Even Out Your Skin Tone with the Melanin-Reducing Benefits of Vitamin C

Vitamin C is one of the most popular and effective health supplement ingredients, for good reason. When ingested in the form of a fruit or a pill, it can boost your immune system, decrease cholesterol, and even protect against heart disease and certain forms of cancer. When applied topically, its powerful list of benefits is extended to your skin’s appearance, as it helps to correct skin conditions such as hyperpigmentation, age spots, and melasma. This powerhouse vitamin inhibits your skin’s production of melanin, helping to even out your skin’s coloration and brighten its overall appearance.

Today we’ll take a look at how to use the powerful natural benefits of this common vitamin to your advantage and highlight some Vitamin-C-packed skin products to fight those pesky dark patches.

How does Vitamin C work to lessen dark spots?

Darker patches on the skin show up as moles, freckles, birthmarks, age spots, sun spots, acne scars, melisma, or hyperpigmentation. If you suffer from any of these dark areas, you know they can be difficult to fight. But with Vitamin C on your side, your skin’s future looks a lot brighter.

Vitamin C’s antioxidant qualities help to reduce the appearance of irregularly dark sin patches. This all has to do with its powerful influence on melanocytes. Melanin cells are responsible for creating dark areas on your skin, when your skin’s deep layer of melanocytes turn the enzyme tyrosinase into melanin. When Vitamin C steps in, it inhibits the growth of tyrosinase, causing less melanin pigment to be produced.

Other causes of excess skin pigmentation include UV radiation and pollutants in the air. These environmental hazards produce harmful free radicals in the skin which cause it to darken and age prematurely. The antioxidant power of Vitamin C fights these damaging free radicals. At the same time, it also helps your skin to produce the antioxidant Vitamin E, the skin-lightening antioxidant glutathione, and the skin-tightening agent collagen. It’s clear to see why Vitamin C gets so much attention and is known as a powerhouse ingredient. To really harness its effects, look for a skincare product that’s right for your skin’s unique concerns.

Some Great Vitamin C Products to get Your Melanin Levels Under Control:

Vitamin C30x Retinol Serum

Vitamin C andVitamin A (Retinol) work together in this powerful serum to stop free radicals from damaging your skin’s cells. Retinol also increases your skin’s collagen production, for smoother, younger looking skin. Vitamin C reduces the appearance of age spots and discoloration.

Vitamin C 30x Anti-Aging Serum

The concentration of Vitamin C in this anti-aging serum stimulates your skin’s collagen production while it helps to fight free radicals caused by sun damage, and blocks the effects of hyperpigmentation. These effects are seen almost immediately after application, leaving your skin tone visibly balanced and evening out any dark patches. Perfect for women with hyperpigmentation around their lip and eye areas.

3-Day Vitamin C Facelift Kit

If your skin is looking a bit dull or tired, the Vitamin C Facelift Kit can provide a quick pick-me-up, leaving it visibly refreshed after three days of use. The exfoliating power of alpha hydroxyl acids combined with the brightening effects of Vitamin C make this kit a revitalizing routine that’s also perfect for use in-between peels.

AHA & Vitamin C Brightening 70% Peel Kit – Deep Strength

If you suffer from prominent hyperpigmentation and are looking for a more serious treatment, consider the AHA Vitamin C Deep Peel Kit. It leaves your skin tone visibly smoother and lightens serious age spots, especially after repeated use. Make sure to prepare your skin for this treatment by exfoliating daily for a week before you try this deep peel.

Hyperpigmentation vs. Hypopigmentation

Hyperpigmentation or Hypopigmentation?

What gives freckles their color? An overabundance of melanin; the same pigment that’s responsible for skin conditions which show up as irregularly dark or light skin. Across all races and natural skin colors, too much or too little melanin will result in skin that appears unusually dark or light, known respectively as hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation.

In most cases, there are treatments available for skin with irregularly dark or light patches. The following overview of these two opposite yet related issues will help you determine which one you might have, and how to treat it.

Hyperpigmentation

Irregularly dark patches on the skin are known as hyperpigmentation; an overabundance of melanin. This is an extremely common skin condition for men and women of all races and ages. It’s causes when the cells responsible for producing melanin are either overactive or overabundant.

UV Exposure

Commonly occurring agespots, also known as liver spots, are dark spots often occurring on the face of light-skinned individuals. They are a result of exposure to UV rays, and worsen over time with more UV exposure rather than as a direct result of aging.

Skin Injury

Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, or “PIH” often results from acne, burns, or psoriasis, and is generally easily treated.

Hormones

Birth control pills, hormone replacements, thyroid imbalance, and pregnancy can all trigger hyperpigmentation in the form of a condition known as melasma.

While there is no medical threat to hyperpigmentation, the appearance of these darker patches can be a nagging aesthetic concern for some. Luckily, there are many treatments available that can help to improve the appearance of hyperpigmentation. Here are a few we suggest:

Arbutin Brightening Duo Kit

No matter the cause of your hyperpigmentation, the daily serum and moisturizer in this kit can help to correct it. They are each safe and effective treatments including Lemon Balm, Peppermint, and other ingredients with the natural power to fighthyperpigmentation. Their skin lightening ingredients work by inhibiting the enzyme that produces melanin in your skin. Perfect for those seeking a more natural approach to the harsh alternative of skin bleaching.

Jessner 14% Peel Kit – Medium Strength

Treat hyperpigmentation with this remarkable medium strength peel, including Salicylic Acid, Lactic Acid and Resorcinol to reveal a new, revitalized layer of your skin. Prepare with a daily exfoliator, and expect a downtime of two to three weeks.

TCA 30% Peel Kit – Deep Strength

If you’re looking for a more intensive treatment for advanced hyperpigmentation, this kit can help to correct stubborn dark patches, as well as deep wrinkles, sagging skin, and crow’s feet. TCA is a great option for resurfacing and renewing your skin.

If you are new to peels, start with a lower percentage TCA peel. Expect two weeks of downtime and up to two months of full recovery after this treatment. Protect your skin afterward with an SPF of 30 or higher.

Hypopigmentation

Hypopigmentation, also knows as skin depigmentation, is the medical term for abnormally light skin. This means your skin has less than the normal amount of melanin, which is the pigment that gives your skin its color. Causes of this condition include:

Skin Disorders

Albinism is a rare disorder resulting in a complete lack of pigmentation in the skin, and also in the eyes and hair. This occurs when the enzyme needed to produce melanin is missing. If you carry this trait, you have a higher risk of sun damage and skin cancer, so be sure to take extra precautions to limit your sun exposure and wear sunscreen daily.

Another such disorder is Vitiligo, an autoimmune disorder involving damage to the cells which produce pigment, results in smooth white patches, sometimes over the whole body. Ultraviolet light treatments, corticosteroid creams, and makeup are the common methods used to treat Vitiligo.

Skin Damage

Sometimes trauma experienced by the skin results in a loss of pigmentation. This can include burns, blisters, or skin infection. In many cases, your body will naturally re-pigment the affected areas over time. Cosmetics can ease the transition period of your pigment’s regeneration.