Ask a beauty editor: What are my best options to even skin pigmentation?

The skincare ingredients to look for, and the clinical treatments worth the money.

Sarah Tarca and Sherine Youssef are Australian beauty editors and the founders of Gloss Etc, a weekly newsletter dedicated to the best beauty reviews, news and tips. With 20 years of experience and a wealth of product knowledge, they’re here to answer beauty questions from Fashion Journal readers each fortnight.

Hi Sherine and Sarah. Now entering my 30s, my main skin concern is sun damage and pigmentation. I’d love to have more even-toned skin without wearing makeup. What should I be including in my skincare routine, and are there any clinical treatments that can actually help reverse this? – Lucia

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Sherine: Friend, same. Pigmentation is my number one, all-time, forever skin bugbear. I honestly don’t mind wrinkles, I just want my skin to be as even-toned as a freshly-painted wall. I do all the things: sunscreen every single day of the year, a UV umbrella if I’m outside, staying in the shade, and my face is still speckled with discolouration. Here are some things I do to try and beat those suckers back:

The best clinical treatments for dark spots and pigmentation

Fraxel laser

I’ve had Fraxel a couple of times and highly recommend it. The gist: a laser causes microscopic thermal damage to the skin, which nudges the skin’s natural repair processes to then expel damaged and discoloured cells. It’s intense, both the experience (you can take painkillers before the session, a numbing gel is applied to the skin one hour prior, and post-treatment, your face becomes mottled, muddy and pixelated, and sheds) and in price (it’s over $1,000). But for me, the clearer skin is worth it. I wrote more about it here and if you’d like a visual reference, here’s what my skin looked like in the days following the treatment. 

Dermalogica Melanpro

Have you heard of Cosmelan? This treatment is kinda like that. The professional peel is chock-full of exfoliating and brightening ingredients, at professional doses, to help dislodge pigmented cells and buff them off. The treatment clocks in at under $1,000, but the post-treatment protocol is its own kind of intense: you must use their cream – and only their cream – for six weeks. No other products at all. I struggled with this part, tbh, but I did it, and there was a noticeable reduction in my pigmentation. Your visual reference is here, and there’s to be no laughing at my cream-pie face, okay? 

The best at-home skincare for dark spots and pigmentation

I do the usual things at home, like using vitamin C serums, exfoliating twice a week, and applying sunscreen every day. And I’ll continue to do so, that’s a solid base to protect skin against future sun damage and fade existing discolouration. But I also recently added a tranexamic acid serum to my routine.

The ingredient has been shown to reduce pigmentation and discolouration but, until late last year, was not approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for sale in Australia without a prescription – that’s because tranexamic is also used during surgery to reduce blood loss.

But thanks to the persistence of SkinCeuticals, who persuaded the TGA to approve the sale of products with 3 per cent or less tranexamic acid, SkinCeuticals Discoloration Defense Dark Spot Corrector is now available here. This serum pairs tranexamic acid with kojic acid (pigment-reducing) and niacinamide (brightening). I’ve started using it with very high hopes. Make me as bright as a lightbulb, please. – Sherine 

Sarah, left, and Sherine from Gloss Etc.

Sarah: I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if you live in Australia you have this concern — the sun is hard to avoid here. And because I’m #blessed, I’ve also had multiple types of pigmentation, including a solar lentigine (AKA an ‘age spot’), melasma gifted to me by my children, and also the run-of-the-mill hyperpigmentation from growing up with a lax relationship with SPF (I hope the TikTok tan line girlies are paying attention).

When to see a dermatologist about pigmentation

The truth is, it’s a long, continual and expensive process to keep it at bay. The second truth is that if you’re serious about trying to nip it in the bud, in my opinion, it’s a job for the professionals, like dermatologists. Not only will they be able to advise the best course of action for your specific skin type and condition, they’ll be able to prescribe products with higher percentages of pigment-combatting ingredients that aren’t available to you over-the-counter. Sorry in advance to your wallet. 

The best skincare ingredients for pigmentation

As for what you can do at home — what Sherine said. For me it’s all about the multi-pronged approach: minimise the pigment I have, then prevent new pigment from forming. For the latter, you want to look at tyrosinase inhibitors, which basically stop melanin from producing. Tranexamic acid is one of these, which is why we’re all so excited about the TGA approving it in Australia, but also kojic acid, azelaic acid, L-Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and hydroquinone (this one is a no-go while pregnant). 

Oh, and sun-safety, always and forever, obviously. 

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