You've been following your Brightening Kit routine to the letter. But, the excess pigment that you're trying to lift seems to be getting darker, rather than leaving your skin or getting lighter. Sound farmiliar? This is a frustrating, and very normal part of the brightening process.
Unfortunateley there are more triggers to your skin for creating pigment, than there are to purge the skin of excess pigment. Over time, melanin builds up in the skin and shows as patches or dark spots on your skins surface.
What Triggers Hyperpigmentation?
Inflammation and hormones are the two major factors that cause excess hyperpigmentation to the skin. Inflammation can include sun damage, heat, cuts, irritation, acne, hair removal, friction and even waxing. The inflammation triggers the skins protective melanin response.
Genetics can play a factor here too. Alongside hormones, genetics can be main triggers for melasma. In darker skin tones, the higher concentration of melanin in the skin means that hyperpigmentation is even more common and will take longer to fade.
Melanin production begins in the deep layers of the skin and rises to the sin surface where it clusters and looks like dark spots. Our skin is always regenerating, which means that normally, the pigmented cells will naturally slough off. But when pigment is created faster than it is sloughed off, this creates a hyperpigmentation issue. The longer it's left unresolved, the deeper the pigment becomes and the harder it is to remove.
Why Does Hyperpigmentation Get Darker Before It Gets Lighter?
Our active ingredients accelerate cell turnover. This essentially pulls the pigmented cells to the skins surface at a faster rate. This increases the concentration of melanin on the skins surface, which may create a darkening of the pre existing excess pigment.
Whilst this is not what most people want or expect, this 'darkening' means that the melanin is coming up and is ready to be shed from the skin. At this point, we want to focus on using products that include melanin inhibitors, tyrosinase blockers alonside ingredients that concentrate on melanin transfer.
