Hello friends! How are you lately? Are you still dealing with hyperpigmentation? I guess you are, since you are reading this article. I guess you still haven’t found the best treatment for this problem that affects your skin complexion and it just makes you believe that it will never fade away.
Well, let me say that it all depends on some aspects and it also depends on the way this problem appeared. What caused it ? Before getting into my experience with hyperpigmentation let’s remember what hyperpigmentation is and the reasons why we have it.
So, hyperpigmentation is the production of excess melanin causing dark spots on the skin. Age spots, liver spots, sun spots, pregnancy mask, are all types of hyperpigmentation, and there are a few treatments to reduce or remove the darker skin depending on what triggered your hyperpigmentation.
Now, what causes the hyperpigmentation? Well it can be the hormonal changes in your body, post laser epilation, post face treatments such as dermabrasion or chemical peeling , sun exposure, acne, or even heredity. In my case, except for heredity, all the others were factors which I am certain that they caused the appearance of the hyperpigmentation.
To begin with, this magnificent hyperpigmentation appeared when I was around 25 years old. So that is five years ago. Up to that point , I didn’t have any acne, or freckles, or uneven face skin tone. I could say that my face was pretty perfect. And I wish it could have stayed like that :D! But no, it decided to make my life hard and worst of all my face became to act very expensively! Hello! There’s not royal blood running through my veins from what I know! Anyway, so at that time I was using pills, because I was in a relationship, I wasn’t using any sunscreen (bad, bad girl) and I was spending a lot of time tanning during summer. Also, I noticed that I started to have acne on my face, like severe acne, so clearly there was something wrong with my hormones. Funny thing, I was in a great relationship so they should have been very , very happy and in love! but no, apparently, they weren’t! Also around that time I was getting laser epilation done to the upper lip, but I was using some sunscreen, when I would remembered about it :D.
So I had to stop the epilation process because the summer was coming, and the laser treatment could have trigger hyperpigmentation. Which it did! So the doctor interrupted this process in may, by the way the clinic where I got this done was at Novia clinic, in Cluj Napoca, great doctors, great staff! To continue…. so it was already sunny outside, not too much, but enough to get my upper lip darker than the rest of the face. It wasn’t too dark in the beginning, it was a small difference in tone, however it got darker over time, even though I was starting to use sunscreen daily. Also, in that same year my cheeks started to get darker too. Well that was weird!! So I started to go to doctors, do my hormonal tests which proved to look ok, I also went to the dermatologist, who diagnosticated me with hyperpigmentation and prescribed to me the Melanin cream (around 200 lei now, 41 Euro, 52 dollars) . Which didn’t work for me at all!
So I decided to stop going to dermatologists, and instead , to do my own researches, and most importantly to use sunscreen like crazy! No mater the season, to use sunscreen! Ok, so the next product that I used, was coconut oil! Didn’t work either! Indeed it is a great moisturizer but it will never take away the sun spots! Btw, the longer you have the hyperpigmentation, the harder it is to get rid of it! Trust my word, I am experiencing this, it is harder and harder to get rid of it! Ok, so another product that it was supposed to make my sun spots fade was Aloe vera gel. What do you think it was the result? Not the expected one, anyway! :))
Ok, at this point I was getting to 27 years old, and I was reading a lot about how laser can make the hyperpigmentation disappear! And I was like, ok this is my last solution! If laser can’t help me with this, then I don’t know what can do it?! :)) So , I made an appointment to SlimArt clinic, here in Bucharest, again, great doctors, great staff, and I had my first laser session! And I had the second one too, and I have to mention that the doctor told me that if the hyperpigmentation is old then we would need at least 6 sessions. She also told me that we might not get any results. But still I went to the third one, and to the fourth session. And my face looked the same after every session. There was no improvement. And that is when the doctor said that there is no point in investing money (200 lei per session, that is 41 Euro, and 52 dollars), and continue the laser treatment because there wasn’t any good result. So I stopped the laser treatment, feeling very disappointed. I am not saying that laser treatment might work or not for you, it just depends on how deep the spots are into the layer of your skin. If the spots are young, like you got them this year or a year ago then the laser might work or not, either way, it would worth giving it a try! I really hope it will work for you!!!
So, you think that at that point I would give up, right? Nope! :)) Even though I said it a lot of times! :)) but I cant give up, I feel responsible for my skin and I want it to go back to how it was, beautiful and even! So, one day I was walking through Promenada mall, with my fiancée, here in Bucharest, and we saw that Kiehl’s shop was giving free skin consultations. So we got in, and a very lovely woman working there noticed my hyperpigmentation and she made some test to my skin, resulting in a very dry skin, which I knew about, that is why I also have an article on the best face creams for dry skin! So, yes, after that test she recommended that I start a treatment for my hyperpigmentation. So she prescribed 3 products, namely Clearly Corrective Brightening and Soothing Treatment Water, Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution, and Clearly Corrective Brightening and Smoothing Moisture Treatment. I apply them exactly in the order that I listed them. I am using these products for about 2 months now, and I see that my skin is more even. Slowly but surely 😀 my hyperpigmentation shows signs of dying! :)) The cool thing about these products is that after I finish them I will go back with them to Kiehl’s and they will give me a product free of charge! Yeeey! The not so cool thing is that the products cost 600 lei, all of them, that is 125 Euro and 157 dollars. But it may worth it! Along with all these product, I am also using the St. Ives even and bright scrub (find it on Amazon), which I like very much because it nicely exfoliates and prepares my face for the Kiehl’s products. But you could use any other gentle exfoliator.
So yes dear friends, this is my story, and struggle with hyperpigmentation! I will keep you updated and hopefully this time I will have great news! I wish you best of luck in your fight with hyperpigmentation!! Let’s defeat it once and for all!
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Simona Gannon 