Poor lifestyle choices, use of cosmetic products that include harsh chemicals and unprotected and prolonged exposure to the sun may be the reason for which your skin is dark and dull.
A flawless skin is quite difficult to achieve, but the market gives you plenty of options that can help you with that. Some of the solutions include chemical products that may damage your skin, not to mention their price, as the good and efficient ones don’t come cheap for sure.
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Is it even possible to lighten your skin?
There are some easy ways to get a whiter skin and you don’t need to spend more than 10 minutes on a regular basis and some may give results right away.
Dark spots are hyperpigmentation caused by sun damage (in most cases), due to high melanin production if you’re exposing too much (and unprotected) to the sun. The skin is trying to protect itself from that, causing the black spots.
You need to exfoliate regularly as the removing of the surface layers of the damaged skin is going to lighten the dark spots, leaving the new skin to replace the affected skin.
Here are some natural remedies that may help you exfoliate better:
- Use of licorice root
Licorice root extract is an effective solution for various skin conditions, including eczema. Licorice is well known for its ability to lighten skin and whiten dark spots. It gives results because it’s able to lower the melanin production, balancing the skin cells just fine.
You can use a cotton ball with some drops of licorice extract, applying it on your face, hands, legs and everywhere you have dark spots. You may leave it like this on all night long.
- Lemon
It seems that lemon is a natural exfoliator that gives great results for skin whitening too. You need to slice a lemon in half, rub the juicy side on your face, paying attention not to come near the eyes. The acids in the lemon are going to sustain the exfoliating process by sloughing away the outer layers of the dead cells of the skin. This way, it’s also sustaining the production of new cells. The acids within the lemon are strong enough to dissolve the old skin cells, allowing new cells to form.
Can you lighten skin permanently?
If you’re thinking about a permanent whitening of your skin, there are many choices that you could try. The bleaching creams, laser and chemical peels are the options that give permanent results. You need to see a certified dermatologist before you decide which way is going to be the right one for your skin.
Some still think that the only true skin lightening agent is hydroquinone, which is typically prescribed by a physician, which is why you may only find it in specialized pharmacies. You should only apply hydroquinone on the specific areas and not entirely on your body. It’s also important to know that some areas are going to react better than others so you need to use different strengths of hydroquinone on your body.
However, the permanent lightening of the skin is considered to be more a medical procedure and only addresses patients with a need for this kind of procedure. When one is struggling with some skin pigmentation problems, the immune system may attack the pigment that produces cells in the skin, leading to loss of all pigments from the patches throughout the entire body.
The most important aspect of the permanent skin whitening is that it helps you get rid of melanin. This is why this procedure should be done by a doctor. The risk for side effects is real so you may want to do it under a doctor’s supervision so you may handle the potential damages to your skin.
Dermatologists don’t recommend skin lightening solutions for cosmetic reasons, as the use of these products is related to skin cancer. You need to check with your dermatologist to see if there are safe options that may help you whitening your skin. He/she may give you other solutions when it comes to brightening your skin.
You may easily fall in the temptation of abusing your skin, as we’ve seen in the case of some celebrities. Using hydroquinone in a dose higher than 2% or for longer than 3 months may cause some negative results and even rare skin conditions such as exogenous ochronosis. The skin darkens for good and it becomes resistant to all types of medication.
Abusing the skin lighteners may lead to buildup of pigmentation in the extremities, like your ears, toes, and fingers, giving an unmatched look.
Can you lighten dark skin naturally?
If you don’t want to use chemical solutions, you may follow some tips that are going to whiten your skin. Egg whites and lemons are at reach in any home, but pay attention to the steps you should take for whitening your skin.
- Use lemon juice
This juice is able to whiten your skin in a natural way as it’s full of citric and ascorbic acid that are a great source of Vitamin C and they both present skin whitening abilities.
Here are some tips about how to use lemons for whitening your skin:
- Cut the lemon into halves and place it nicely on your face. Leave it there for 20 minutes or so and rinse your face afterwards. You may do this daily, until you start noticing the results
- Mix some lemon with yoghurt and leave it on the face for 20 minutes. This is a milder bleaching solution that you may try at times.
- Mix one teaspoon of lemon juice with honey, which is a calming and antibacterial agent. Massage your face nice and gently for around 20 minutes and rinse well when you’re done.
- Mix equal parts of the lemon juice and the egg whites. Heat up over low heat until the mixture thickens. You need to continue by cooling it in a jar and keeping it in a refrigerator. Leave the mixture on your face and neck for 15 minutes and rinse it in the end.
- Stay away from the sun
This doesn’t mean that you should only spend time indoors, but it refers to the fact you need to use sunscreen every time you’re exposing to sun. the market gives you a great variety of beauty products that present a good SPF level (20 is ok for many of us). The use of sunscreen is going to help you whiten your skin.
Don’t forget about taking your vitamin D and sunlight is the best source for that. So keeping a balance between exposing to sun and using sunscreen is important.
The natural solutions to try at home
The number of natural solutions that you may try at home is impressive and even though they may not give you the impressive results as hydroquinone gives, they are worth to try too.
Let’s go over some of these natural remedies:
- Milk
Milk is a great choice when you want to lighten your skin, especially if you apply it on that specific area. The lactic acid from milk is going to reduce the skin pigmentation, whitening your skin.
- Use some goats milk or butter milk and pour it into a bowl. Soak a soft cloth in the milk and make sure the milk in the cloth doesn’t drip. Clean your face with the cloth and refresh it with the milk as it dries. Do this for 20 minutes or so and rinse well at the end. You may even let it on your face up until the morning.
- Place a slice of lemon in milk and let it soak for 20 minutes or so. Rub the milk on the skin and leave it like this throughout the entire night. Wash very well in the morning.
- Gram flour
You may mix finely grounder gram flour (also known as besan) and a bit of turmeric powder with some olive oil. Put this paste on your face for 20 minutes and rinse well your skin when time is up.
- Lemmon turmeric cream
This is quite an effective solution that whitens your skin as it addresses the dark spots on the skin from various parts of your body. You may try it on your elbows, inner thighs, knees and other areas that present dark patches. Leave it for 15 minutes this time and rinse off with water.
Turmeric may stain so you should wear gloves in order to protect your clothing from stains. Should the turmeric does stain your clothes, you may apply some wet ground sugar to exfoliate the stain from the affected area and rinse well with some cold water.
- Chamomile flowers
Use three tablespoons of dried chamomile flowers to add into a cup of boiling water, leaving it for soaking for 10 minutes or so. Strain the herbs from the solution. Add one tablespoon of honey and rosewater in this mixture. Apply the mixture on your skin and rinse it off for 20 minutes. You may keep it in the refrigerator until next time.