PROVEN Team
PROVEN Team includes Stanford scientists and dermatologists who combine their expertise with cutting-edge technology to bring you the best for your skin.
Dark Spots: A Science Backed Approach
Dark spots don’t have to dim your light! With the right treatments, you can lighten your dark spots, maintain an even appearance, and finally ditch the heavy foundations and concealers.
Resource by: PROVEN Team
How To Get Rid of Dark Spots: Causes and Remedies
Dark spots can be a major source of insecurity. After all, we constantly see photoshopped pictures of models with flawless skin. How can we possibly feel good about ourselves with concerns like dark spots, wrinkles, and blemishes?
While we aren’t fans of unrealistic beauty standards, we are fans of making you feel comfortable and confident in your own skin. So, if dark spots are dragging you down, it’s time to take action and explore the causes and treatments for these pesky little spots.
What Are Dark Spots?
You may know them as dark spots, however, they are technically known as areas of hyperpigmentation, or areas of the skin that produce more melanin than usual, giving them a darker appearance.
Melanin is the pigment that provides color to areas of the body like the hair, skin and eyes. Since everyone has different amounts of melanin, the appearance of hyperpigmentations tend to vary from person to person. The appearance of hyperpigmentation may also depend on the cause of the discoloration.
While dark spots may look concerning, they usually aren’t anything to be worried about as they are not harmful or painful. Nonetheless, if you are concerned about dark spots on your skin, we encourage you to consult with your dermatologist to determine the exact cause and obtain the peace of mind that there’s nothing to worry about.
What Causes Dark Spots?
As we mentioned above, there are several different causes of dark spots. It’s definitely worth determining the root cause of your discolorations to make sure that they aren’t being caused by an underlying condition that may require treatment.
While talking to your dermatologist is always the best course of action if you’re trying to figure out the cause of your dark spots, here are some potential causes to keep in mind until you can schedule your appointment:
Sun damage causes a whole host of issues for your body inside and out, one of them being dark spots. If you do not use adequate sun protection each and every day, you can expect to develop dark spots, also known as sun spots, age spots, liver spots, or solar lentigines. Dark spots from the sun commonly occur in areas like the face, hands, and arms that experience high amounts of sun exposure. To limit your levels of sun exposure, it’s recommended that you apply a broad-spectrum SPF product no matter how cold or cloudy it is outside.
Fluctuations in hormone levels like estrogen and progesterone can cause dark spots known as melasma. Hormonal fluctuations can be caused by pregnancy, hormonal contraception methods, or hormone replacement therapies.
If you’ve developed random dark spots after taking a new kind of medication, they could be a side effect. This side effect is commonly seen with medications like psychotropics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and tetracyclines.
Dark spots can appear as a result of inflammation caused by skin issues like eczema, psoriasis, and acne. Dark spots may also be the result of wound healing after getting a cut, burn, insect bite, or other injury.
If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, your dark spots could actually be a result of the condition rather than just regular age spots. For example, dark, velvety spots on the back of your neck, armpit, or groin are signs that there is too much insulin in the blood. Shin spots caused by high blood sugar appear as light brown, scaly patches of skin that commonly occur on the lower leg.
How To Treat Dark Spots
While most dark spots do not necessitate treatment, you may wish to address them to improve your overall appearance and achieve an even skin tone. There are several different treatment routes that you can take for your dark spots, ranging from minimal at-home treatments to more intensive in-office procedures.
If you’re looking for a safe and gradual treatment for dark spots, natural remedies could prove effective. Certain natural substances have lightening and evening properties that you can safely use on your skin. You may want to consider using ingredients like apple cider vinegar, turmeric, aloe vera, red onion, and green tea extract.
If you’re not into home remedies but also don’t want an intensive or expensive treatment, topical creams may be the right solution for you. Topical creams can either be bought over-the-counter or obtained through a prescription from your dermatologist. Common ingredients found in topical creams that treat dark spots include retinol, alpha hydroxy acids, and hydroquinone. These topical treatments can prove effective if you’re consistent and patient.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for more immediate results, you may want to consider getting a chemical peel%2C%20and%20phenol%20peels.). Chemical peels are applied by professionals to exfoliate the skin through chemical reactions rather than physical scrubbing. By removing layers of skin and promoting new skin growth, you can diminish the appearance of dark spots on the surface of the skin.
