even-toned skin no matter what your skin tone. But keep in mind it does take time – this is a condition that requires gentle, long-term treatment. Realistically, you should expect to see improvements in your skin tone after four weeks of treatments, with dramatic improvements at six weeks.
6. Anything else I can do?
Sun protection is a must to avoid further worsening the area by exposing it to ultraviolet light. Women with darker skin tones, in particular, may believe they don’t need sunscreen. But even one minute of unprotected sun exposure will affect skin prone to hyperpigmentation. This means you must apply sunscreen every single day, whether it’s sunny or cloudy.
To reduce the signs of ageing and improve pigmentation, Clinique introduces even better clinical dark spot corrector and even better makeup SPF 15 – a powerful duo designed to help you look your best!
See more: clinique.co.za