The sensitive skin guide to hyperpigmentation

There are endless reasons why skin – including sensitive skin – might begin to look uneven and develop darker patches or spots. It could be because of hyperpigmentation, melasma (often during pregnancy), sun damage, premature ageing, acne scarring or post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.

What’s most important for you is to understand what’s triggering your pigmentation and how best to fade those dark spots to restore a more even complexion. So let’s get to it.

What is hyperpigmentation?

The reason skin becomes darker in certain areas is because it has been triggered to overproduce melanin, the enzyme responsible for pigmentation (the level of colour or pigment in your skin). Areas where you have too much are known as hyperpigmentation – often described as sun spots, dark spots, age spots, uneven skin tone, melasma or simply, sun damage.

While some hyperpigmentation may fade on its own after some time, many of us feel more confident with an even complexion, so will want to speed things up.

How to even out an uneven skin tone

Some people love their dark spots, just as many love their freckles – but if you want a more even, brighter complexion, there’s plenty you can do about it.

Irrespective of the cause of your dark patches, one thing we can all agree on is that sun protection is absolutely essential. UV exposure might not be the reason your skin has darkened, but it will likely exacerbate it. That means applying sunscreen with SPF30+ every day, even in winter. You can learn more about ours, British Summer Time, right here.

Feed your skin with brightening vitamins

Another way to protect the skin is by using products with active Vitamin C inside. A natural antioxidant, it can help protect the skin from any free radical damage caused by the sun or pollution, by blocking melanin production. So it’s important to apply it in the morning, to supercharge your skin and sunscreen’s protection throughout the day.

Vitamin C also benefits skin that’s already experiencing hyperpigmentation. It’s able to brighten existing dark spots caused by free radical damage, giving the skin a more even appearance.

This brilliant brightener is the hero ingredient in our C-2 Believe Moisturiser – or you can add drops of this highly concentrated active to the affected areas with our 20% Vitamin C Booster.

We use a natural, stabilised Vitamin C in formulas that are clinically proven for sensitive skin – so you can get glowing without the irritation.

Exfoliate and polish

Removing old skin is really important to help your targeted skincare work harder – allowing it to penetrate deeper inside where it isn’t sitting on top of dead skin cells. But also to kickstart cell turnover and make way for healthy new skin.

Many of the prescription treatments available for hyperpigmentation are essentially very strong exfoliants, which cause the old skin to shed faster than it normally would. There are gentler, sensitive skin approved formulas that exfoliate deeply but without such an extreme and often very sensitising process.

Blemishes’ worst nightmare, Salicylic Acid is an exfoliating beta hydroxy acid (BHA) which gently lifts away dead skin cells. You can add this genius active ingredient to your favourite moisturizer – or apply directly to your dark patches – with our Salicylic Acid Booster drops.

Retinal – an all-natural retinoid that works even faster than Retinol, with far less irritation – is also an active ingredient that speeds up cell renewal. Our natural Retinal booster is particularly brilliant for mature skin looking to reduce the appearance of fine lines too.

Or if you’d prefer to go down the manual route, you can slough away any dead skin with our Virtuous Circle exfoliator, made using spherical jojoba beads that remove the cells without scratching the skin or causing further damage.

Take a targeted approach

Fade Forward Dark Spot Serum is our first ever product made specifically to fade and help prevent dark patches. It’s clinically proven to reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation*, and it does it with a breakthrough formula that won’t irritate even the most sensitive skin.

This daily serum is formulated with Marine Algae, which works by taking control of the skin’s melanin production and therefore tackles the root of discolouration deep in the dermis. We’ve enriched our formula with natural antioxidant Vitamin C to brighten and protect the skin too, warding off future damage.

If you’re unsure where to begin with tackling (or even identifying) your own hyperpigmentation or dark patches, our highly-trained sensitive skin experts are here to help. You can book a free skin consultation with them right here.