What is skin brightening? You might be here after casually researching the subject or maybe because your skin simply isn’t what it used to be, and you’re looking for answers. Perhaps you looked in the mirror and found dull skin or age spots looking back at you. Thankfully, there’s good news: these signs of aging can be reversed.
Skin brightening treatments and procedures seek to reverse the effects of skin dulling, age spots, and sun spots by evening out the skin tone so you’re left with a radiant and youthful glow. But how and why does that glow get lost in the first place?
The Passing of Time
A huge factor in dulling skin is simply the aging process. It happens to all of us. The skin is the body’s largest organ, so it bears the brunt and impact of several factors which cause us to lose the glow of youthfulness.
When we’re younger, our skin cell replacement and regeneration works at a faster, more efficient rate and damaged skin cells are quickly replaced. But as we age, that regeneration slows down, and in some cases, becomes so compromised that the dead skin cells aren’t replaced and sloughed off, but rather left to build up. The result? Dull skin.
Age also plays a role in the elasticity of the skin and how much hydration your skin retains. As elastin and collagen productivity decrease with age and the skin becomes dry, your skin exchanges its luminous appearance for a dull one. Now that you know how your skin can eventually look and feel dull and lifeless, let’s take a look at how to fight against it. The good news is that you don’t have to be stuck with dull skin. There’s a better way.
What Causes Dulled Skin?
It would be easy to simply say that anyone who ages is at risk for dulling skin. But there are other factors that can aggravate or worsen it. These factors include the following:
- Sun exposure and tanning beds
- Dehydrated skin
- Smoking
- Excessive alcohol use
- Living in an area with high pollution
Each of these factors damages our bodies on a cellular level, and while you may not notice an immediate impact, they will come back to collect down the road. Everyone ages, but any of the above factors will negatively impact and aggravate your skin — and dulling will be the result.
What You Should Look For
Because dulling of the skin doesn’t happen overnight, you may not even notice the gradual changes until you’re surprised at what you see in the mirror one day. But indicators of dulling skin can include blemishes, age spots, and sun spots on your upper body, especially your face, chest, arms and shoulders. You may certainly notice these blemishes on your legs, but the upper body tends to suffer more damage from sun exposure, which can lead to premature dulling.
You may also notice that your skin feels rough or dry in places, and fine lines and wrinkles appear where you’re certain you’ve never seen before. And, though it may be difficult for you to describe, maybe your face and other areas of your skin simply don’t look as radiant as they used to be.
How Can Dull Skin Be Treated?
A quality moisturizer can brighten and improve your skin tone and complexion. Elizabeth Roche has designed Radiant, a luxurious skin brightener that contains the following ingredients. Here’s how they work.
- Bisabolol: This oil is derived from German chamomile. It increases the penetration power of other ingredients, helping with better absorption. It also helps fade hyperpigmentation and offers a safer and more natural solution to inhibiting melanin synthesis — which is the pigment behind age spots. Many chemicals in skin brighteners claim to inhibit melanin synthesis, but they are not proven to do so safely or without irritating your skin. Bisabolol also stimulates collagen production and can inhibit the enzymes which break that collagen down.
- Licorice: An anti-irritant and anti-inflammatory ingredient, licorice is a powerful boost in a skin brightener. It helps suppress over-production of melanin and helps protect the skin against the damage caused by ultraviolet rays.
- Evodia and ginger extracts: Both of these extracts are high in antioxidant properties, fighting against the wear and tear that oxidative stress causes in your skin. Evodia is a skin-soothing agent, and ginger is used to smooth rough skin and restore youthful radiance.
- Vitamins C & E: These power nutrients help repair and restore youthfulness. Taken internally or ingested through foods rich in vitamin C and E, these boost not only the body’s immune system, but the antioxidant levels in the skin, which in turn help turn back the clock on aging. Applied topically, you can enjoy the benefits of these vitamins as they penetrate and treat the skin directly.
- Glycolic acid: This alpha hydroxy acid acts as an exfoliant. Because a build-up of dead skin cells adds to the look of dull skin, glycolic acid is an extremely valuable ingredient in sloughing off and away those dead skin cells so your skin looks bright and rejuvenated.
All skincare regimens take some time before you begin to see results, but if a faster route to bright and youthful skin is what you’re after, you may want to consider Dr. Elizabeth Roche’s DermaPeel. This safe and effective procedure has three steps in its treatment, after which your complexion will feel brightened and refreshed. The three treatment steps do the following:
- Dermaplaning: The first step of the treatment, this is mechanical exfoliation using a thin blade to skim the surface of the skin. It helps free up dull and dead cells and improves your skin texture and tone.
- Chemical peel: Enzymatic exfoliation by applying an alpha hydroxy acid, such as glycolic or lactic, this step of the treatment clears pores of impacted dirt, debris, and dead cells. This step may also include manual removal of deep blackheads.
- Cryotherapy: Finally, the treatment uses super cooled carbon dioxide to immediately relieve inflammation and cool the skin. This also helps shrink the pores and tighten the skin.
We customize our DermaPeel treatment to your age, skin concerns, and desired goals. The DermaPeel is effective for deeper skin problems, and you may desire multiple sessions over time to achieve your desired results.
Microdermabrasion
Microdermabrasion is another skin brightening treatment we offer that may be right for you. It’s non-invasive, non-chemical, and the initial results are immediate, although you will continue to see the benefits as you continue to complete the treatments — usually in a series of five to twelve sessions.
Microdermabrasion involves gently exfoliating your skin with sterile micro-crystals, which are subsequently suctioned off — along with the sloughed off dead skin cells. Best of all, the microdermabrasion treatment isn’t just for your face. This technique can be used all over the body to improve skin tone and reduce skin dulling.
We’d love for you to contact us. Call our office if you have any questions about our skin brightening procedures and treatments and we are happy to answer any questions personally. Dulling skin isn’t something you just have to accept and live with you. You can reverse this and enjoy bright, youthful skin once more.