I received a message from a reader who desired some advice about healing her hyperpigmentation. If you suffer from acne, sun spots, or have a skin tone abundant in melanin, then hyperpigmentation can be an issue and extremely frustrating. The more that I’m online doing research on healing herbs and oils for skin along with watching women share their skin care journeys on YouTube, I am becoming more and more aware that having a clear complexion is very important, and many are struggling and obsessing over it.
I have observed myself obsess over my skin especially since being under the microscope of the performance industry. I’ve learned over the years that less is more with skin care, and I no longer keep a consistent specific skin care regimen with three products morning and night like I used to. (I’ll get more into detail about my new skin care regimen in another article.) Also giving yourself a serious break from wearing makeup so your skin can breath is extremely important.
One major thing that I would like to add is that as technology has improved over the years, we have also gained a new false idea of what perfect skin looks like. Every professional image that we see in magazines and advertisements has been airbrushed to perfection. Along with airbrushing, the amount of makeup used on the models is unknown in the photos as well. So below is my reader’s message as well as my response.
Hi Dawn,
I have EXTREME hyperpigmentation all around my face. I’m so self-conscious about it and never go to family gatherings since there is always somebody who has to make a comment about it. I’ve been to the dermatologist and they can’t seem to prescribe any good medication without hydroquinone. My skin is also very acne prone. What do you suggest I use? I want to be confident when I walk out of the house not silently brooding and hiding my face.
Hi Anonymous,
You deserve to feel good in your skin and for starters determining what is causing you to continue to have acne prone skin is what I’d suggest before looking into topical treatments for the hyperpigmentation, otherwise the cycle just continues. Please take some time to discover if your acne is caused by stress, nutrition or hormone imbalance, contact dermatitis from chemical products, dehydration, etc. I wrote this article about looking deeper into skin issues.
Next I would look at what you are currently using for skin, hair, and body care, and also check some of the ingredients that I avoid specifically. I used to have each ingredient in this list linked to The Cosmetic Database with tons info, yet they changed their website links. If you have any questions about an ingredient Google it. Tons of information about ingredient toxicity will come up and some of the ingredients may cause contact dermatitis and acne.
In general, if you can’t pronounce the ingredient in a beauty product not including scientific plant names, and have no idea what it is, please avoid the product.
I’d like to say that traditional doctors have all the answers, yet I personally prefer a holistic approach with herbs and natural ingredients topically as well as organic herbs and food to heal internally. I greatly respect Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine because they treat the body naturally versus offering chemical ointments and prescription drugs which only are used to treat symptoms. Holistic doctors can help you find the root cause of any physical symptoms of imbalance such as acne.
Our happiness is the key to allowing our body to relax and heal.
Look into your current lifestyle and reclaim the happiness and freedom that you deserve by taking the very best care of yourself as possible. Organic foods and natural beauty care, good sleep, peaceful activities whether it’s just a walk in nature or even yoga to relieve stress, and anything that brings you joy will also help balance out your body and therefore your skin. Our bodies react to our emotions more than we think.
For skin care look into doing less versus too much. Find ONE product that your skin likes and stick to it.
Your skin may be stressed from too many topical treatments and intense skin care regimens. Your skin may need a good and long break. If you have some time off from work or can stay in possibly try doing water only cleansing for your skin for two days and give it a break after you initially remove makeup. Therefore wear no makeup for those days and only wash your face with water. Use distilled or filtered water if possible. If you need moisture try aloe vera if you have no sensitivities to it. Do a patch test if unsure. You could also try a rose hydrosol for moisture. Avoid vegetable glycerin in hydrosols until you know exactly what is ailing your skin as well. Simple and single ingredients is important during this time of discovery. Also these two days will be like giving your skin a holiday from skin care regimens and makeup, so also give your mind a vacation as well and stay out of the mirror.
When switching to a very simple skin care regimen your skin my also have a transition period just as our hair has a transition period when no longer using chemical hair care. In the end your skin will thank you.
