Hooray, March is here and that means Spring is approaching with sunshine and lovely clear blue skies. No-one wants to head into the warmer months with lacklustre skin - you want your skin to be the best it can possible be. Facialist and beauty journalist, Dija Ayodele talks about dealing hyperpigmentation and how to deal with it and how to avoid blemishes and breakouts.

The Building Blocks

For starters to avoid actually getting the uneven skin tone, it’s important to keep skin spot free. It’s elementary stuff but keeping your skin clean, hydrated and moisturised with the correct skin type product are the building blocks of good topical skincare. If you’re predisposed to oily skin you want products that deep cleanse and detoxify. Clay cleansers like Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip are brilliant.

If you’re on dry side you want products that moisturise to keep skin supple - Bodhi & Birch Rosa Rosa range soothes the driest of skin. All skin types need hydration, to date my favourite and most recommended is Indeed Labs Hydraluron, closely followed by Vichy Aqualia Thermal Dynamic Hydration Serum which gets bonus points for being suitable for sensitive skin.

The Cornerstones

Don’t be afraid of exfoliating liquid acids (Alpha Hydroxy Acids) - I call them toners, but these bad boys ramp up your skincare and day after day they help with cell turnover to reveal smoother and clearer skin. Definitely a must if hyperpigmentation is an issue. I have so many favourites but my two constants are - Biologique Recherché P50 and REN Clarimatte Clarifying Toner. Both at varying degrees of strength but deliver a refined and refreshed skin tone.

Serums are the work horses of topical skincare. They overhaul, brighten, tighten, plump and smooth. There are ones that do a single job or ones that attack on multiple fronts. I love Sunday Riley Good Genes Treatment - the price has the ouch factor, but it’s so good with brightening my complexion even magazine editors ask me if I’ve had work done. If you’re on a budget, S5 Skincare Illuminate Serumalso effectively brightens the skin.

Get into the habit of using face oils and facial massage. Oils provide deep hydration and massage dislodges toxins and gets your lymph flowing to move waste. Massage action breaks down the areas of localised hyperpigmentation. Trilogy Rosehip Oil is lovely to massage with and has plenty of healing properties.

Perfect Boosters

Vitamin C is renowned for brightening the skin, preventing environmental damage and improving collagen production. Available as powder or crystals, you can add to moisturisers and serums to turbo charge their performance. It’s important you use the purest form L- ascorbic acid as that they only form skin absorbs readily. Cosmedix Pure Cis amongst the best. Vitamin A (Retinol) pep up the skin by encouraging faster cell turnover in the top layer of skin. This means that rogue pigmented cells are shed to reveal clearer skin underneath. It’s very clever indeed. Skinceuticals do Retinol Hyper Pigmentation Corrective Creams in three different strengths from 0.3% to 1%.

An Inside Job

Diet and skin go hand in hand. You are what you eat and eventually what goes in your mouth will show in your face. Skin looks and feels aged through constant attack from free radicals. This also slows down cell turnover, which in turn keeps blemishes and scars present for longer. A diet rich in greens, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and anti oxidants will protect skin from free radical activities and hopefully reduce breakouts in the first place. It’s not a given, but it’s definitely worth a try as there’s no point eating junk and getting fat anyway.

This year, I’ve promised myself to eat a more alkaline based diet, so I’m reading a lot around juicing and foods with low or no acid content which can inflame the skin. I think returning to a more green diet would be beneficial for any skin type. The Honestly Healthy books by Natasha Corrett are a good starting point for help with advice and recipes. If you’ve never thought about colonic hydrotherapy, now is the time. Rid your body of toxins and stubborn waste and it will show on your face!

A Professional Approach

Depending on the severity of reakouts and hyperpigmentation, you could also consider seeking professional salon treatments. I’m not talking about regular deep cleanse facial, but perhaps a peel, derma rolling or even blue light therapy. I’m not a big fan of microdermabrasion as it can thin and tear skin when overused. There are many excellent clinics, but do your research and go for always go for quality over price when it comes to electrical treatments.

Fake it

Clearly, hyperpigmentation is not going to disappear in a day. Sadly it can be a work in progress, but until then there are great concealers that can be used. Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer is everything - a concealer, a foundation or mixed with moisturiser it’s a tinted moisturiser.

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