Sun protection
Sun Protection When You Are Prone to Pigmentation
For pigment-prone skin, sunscreen is the base of every treatment plan. Here is what the sources say about UVA, visible light and tinted formulas with iron oxides.
Pigment Diary: Melasma, dark spots and pigmentation treatment, explained carefully
More from the diary
Melasma
Tranexamic Acid for Melasma: What the Studies Show
Tranexamic acid has become a common talking point in melasma care. This is a plain reading of what the meta-analyses and dermatology references report, and where the evidence is still thin.
Melasma
Melasma, Sun Spots or Post-Inflammatory Marks? How They Differ
Three common causes of facial dark patches can look similar in the mirror. Here is how dermatology references tell melasma, solar lentigines and post-inflammatory marks apart.
Start here
New to pigmentation? These three articles, read in this order, cover most of what people ask us.
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Step 1
Melasma, Sun Spots or Post-Inflammatory Marks? How They Differ
Work out what kind of mark you are looking at before choosing anything.
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Step 2
Sun Protection When You Are Prone to Pigmentation
The part of every treatment plan that stays the same, whatever else changes.
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Step 3
Tranexamic Acid for Melasma: What the Studies Show
Then the treatments, starting with the one readers ask us about most.
Read by topic
Melasma
Patchy brown pigment on both cheeks, the forehead or upper lip, linked to light, hormones and family history.
All 5 articles
Sun spots
Solar lentigines: flat, well-defined spots left by years of UV exposure, and how they differ from other marks.
All 2 articles
Treatments
Creams, tablets and devices, read against the trials and dermatology guidance behind them.
All 3 articles
Sun protection
UVA, UVB and visible light, tinted sunscreens and the habits that stop pigment coming back.
Read the article Sun protection
Sun Protection When You Are Prone to Pigmentation
For pigment-prone skin, sunscreen is the base of every treatment plan. Here is what the sources say about UVA, visible light and tinted formulas with iron oxides.
Post-acne marks
Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation: the brown marks that stay behind after spots, rashes or irritation.
Read the article
Melasma
Melasma, Sun Spots or Post-Inflammatory Marks? How They Differ
Three common causes of facial dark patches can look similar in the mirror. Here is how dermatology references tell melasma, solar lentigines and post-inflammatory marks apart.