Once your skin has had a break, begin to learn your skin’s needs versus simply attacking the “problem” areas. How is your skin imbalanced? Is it flaky and in need of a gentle exfoliation? Is it extremely oily from the overproduction of sebum from irritating products? Is your skin dehydrated feeling dry and tight, yet still producing tons of oil? Is your skin a combination of these things?
Once you have a better idea what is going on with your skin you can then choose simple ingredients that suit the imbalance to bring your skin back into balance. My skin is no longer oily since I’ve began oil cleansing. I use natural oils with at least 50% linoleic acid, low in oleic acid, and rich in omega 3 fatty acid because they are best for acne prone skin and dissolve the oils that clog pores. (Read more about oils specifically for acne prone skin here.) Finding the right oils for your skin is really important and can take time. I also have greatly minimized my skin care regimen so that my skin has less to react to.
Our skin also has the ability to balance itself which is why I believe it is very helpful to literally leave it alone which is why I suggest a makeup free and water only washing period.
I hope this information helps you, and here are three more articles with natural treatments specifically for hyperpigmentation. Use your intuition on what natural treatment to try. Please try only one thing at a time so you know what is working and what isn’t. If you’d like even keep a journal so that you have notes to compare. Also try to avoid wearing makeup as much as possible especially if you are at home.
Soften Hyperpigmentation Naturally–10 Natural Solutions
DIY Papaya Enzyme Facial Mask
DIY Ayurvedic Turmeric Facial Mask
Best wishes,
Dawn Michelle
I took the photo above during my recent holiday in Maui, and I must say that this flower is no less beautiful because of the brown spot on one of the petals!
(Image by Dawn Michelle)
rachael says
I feel your pain! I have bad acne that turned into HORRIBLE acne when I was pregnant and everything left a scar. Since I’m still breastfeeding I haven’t tried microderm and have been hesitant to use typical acne products. I found this website a couple of months ago and decided to ditch all of my products except the moisturizer. I now use honey and rhassoul clay as a cleanser, green tea and apple cider vinegar as a toner, and aloe vera gel and tea tree oil as an acne treatment. I also do the tumeric mask once a week. The tumeric mask is absolutely amazing! The scars have faded quite a bit. I still breakout but it’s nowhere near as bad as it was a few months ago and at least I’m using healthy, inexpensive products. Plus they’re soooo much fun to make 🙂
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Rachael,
I’m so happy that you’ve found the blog and a simple all natural skin care regimen that works for you! The turmeric mask is pretty amazing isn’t it? Best wishes with everything and thanks so much for sharing!
Tsani says
Hi Dawn,
I ditched all conventional products about 5 years ago, and since then I`m using clay for cleaning my face, oil for moisturizing, honey and yogurt masks… But I have new problem, except acne now I have to deal with those under skin pimples. I don`t know what to do! They are mostly on my chin,but really stubborn. I tried steaming, exfoliation… and nothing. Please help me with natural remedy for this! Thank you!
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Tsani,
Pimples/acne in the chin area are usually hormonal. I have also experienced hormonal acne on my chin. It can happen around extreme times of stress or at that time of the month. I’ve read that it can also be caused by excess “bad estrogens” in the body which can accumulate from pollution, plastic, etc. I am in the midst of doing some research on it as we speak and will write about it in another article soon.
Best,
Dawn Michelle
Daisy says
Recently broken out like crazy because I started eating healthier and took myself of off birth control but my skin is going crazy! It feels like the oils I use aren’t penetrating and I am a sea of black heads! Is there any moisturizer you recommend that is not an oil?
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Daisy,
What oils have you been using? Are they high in linoleic acid? Also since you mentioned just getting off birth control is sounds like your are experiencing some major hormonal acne. If not hormonal acne, your liver may be asking for a good detox. I always think it is good to approach acne and breakouts from a multifaceted view versus looking for a cosmetic solution alone.
Also for a good moisturizer look at some of the 100% Pure Products. They are one of my favorite cosmetic companies! They have a Pomegranate Moisturizer which has some phenomenal ingredients although I have not tried it myself yet. Please keep me posted and best wishes!
