How to Cure Hyperpigmentation at Home

You can cure hyperpigmentation at home with DIY skin-lightening recipes and powerful active ingredients to correct dark spots, freckles, dark patches and other skin pigmentation abnormalities.

Things You'll Need

• Over-the-counter hydroquinone cream
• UVA/UVB full spectrum sunscreen with high SPF and PA+++
• Mandelic acid 5 to 10 percent serum or solution
• Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate
• Niacinamide
• Arbutin
• Kojic acid
• Licorice extract
• UV-proof hats, gloves and visors

Instructions

Avoid Sunlight

1. Know your sunscreens and read the label. Use a UV sunblock with PA+++ and SPF 30-plus sunscreen. Know that PA is an indicator of UVA filtration, and ranges from PA+ to PA+++. Keep in mind that PA+++ has enough shielding power to prevent ethnic skin from tanning. Also, most micronized zinc oxide has full UVA shielding powers, whereas titanium dioxide filters only partial UVA.

2. Reapply your sunscreen often for all hours of sun exposure. However inconvenient and uncomfortable this is, make it a habit.

3. Wear a hat, visor or bring a parasol. If the area of hyperpigmentation is on the arms and hands, remember to wear sunblock and/or gloves. Understand that most fabrics are not UV-proof and don't provide enough sun protection. However, denim is the most UV protective out of all major fabrics. Wear jeans and a jean jacket to protect your skin from the sun and any exposure to UV on a day-to-day basis.

Exfoliation

1. Use a 5 to 10 percent mandelic acid (a type of alpha hydroxy acid) solution regularly to stimulate natural cell turnover and the shedding of pigmented skin layers. If you cannot find mandelic acid, you can use any L-lactic acid- based exfoliant, at a 5 to 15 percent concentration.

2. Be pH conscious and concentration cautious. High quality alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) like the ones mentioned above work best at around 3.5 pH and concentrations of 3 to 10 percent. If you see AHA products with high concentration, such as 15 to 35 percent, it is too much and may irritate your skin and lead to further hyperpigmentation.

3. Incorporate a good scrub to boost chemical exfoliating efforts. Be sure to use scrubs gently, and avoid irritating the site of hyperpigmentation. You can scrub with jojoba beads, ground and polished apricot kernels, sugar, baking soda, salt or ground peanuts.

Incorporate Skin Lighteners

1. Know your skin lighteners. Remember the following ingredients as they lighten skin pigmentation and reduce melanin production in skin cells, especially on hyperpigmented spots. Synthetic chemicals, which are most effective, include hydroquinone up to 4 percent, in any cream or lotion base to be applied twice daily, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, niacinamide, arbutin, kojic acid, licorice extract, bearberry extract, lemon juice and soy milk.

2. Watch for and be aware of any chemical interactions when handling these active ingredients. Most skin lightening chemicals are sensitive to light, may thin the skin (including arbutin and hydroquinone), and should be tried in smaller percentages in the beginning to see how it interacts with the skin.

3. Go with the simplest ingredients first. The safest ingredient to start testing with is niacinamide and soy milk. Mix soy milk (unsweetened) and a bit of niacinamide power from a capsule, spread evenly over the hyperpigmented area, and leave on as a mask. Wash your niacinamide soy mask off after 20 to 30 minutes or soon after it dries if it makes you uncomfortable. If you don't mind having the mask on you may leave the mask on, or put on a new mask to refresh the actives that are delivered to your skin. Continue applying the soy milk and niacinamide paste over the skin for at least a week. Soy and niacinamide are not only potent skin whiteners, but also effective skin rejuvenating agents. Take advantage of this at-home treatment and save money from useless store-bought cosmetics.

4. Move into more advanced lightening ingredients. Once you are comfortable with the soy and niacinamide treatment and become familiar with the processes of mixing up your own skin care recipes, you can start boosting your treatments with even stronger natural skin whiteners. The simplest ingredient to use for the next stage is magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, a powerful version of Vitamin C for skin lightening. Simply add it to water or contact solution, or a store-bought Vitamin C serum of your choice, and apply on your face as you do with the soy milk and niacinamide mixture.
   If you like the soymilk and niacinamide concoction, you can add another two potent whiteners directly to the soy mixture. Arbutin and kojic acid are very powerful ingredients that are used strictly for whitening and could help tremendously in correcting your hyperpigmentation. If you prefer to leave soymilk out of your mixtures due to the sticky feeling and prefer to use a different "carrier" base for the above mentioned power-whitening actives, simply mix arbutin, kojic acid, or magnesium ascorbyl phosphate in with a simple toner or a base lotion at below 4 percent concentration, and apply on a regular basis. Increase in concentration only if your skin tolerates it. At 4 percent, these solutions that you are making at home will be stronger and more concentrated than anything available from a store.

Monitor Skin Progress

1. Be careful and keep watching for changes, improvements or irritation of your skin.

2. According to the changes or lack of change you see, adjust your regimen.

3. Be patient. Topical skin applications work much slower than lasers and microdermabrasion therapies administered by a doctor. To cure hyperpigmentation at home, be patient, gentle and diligent about your at home regimen.

Tips & Warnings

• Suggested simple recipes include soy milk and 4 perecnt niacinamide; lemon juice and 5 percent magnesium ascorbyl phosphate; and soy milk, 2 percent arbutin and 2 percent Kojic acid.

• This article is not intended to be medical advise to treat, prevent or cure any medical conditions and diseases. Consult your physician and dermatologist for all concerns with abnormal skin conditions.

Resources

• List of articles on cosmetic ingredients with skin lightening properties
• Introduction to skin lightening at home