I do, mainly through slightly darker patches on my cheeks, and I also have freckles. My upper lip can also get dark, and when it’s in full force, I look like I have a mustache!
Overall, my hyperpigmentation has actually been a little better than usual. It’s been better since I got back on track with a skin care routine last month that includes a Vitamin C serum, retinol cream and sunscreen (YES).
For a while there I wasn’t doing much skin care for my face — just pimple cream and moisturizer. It was just, ya know…2020. The whole…all of it. I didn’t have enough energy left over to take care of myself. Seriously, there were a few weeks there when I had to set reminders to brush my hair! ?
I’m a little better about things now, like doing something about hyperpigmentation, and it sure feels good to be taking care of my skin again.
How about you? Do you have hyperpigmentation, or have you ever? Inquiring minds want to know.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
My sister has the dreaded upper lip hyper pig (our nickname for it, complete with pig emoji). She also has freckles and other larger hyper pig spots. My face just looks generally aged by the sun, which I’m totally okay with, livin’ dat beach life. I do regularly use a retinoid, vitamin C, and a BHA + AHA exfoliant.
I often have hyperpigmented acne scars, but I think the products I’m using together evens things out.
I just recently switched sunscreen because of the darn Purito findings that its marketed > 50 SPF Centella sunscreen turned out to be only 19 SPF. So I ordered the Ilia SPF 40 tinted mineral sunscreen and will also try the Sun Bum SPF 30 mineral sun screen, as recommended by GlowbyRamon. I watched a Dr. Alexis Stephens YouTube, which also addressed mineral sunscreens for women of color with hyperpigmentation. It hit all the bullet points so I watched and found it super informative, which is why I ordered the Ilia.
You’re skin looks great so that means your skincare regimen is doing its job!
Dr. Alexis Stephens is new to me. Now I have a new person to binge, YES!!!!
I don’t have a ton of hyperpigmentation, but I’m very freckles and have one spot near my nose that’s bigger and a tad darker. I’m very fair so I get post inflammatory erythema – lingering redness – rather than pigmentation.
A great product to try is 2-4% alpha arbutin. Obagi has a cream that uses 4% as a hydroquinone substitute. The Inkey List and The Ordinary have serums that are 2%. I use The Inkey version because I’m in maintenance mode. I use it on my face, neck, and chest morning and night. It plays nicely with my other products whereas The Ordinary’s version was a heavier gel and caused a bit of pilling. Sunday Riley’s Tidal Brightening cream also uses alpha arbutin but I don’t know the concentration. Alpha arbutin needs to be in a concentration of at least 2% to be effective. It does not dry out or irritate the skin and it is safe to use. It will not completely eliminate the hyperpigmentation the way hydroquinone does, but it gradually lightens the discoloration and creates a more even tone.
I’m a lingering redness person like the person who posted above and it’s a similar problem to hyper pigmentation in that we want to get rid of it/cover it up!!!
I’m using Smashbox colour correcting primer (an alarming green colour) under foundation and ‘Rosalique’ cream when I want to be barefaced. The Rosalique is a VERY alarming green colour but it does work.
I suffer from melasma and hyperpigmentation. The only thing that has worked for me is a combination of the following:
1. Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen. I can´t stress this enough. Hyperpigmentation will not get better no matter what you do if you don´t use sunscreen everyday and reapply it 3 times a day no matter if you stay inside all day.
2. Hydroquinone 4% cream for 3 months, used at night and under your derm supervision.
3. IPL sesions for hyperpigmentation (sun spots, freckles, solar lentigines) not on melasma patches (it can make it worse)
4. Retinol serum at night on the months when not using hydroquinone.
5. Glycolic acid 12% once a week at night to help exfoliate skin.
6. Avoid any irritation on your skin, avoid anything harsh such as waxing, cleansing brushes, physical exfoliation… redness and irritation will lead to hyperpigmentation if you are prone to it.
7. And finally, stay out of the sun as much as possible! If you can´t, always wear a hat.
It will take time to see results but be patient and take before and after pictures and follow up monthly, you will be amazed with your results after a few months.
I do – I always tended to get freckly in the sun and never minded it (except the freckle-stashe!) but now I have pretty bad hyperpigmentation along my jaw line and on my forearms. I’m religious about the sunscreen on my face/neck but never thought to put it on my forearms unless I was going to be outside for a while. I’ll be more aware going forward!