Exfoliation
Manual exfoliation essentially triggers your skin to start repairing itself. Over time, fresh, new cells make their way to the surface while old, pigmented, dulling cells are sloughed away. Exfoliating at least twice a week with brown sugar on a wedge of pineapple, or sea salt combined with coconut oil is great (and we're all about natural skincare remedies... can you tell?).
Fruit Enzymes
Think of fruit enzymes as a form of gentle, non-abrasive exfoliation. Fruit enzymes soften and effectively scrub delicate skin to help fade dark spots and dissolve dulling dead skin cells. A few to look out for include papaya seed oil, pineapple enzyme, apple fruit extract and pumpkin extract.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C used topically in a serum is a bit of an overachiever when it comes to hyperpigmentation! Its antioxidant properties help prevent dark spots from forming in the first place. It also helps lighten up surface pigmentation caused by UV damage and acne inflammation. Some of us consider it an indispensable part of our skincare routine - you should too!
Essential Oils
Often overlooked and entirely undervalued, certain essential oils harness crazy healing power. Geranium, rose, lavender, frankincense and helichrysum essential oils, for example, are exceptionally adept at fading marks and spots, diminishing scars and reducing inflammation. Helichrysum essential oil in specific contains the highest known amount of beta-diketones, which are reputed to promote the formation of new skin tissue. Consider us impressed!
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but these are our favourite all-natural hyperpigmentation fading solutions in a sea crowded with retinol, hydroxy acids and dreaded hydroquinone - and they’ve worked excellently for us. Now go on and start fading those unwanted spots!
by Candice May