Lisa says
Have you ever tried castille soap for your face?
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Lisa,
Castile soap is extremely alkaline for skin and hair. Although I’ve tried it in the past many years ago it dried my skin out and created an imbalance with oil production. The pH of products is very important for both our skin and hair. You can read more on it here.
Hope this helps!
Jessica says
Hi Dawn!
My boyfriend had nearly flawless skin until two years ago. Ever since, he’s been trying everything he could- from using every medication out there for acne recommended by his dermatologists to drowning himself with fish oil and cod liver oil, which his body didn’t quite have the best reaction to. Green vegetables made a tremendous difference with his skin but they are not enough.
I’ve been searching for natural topical treatments and diy facial masks but it hasn’t been so easy to find something my boyfriend will be excited to try. After many pleases and “c’mon”, I finally convinced him to try using coconut oil at night. It helped with some of his acne but they’re still there along with his hyperpigmentation.
Right now, I am contemplating whether I should make him try licorice extracts for his hyperpigmentation. This product is fairly new to me and I want to make sure if this is something he can experiment with without any harsh or negative reactions from his skin.
If you have any other suggestions for his acne, hyperpigmentation, and scars, it would be greatly appreciated!
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Jessica,
Skin aliments can be so frustrating and it is so awesome that you are researching natural solutions for your boyfriend. The first thing that came to my mind when reading your comment was asking your boyfriend what major change happened two years ago that may have been extremely jarring or stressful. Our skin is an indicator of ease or dis-ease that may be occurring within our body and from my own experience can also be emotionally related. Louise Hay speaks of acne as “small outbursts of anger” and our emotions have a great deal of influence on our skin and heal overall.
In this article I link to other helpful articles on skin and emotions, looking at skin from a multifaceted system versus only topically, 10 natural solutions to hyperpigmentation, oils high in linoleic acid (major discovery for me), while also greatly suggesting that you give your skin a break from any and all skin care regimens for a few days and only use water to cleanse with before trying anything new.
The topical ointments for acne that are over the counter and prescribed in most cases create further imbalance with our skin and are temporary relief which is why we have to try a million different things with frustration. They don’t even closely touch on the root cause of acne which is different for everyone. Stress, anger, hormonal imbalance, irritation from chemical products, poor diet consisting of processed foods and high amounts of sugar and caffeine, a lack of exercise, the list goes on and on. Please take a moment to check out these articles that I also linked in this reply and know that an overall evaluation along with easing up on treating the skin will hopefully help you. Please also keep me posted on your progress.
Best wishes always!
Joy says
Found a cleanser for my grand daughter that has hemp oil as 1st listed product, but also has jojoba oil. She’s in her teens & has the odd spot. Having read your wisdom on oils higher in linoleic (rather than oleic) being better for skin prone to spots, might this cleanser still be OK? Thank you. I’m really pleased to have found your website, it makes such good sense. I too like the look of the 100% Pure fruit based cosmetics & had thought of trying their concealer for my grand daughter to use occasionally. Thanks again.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Joy,
I’ve only been using oils high in linoleic acid for my facial care. It’s hard to say exactly what the balance of oleic and linoleic acid would be in a store bought cleanser. Using only high linoleic oils for skin care has really made a big difference for me I hope that it will also be helpful for your granddaughter. Best wishes!
Mina says
Hi Dawn,
So glad I came across your blog. Loving everything that I am reading. I am slightly confused with the order of products to use esp with face masks. Do I “cleanse, tone, face mask” or “cleanse, mask and then tone”?
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Mina,
When creating your own skin care regimen try to do as little as possible. If I were to do a facial mask, I usually would do it after cleansing and just moisturize after. On the days that I’m not doing a mask I would use a toner. With my current skin care regimen, I skip using a toner all together.
If the toner you are using is a floral mist/hydrosol like rose water, then you can tone after using your mask. If your toner is a more potent one, then maybe use it on other days as not to do too much to your skin at one time. I hope this makes sense and is helpful.
Best wishes!
