Your Questions Answered: Are There Natural Remedies for Skin Discoloration?
Do you follow us on Twitter? Why the heck not? We’re not very spammy, and we always try to answer questions when we can. Sometimes we even answer them twice, an endearing occupational hazard of being a two-headed monster.
But when fellow blogger @clean_beauty asked us for product recommendations, I thought we should put it to the moms: Did you experience skin discoloration during pregnancy, and do you know of any remedies that don’t involve skin bleaching (which we do not recommend whether you’re pregnant or not).
For those who don’t know—like me, until I googled—skin discoloration during pregnancy is quite common, and can appear as darker patches on your face, arms, and elsewhere. ‘Cause all those other bodily changes aren’t enough to deal with, right?
Some surfacey research lead me to believe that the best way to deal with the discoloration is through good clean behavior to begin with. Even mainstream sites warned that products may aggravate matters—and so can the sun. So, some simple advice:
1. Use a good clean sunscreen, and definitely wear a hat.
Sun exposure seems to be a big culprit here. And because you’re pregnant and don’t want any crap in your body anyways—and because you know that many mainstream, chemical sunscreens don’t even protect against UVA rays—you should opt for a super clean zinc or titanium-based one. You can revisit some of our past posts that mention sunscreen here, and don’t forget that your best weapon against the sun is shade.
2. Use super clean products, and less products in general.
It’s pretty much what we preach to all, but if you’re pregnant you have to be extra diligent. Just like the best way to avoid the sun is to avoid the sun, the best way to minimize irritation from products is to use less of them. Even naturals can contain irritating ingredients, so opt for the simplest oils, and gentlest cleansers you can find. We’re both pretty sensi to begin with, so most of our recommendations already fall in this category.
If you’re experiencing discoloration I’d probably avoid anything exfoliating even if it’s totally natural (including fruit enzymes), because all exfoliation makes skin more sensitive and more vulnerable to the sun.
Does anyone have products they can recommend for this? Other advice?
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I don’t know about during pregnancy, but Pai’s Bioregenerate works well on acne scars, as does Dr. Alkaitis Nourishing Treatment Oil. A couple of weeks ago, someone mentioned Celsus Scar Cream, too, and it has worked the fastest at fading my acne scars (I have a lot of acne scarring). I also think Tamanu Oil is supposed to help with hyperpigmentation issues…
Besides all the above,a good idea is to revisit older posts on Rebecca’s recipe. It is easy to make, highly effective and with continuous and diligent use will make these pesky brown spots disappear.
Neem oil has worked to lighten my hyperpigmentation around my surgery scars. I massage it in daily. I also find that a mixture of turmeric and lemon juice helps lighten the skin as well.
If they both work on hyperpigmentation deep within the skin from surgery it should do wonders for melasma or pregnancy mask since it’s closer to the surface.
I use Pai’s Bioregenerate, Rebecca’s DIY recipe, and I just ordered the Juice Beauty apple peel. They all help, but nothing worked as good as Retin-A, which I no longer use after reading your book. What’s a girl to do?
I got UGLY hyperpigmentation around my mouth with each pregnancy, but thankfully it went away within several months after giving birth. Many women get melanosis from the hormones, but it is often not permanent. I am however also very fair skinned with lots of freckles and I use Juice Beauty Green apple peel. I don’t know how effective it will be with true melanosis but I do feel like for me it evens things out alot.
I’ve been using Juice Beauty’s SPF 30 Tinted Mineral Moisturizer because it has chemical-free SPF protection!
Cosmetic skin Solutions makes a cheaper version of SkinCeuticals Phyto+ gel, it’s a botanical skin lightener. I’ve been using it for about a year now, it’s lightened my old acne scars plus helps keep down redness and is anti immflamatory. It’s not organic but the ingredients are definitly safe for use during pregnancy. Full Ingredients: Water/Aqua/Eau, Kojic Acid, Alpha-Arbutin, Glycerol, Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursi (Bearberry Extract),Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Thyme Extract, Cucumber Extract, Algae extract, Pullulan, Hyaluronic Acid, Phenoxyethanol,Tetrasodium Edetate, Fragrance. You can check out their site at http://www.cosmeticskinsolutions.com
Hormonal weirdness at any time, not just pregnancy, can result in pigmentation changes. And sun in combination with that just makes it worse. Of course, I use my DIY, last posted here in the comments: http://bit.ly/KBG3W0. I recently had to find a clean progesterone cream because my moods were out of hand (used to use it but my old one had phenoxyethanol which I react to so I stopped using it). After a few weeks I noticed I had less desire to kill people but the worst areas of my previous dark spots were returning. So I eased up on the amount of progesterone and now give a little extra attention to my dark spots with my DIY. The spots are fading again and I think I’ll be back to good soon.
Fuller’s Earth clay is known for lightening as well, you can get it from Mountain Rose Herbs and make masks. I use it and love it for help with blemishes too. I leave it on overnight, mixed with water (or a hydrosol) and a couple drops of lavender.
