How To Get Rid Of Uneven Skin Tone On The Face?
Uneven Skin Tone On The Face?
Have you noticed patches of lighter or darker colored skin on your face? Noticed an uneven skin tone on the face?
If so you may have what is known as skin pigmentation or hyper-pigmentation.
What Is Skin Pigmentation?
Skin pigmentation occurs when your body produces too much or too little melanin. This can occur on the face and/or body, in small or large patches.
Melanin is a naturally occurring pigment that is responsible for your individual skin, eye and hair color. Sometimes the skin produces excess amounts of melanin and this results in areas of hyper-pigmentation on the skin that appear to be darker or lighter than your natural skin color.
They may also be uneven in texture and tone.
What Is Hyper-Pigmentation?
The term hyper-pigmentation can refer to a wider range of skin discolorations that occur on the face and body such as:
- Freckles
- Age spots
- Moles
- Café au lait birthmarks
However this article will look at the type of hyper-pigmentation that causes uneven skin tone and patches of irregular skin color
Skin hyper-pigmentation such as this can be caused by:
- Sunbathing and over exposure to the sun’s harmful rays
- Hormonal imbalance
- Pregnancy
- Some types of contraceptive pill
- HRT (Hormone replacement therapy)
- Reaction to certain medications
- Scarring
Most types of hyper-pigmentation such as freckles and age spots are permanent and they may become more noticeable on contact with the sun. They are also often associated with the skin aging process.
Sometimes hyper-pigmentation occurs during pregnancy in the form of chloasma – this type of skin pigmentation is usually temporary.
Chloasma is sometimes called ‘the mask of pregnancy’ and may appear on the nose, forehead and across the cheeks of pregnant women.
This type of hyper-pigmentation is caused by the hormonal changes a woman experiences during pregnancy and will usually fade at some point after her baby is born.
Injuries such as a burns or infected pimples or acne pustules can also kick-start the process of excess melanin production, this is especially common in black, Asian and Hispanic skin.
This type of hyper-pigmentation is known as PIH – post-inflammatory hyper-pigmentation.
How To Get Rid Of Uneven Skin Tone
Freckles, large and small, and age spots are common examples of hyper-pigmentation – they are more often than not caused by sun damage.
They are usually cosmetic, harmless and not something to worry about.
It cannot be emphasized enough that using a high SPF sunscreen for your face every time you go out is vital if you want to avoid hyper-pigmentation and other negative signs of skin aging.
If you don’t you run the risk of these patches become darker and larger in the future.
Regularly applying sunscreen to your skin will help to prevent the formation of hyper-pigmented areas, so if you don’t have any of these patches yet you can prevent them and remember prevention is better and easier than cure.
There are various ways to remove unwanted facial pigmentation, however the success of uneven skin tone treatment depends a great deal on an individual’s natural skin color and the nature of the pigmented areas of skin.
Darker skin can be much more difficult to treat than lighter skin and is more prone to scarring.
Steroids, laser treatment, skin peels and skin lightening creams are well-known uneven skin tone treatment methods, but what if you cannot afford these treatments or simply prefer to treat yourself naturally?
Are there any home remedies for uneven skin tone?
How To Get Even Skin Tone Using Natural Remedies
There are several natural remedies that can be used to help reduce the problem of skin pigmentation.
1. Vinegar – A tried and tested home remedy for skin pigmentation is that old kitchen staple vinegar.
Apple cider vinegar is the traditional choice of vinegar for home remedies but any kind of vinegar will work as a natural exfoliant – excluding oil based vinegars used in salad dressings, you certainly want to avoid these or you’ll run the risk of smelling like a tasty meal and not treating the skin concern at hand!
When applied directly to the skin vinegar may help to reduce areas of hyper-pigmentation.
Dilute one part vinegar with 8 parts of water for the best results – then apply to the area of discolor with clean cotton wool pads. Continue for 6 – 8 weeks to see results.
2. Lemon Juice – Lemon juice contains citric acid a substance that is thought to be useful in removing damaged skin cells in the upper layers of the skin.
It is a well-known home remedy for lightening the skin and areas of discoloration.
Lemon juice can be applied neat, directly to the skin by squeezing out the juice of half a lemon on to clean cotton wool pads.
For the best results you can apply neat lemon juice twice daily to the areas of hyper-pigmentation. It may take up to 6 to 8 weeks before you notice any difference.
3. Onion Juice – This home remedy is not for the feint of heart as obviously the smell of onion can be eye watering to say the least.
The best way to obtain onion juice is by blending it but if you do not have a blender you can grate it finely and then squeeze the juice out through clean, 100% cotton cloth.
You can then mix onion juice with equal parts of water or apple cider for a doubly enhancing effect and apply with clean cotton wool to the affected areas.
Again it may take up to 2 months before you see results but persist and be patient and you should see at least some improvement to the areas of skin pigmentation.
Home Remedies – The Natural Solution To All Your Skin Care Needs
Homemade skin care remedies have never been as popular as people look to find natural solutions to their skin care needs.