If you’re looking for a quick and relatively painless procedure to diminish your dark spots, then microdermabrasion could be the right solution. This procedure involves using a tool to remove the top layer of skin to exfoliate the skin and promote new collagen growth.
Laser skin treatments are used to heat the skin and remove a few layers at the surface. There are several different types of lasers available for dark spot treatments, although a pulsing laser may prove to be most effective. No matter your laser choice, this method can be expensive and usually requires multiple sessions to begin to see results.
Instead of heating the skin with lasers, cryotherapy involves freezing the skin with liquid nitrogen. This treatment injures the skin cells in the affected area and promotes a lighter healing process.
How To Prevent Dark Spots From Occurring
Obviously, it’s not always possible to prevent dark spots from occurring as a result of things like pregnancy or hormonal changes. That being said, if you believe that your dark spots could be caused by your medications or even your hormonal birth control, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor about alternatives.
One thing that you can do to prevent dark spots is to prioritize sun protection each and every day. Many people falsely assume that they only need to apply sunscreen whenever it’s sunny and they’re going to be spending time outdoors. However, you should be wearing an SPF product every day -- even if it’s cloudy, cold, or you don’t plan on going outside.
In addition to SPF, you can also protect your skin from sun damage by wearing protective clothing, hats, or sunglasses. You should also try to avoid long periods of sun exposure between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when the sun’s rays are at their strongest.
The Best Skincare Routine for Dark Spots
Perhaps one of the best treatments for dark spots is a comprehensive and tailored skincare routine. Many people take a monolithic approach to skincare, simply combining random products from the drugstore that boast even skin tone. However, these rarely give the results consumers seek because everyone’s skin is so different.
This is what makes skincare from PROVEN so revolutionary. At PROVEN Skincare, we believe that skin care should be just as unique as you are. As a result, we have developed the Skin Genome Quiz based on data from over 100,000 skin care product evaluations, 20,000 skin care ingredient assessments, and thousands of analyses from reputable scientific journals.
Our Skin Genome Quiz utilizes information about your skin concerns, heritage, lifestyle, environment, and skin history to create custom-made formulas that are just for you. From there, we send you your tailored cleanser, moisturizer, and night cream with only the best ingredients.
These three products can comprise your entire skincare routine thanks to smart formulations. For example, the cleanser is also a toner and an exfoliant. The moisturizer also contains SPF for sun protection. The night cream contains the highly concentrated ingredients that you need more of to achieve your skin goals.
When it comes to using your PROVEN products, we recommend washing your face with warm water before applying your SPF moisturizer in the morning. In the evening, we recommend removing any makeup, cleansing your face, and applying your night cream. With a little bit of patience and diligence on your part, you will begin to see the difference in your dark spots and other skin concerns.
Here Is Why Personalized Skincare Is Better
Personalized skincare comes with a host of benefits
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|---|---|---|
| Formulated and made-to-order for you | No | |
| Targeting your unique Acne needs | No | |
| Optimized for your lifestyle + environment | No | |
| Easy 3-step system for all your skin needs | No | |
| Made by Stanford scientists and AI tech | No |
OUR TEAM
We're industry leaders in skincare
Dr. Yuan is a Computational Physicist from Stanford University
Proven co-founder, Dr. Amy Yuan, fixed her skincare woes by using her computer science background to analyze the effectiveness of more than 20,238 skincare ingredients, 100,000 products, 20 million testimonials, and more than 4,000 scientific journal articles. Now she is applying that to create the perfect skincare for you.
Your Skin Routine In 3 Simple Steps
Your Personalized Cleanser
Ensures any dirt from the day is removed to reveal glowing, healthy and fresh feeling skin
Your Personalized Day Moisturizer
Helps prevent the skin from drying out, while targeting other issues you may have.
Your Personalized Night Cream
Restores elasticity and delivers intensive nourishment to repair, plump and firm skin while you get your beauty sleep.