@Carla, I like the turmeric idea. I take it in capsules instead of advil/aleve for its anti-inflammatory properties. I had heard of using it on skin but I didn’t know it would lighten.
Skin safety is so important! I just read http://bit.ly/MrtcZJ from SmartyPants (great blog, very informative btw) and now I’m also worried about my Vitamin D deficiency because I do tend to stay away from the sun. Check it out if you want the scary and true facts.
My skin was effortlessly gorgeous when I was pregnant but it definitely required a gentle touch. No scrubbing, (it took me a bit to figure that out). The other interesting thing was that my sensitivities and allergies completely disappeared. I could use the richest moisturisers without worrying about my acne and my hay fever completely disappeared. My skin seriously glowed but my small veins, spider veins and broken capillaries became extremely fragile and occasionally burst and bled all over( thank you increased blood volume). I also scarred from the one pimple I had while pregnant. Any pimples I have usually heal perfectly. Any advice I have would be based on my own experience and would be an echo of the above. Be gentle. Stay out of the sun. Don’t scrub mechanically or chemically. Rose hip seed oil has been mentioned as fading hyperpigmentation as has licorice extract.
My skin discoloration and pigmentation issues are mostly related to my past acne scars. They’re slightly red and make my skin uneven and just not so great looking. I’ve tried many products but my holy grail product that I swear by is YULI’s Ultimate Perfecting Serum. I didn’t think I’d see any result but I noticed that previous areas of acne scars were beginning to look like ‘normal’ skin and over time I got more compliments from people even my roommate asked if I had concealer on. I’m currently on bottle 2 and don’t think I’ll be repurchasing after because my face is pretty evenly toned now, so that kind of speaks to the effectiveness of this product for me.
@Fern – you’re right! Rosehip fruit and seed C02 are basically the analog version of the retinol products a derm would prescribe for hyperpigmentation without the crazy side effects.
Also, science guys conducted studies and have proven licorice, narcissus bulb & acerola cherry (pure plant vitamin C) effective in reducing hyperpigmentation by inhibiting formation of melanocytes. Narcissus has an interesting additional effect which is to inhibit hair growth so it’s also good to use on that upper lip area, but shouldn’t be used on the eyebrows if you’d like to keep them fashionably thick.
In Japan, exfoliation and dry brushing (or washcloth rubbing) helps to rid the dead skin cells and promote new growth. It is important to moisturize after exfoliating, so that the skin remains moist and supple and bright! Because dry skin appears dull, thus darker. Rice water is also known for it’s whitening properties, so you can save the milky water that appears when you wash your white rice to use as a toner. ^ ^ I heard Celsus cream was also very nice for lightening scars and marks, and I plan to buy some as well~ Chamomile soap really calmed my skin as well, and I noticed that my skin tone was much more white and even while I was using it. Drinking green tea and chamomile tea is also very good for your skin ♥♥♥
What about Acure Organics resurfacer/pigmentation buster…..cant remember the correct name right now! But for $20 at Whole Foods its so so so awesome.
The Acure Radical Resurfacing Lotion is a lovely moisturizer but really doesn’t help with pigmentation at all. I’ve been using it a long time and am on my second bottle because it makes my skin nice and soft. But I don’t think it helps with “resurfacing” really.
I’ve also heard good things about the rosehip oil (such as Pai’s Bioregenerate), so probably worth a try. Generally, though, Pai’s whole range is brilliant for sensitive skin! (See what I did there? “Brilliant”? Cuz they’re a UK brand? Heh.)
I find that gentle exfoliation, like using a soft bamboo wash cloth during cleansing and then immediately applying some sort of treatment product afterward really seems to help. I get very bad reactions to mosquito bites and scratch like crazy which leaves small dark spots on my skin. I second Joyce’s comment about the YULI serum because it has even made my little dark spots from last summer disappear.
You might want to look into vitamin B3 also. Studies show it can interfere with pigment transfer in the skin, and that’s why some skin lightening products use it. It’s similarly effective in treating post-acne marks.
I love Pai’s Bioregenerate. My skin is super sensitive (reddness, no pimples) and I have def noticed a difference since using it.
I’m not sure if rosehip oil actually makes a huge difference, but it does helps, and a lot. Philosophy Turbo Booster C Powder is vitamin C powder with licorice extract and aminoacids, panthenol, aloe juice powder and some other things, I checked every single ingredient and I swear it’s not bad at all, it doesn’t comes from a clean brand, but it’s such a brilliant product http://www.goodguide.com/products/262324-philosophy-turbo-booster-c The fact that it comes in powder form makes it even better. Vitamin C is very unstable when it comes already incorporated in a product, and this powder allows to incorporate a little vitamin C each single time with a water-based product, I mix it with my DIY hydrating mist, is not that you mix it all at once and then it becomes oxidized over time. This one is a fantastic stuff for discoloration, plus super antioxidant and collagen promoting.
Joyce and B. — How long does the Yuli serum last? I want to try it but it’s pretty pricey, and want to make sure it’s at least going to last me…