Devon says
Dawn Michelle,
I struggle with acne and it has gotten worse as I have gotten older. As a teen I had it pretty bad but I started using proactive which helped but then stopped working. Over the past 8 years, my skin cleared up on its own and would only break out at that time of the month. Last year my face and body got so bad with acne that I didn’t want to leave my home. It has gotten a lot better since I started using castor oil as a cleanser and a moisturizer. I also use other all natural products for my skin. But I still have break outs, not nearly as bad and I have my confidence back. Although my face is decently clear, my back is not. I exfoliate and moisturize but I am not sure what else I can do. I don’t shower with scalding hot water and I make sure to rinse with cooler water to close my pores. I tried looking through your regimen for body care. After I read your blog, I am going to try Organic Pumpkin seed oil and see if that helps with my remaining break outs.
Any advice?
Thank you
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Devon,
I share all the ways that helped me clear my skin in this article. Diet and digestion play a huge role in the appearance of our skin. I hope that the information shared will be helpful for you. Have patience with the healing process and best wishes!
sindi khumalo says
Really need help with hyperpigmentation all over my face especially on my forehead and both chicks.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Sindi Khumalo,
Please take the suggestions in this article and also look at the ingredients of the skincare and makeup that you are using so that they aren’t filled with chemicals and further irritating your skin. Healing hyperpigmentation takes time so be very patient with the process. At the end of this article are three links to natural remedies for hyperpigmentation. Choose one that works for you and be consistent with it as your skin heals. Using very gentle cleansers is important too. Harsh drying facial cleansers and scrubs irritate the acid mantle of your skin which makes it take even longer for your skin to heal. You can see affordable gentle facial cleansers here. Wishing you the very best!
Dimitris says
Hi Michelle!!!!I want to tell you my story! I use for cleansing a marula soap with 3 ingrendents,after as toner I use a tea tree oil lotion and as moisturizer the day I use pure organic aloe Vera gel and the night I use pure organic pumpkin seed oil..the results are amazing when I use oil high in linoleic acid!But sometimes I have one or two painful pimple…I want to replace marula soap because marula is high in oleic acid!i search for other soaps but have a lot of ingredients and I am afraid that these irritate my skin…can you recommend me any good pure soap for me?i don’t have try the cleansing method because I have super sensitive skin and the fiber cloth may irritate me..expect if I use only my hand with oil and massage my skin…sorry for my English..❤️❤️❤️
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Dimitris,
I don’t use soaps on my face because it is too alkaline and creates imbalance. You can read more on pH and skin care here. You can also find some other simple natural facial cleansers here. Hope this helps!
kate gusto says
Thanks for this post
Dawn Michelle says
You are so welcome Kate Gusto!
Sarah says
Hello!
I am curious if you have heard of geranium oil or frankincense for acne. These are essential oils so I am not sure the difference. I have hormonal acne from PCOS and I have just being using clay, grapeseed oil, and tea tree oil for my skin along with a store bought cleanser just would like to stop using.
Thank you
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Sarah,
Yes both of those essential oils are wonderful! I always add no more than 10 drops of essential oils to 1 ounce of carrier oil. With strong essential oils such as tea tree oil I would suggest much less though.
If you are interested in learning more on healing acne then definitely check out this article on high linoleic oils. I removed all products that were not high in linoleic oils and it helped tremendously. You may also be interested in other ways to address healing acne which I wrote about here, here, and here. I hope this helps!
Kara says
I love your website, I am a huge fan and commend you on all the research & “guinea pig” testing you bring to us. I am new with the oils & find your website, the most helpful thus far. I find learning about the carrier oils and spit Rx’s incredible, keep it coming!
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Kara,
Thank you for stopping by and saying hello! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the site. Was “spit Rx’s” a result of autocorrect? Regardless I so appreciate your kind words and have a beautiful day!
Kelly says
I love the idea of the flower with the brown spot. Yes it is still a beautiful flower.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Kelly,
It is a sweet reminder that beauty doesn’t have to be perfect. I’m glad it resonated with you. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Have a beautiful day!