Look at a baby’s skin and you’ll see a smooth, even complexion. Unfortunately as we age, we accumulate damage that mars that smooth appearance, creating scars, age spots, and areas of darkness.
What causes uneven tone and discoloration?
The biggest enemy we have when it comes to our skin is the sun. UV exposure is especially damaging to the color of the skin.
A natural pigment called “melanin” creates your skin color and helps protect the skin from dangerous UV rays. When you’re outside, the sun stimulates the melanin cells (called “melanocytes”) to produce more melanin, which makes the skin darker. This is why you tan when you’ve been in the sun for awhile. Too much sun exposure, particularly over a number of years, can cause the over-production of melanin, resulting in dark spots and patches on your skin.
There are other factors that may also be involved in creating an uneven skin tone. These include:
- Exposure to environmental and toxic stressors. Prolonged time outside, antibiotics, retinoids, and fabric dyes, could all cause discoloration.
- Medications. In addition to birth control pills and antibiotics, other medications including anti-seizure and anti-arrhythmic drugs can create dark spots on the skin.
- Aging. As we get older, light and dark areas appear more prominently on the skin.
How to reduce the appearance of discoloration
Reducing the appearance of discoloration isn’t a one-step process. Instead, the best way to be successful in this skin care goal is to regularly:
- Exfoliate. Regular exfoliation helps remove impurities in pores which becomes more important as we age. Exfoliation helps you do away with the old so that the new you can shine.
- Protect. We absolutely must protect from environmental stressors. Hats and shade are best when you’re outside and zinc oxide is considered the safest sunscreen. You need to make sure you’re getting enough antioxidants in your diet to protect what’s going on inside too.
- Lighten and Brighten. Use safe products that have ingredients that can lighten and brighten the appearance of your skin.