Summer's Coming Get Ready!

Stop the Spots Before they Begin

Did you know that you can put the brakes on new dark spots before they get started?

Clear the Path

It's easier to manage pigment when you have less to start with

Existing spots and splotches can be reduced or sometimes fully eliminated with steps like:

1. Exfoliation like Chemical Peels and Microdermabrasion

2. Phototherapy like IPL/BBL

3. Laser like Pico Genesis, Enlighten, Fraxel or others

Get and Use Pigment Inhibitors

Hydroquinone has long been considered the gold standard - now only offered via RX and must be used as directed. But there are many other pigment inhibitors that work effectively to "turn off" or at least gate melanin production and spread.

Ingredients to look for:

Tranexamic acid, Alpha arbutin, Niacinamide (also referred to as B3), Vitamin C. Kojic acid, Retinol. Often you'll find a combination of ingredients that act as inhibitors. In our office we're used to and recommend SkinCeuticals, Skinbetter and SkinMedica products because we know they work.

But if you're on a tighter budget, the big players in the mass market have decent options. Eucerin's new Anti Pigment line with Thiamidol (also found under the name Radiant Tone) comes to mind, as does La Roche-Posay Mela B3.

FYI - the reason over the counter products are at a lower price point than items found in a dermatology office is that they have to be formulated for ALL skins and generally use lesser concentrations of active ingredients.

When to Use?

Start now. Make the application of a melanin inhibitor a part of your daily skin routine to keep the melanin engine at the lowest level possible. As with other product layering, start with the thinnest first - usually serums - then lotion, then cream. Your last layers are always foundation if you use it and final is sunscreen.

Follow directions, but generally use twice a day as this keeps the active components doing their job 24/7.

Any product with sufficient active ingredients will help, BUT....

The BUT- you must be radically insistent on consistent use. The melanin cells in your skin are always watching for their opportunity - which might be as innocuous as a single afternoon by the pool or a morning walk in the sunshine. Expect 4 weeks to see the first benefits and 12 weeks for a measurable lightening.

Which leads us to - you guessed it! SUNSCREEN

Sun Protection is As Important as Water. Period.

You may feel it's tiresome. Or that your makeup will do the job. Or that you have enough "tan" to not worry about spots. Trust us...eventually you'll wish you'd taken those extra seconds.

Not all sun protection is equal, and no sun protection other than a dark room is 100%. No matter what sunscreen or sunblock you use, use it EVERY day, sun or clouds, inside, outside. It's the combination of the inhibitors and preventors that work the best.

Highest protection - physical "blocks" with zinc oxide. May look a little chalky in some over the counter formulations. You can self tint or look for tinted products. Higher end lotions or powders will cost more, but be more elegant in feel and ingredients. ColoreScience has their great Sunforgettable powder with built-in brush and the "we love it" FaceShield Classic lotion, both at SPF 50 and PA++++. Summer prep 20% discount in effect now.

Product links for purchase and extra information. A word of caution on online purchases via auction sites and thirdparty sellers on big box store sites. Unless you're buying from authorized sellers, there's no way to tell if what you're getting is the real deal. So stick to proven purchase avenues.

Sunscreens and Sunblocks

• Sun protection products in our store - currently 20% off in our store
• Elta MD

Pigment inhibitors

• Glytone Tranexamide Solution Glytone pigment inhibitor
• SkinMedica Even and Correct
• Alastin A-Luminate Brightening Serum
• Eucerin Radiant Tone - found online and in big box or drugstores
• La Roche-Posay Mela b3 - found online and in big box or drugstores