True Radical Honesty From Our Community

Valentine’s Day was fast approaching. People around the world were making plans to impress their would-be sweethearts and surprise their significant others with something lovely.

But the one soul who was supposed to be the busiest of all leaned back in a recliner and stared at the clouds above. Cupid was hopelessly out of ideas.

Simply put, the God of Desire had grown bored of his job. He felt like he had tried every trick in the books to make people fall in love. What fun was there in repeating the same old routine over and over again?

None at all, Cupid thought with a heavy sigh. He let his head flop to the side and found himself staring into a gold-rimmed mirror that floated around in his abode.

He ran his eyes over his golden locks, before stopping to examine his own, divinely sculpted face. The youthful, flawless skin that mortals couldn’t help but love…

Achieving A Divinely Smooth Skin

Suddenly, Cupid leapt up. How could he have been so blind to the obvious? If he were to give people a skin as perfect as his own, they couldn’t help but fall head over heels for each other!

But how could he do such a thing?

Cupid rushed to his work desk and started making plans. Naturally, he would have to infuse his famous arrows with something that would make their target’s skin immaculately desirable. 

But no ordinary love potion would do. Cupid deduced that only the most powerful concoction could work. Something that was prepared from the very core elements of Valentine’s Day — flowers, chocolate, and opposites.

Flowers for Valentine’s Day

The harbinger of love started with the easiest element: flowers. To begin with, there was no more classic a flower for Valentine’s Day than roses. And so, he produced from his inventory of incredible ingredients a bottle of TruSkin Rose Water Toner.

With more than a dozen roses in a single bottle, it was the perfect starting point for gently hydrating and refreshing anyone’s skin. “And the key word here is ‘anyone,’” thought Cupid, as he knew the Rose Water was perfect for any skin type.

He added a few drops of the Rose Water into a small golden mixing pot before moving onto his next ingredient. It had to be something that would fight signs of aging around the eyes and was packed with floral extracts, including sunflower, evening primrose, rosehip, geranium, and honeysuckle. Something like TruSkin Anti-Aging Eye Cream.

With the eye area taken care of, Cupid then required something to defy aging on the entire face, and to unclog pores and soothe irritated skin. He knew just what to use — TruSkin Tea Tree Clear Skin Super Serum contained just the right mix of tea tree, rosehip, lavender, geranium, and ylang ylang extracts for his purposes.

The floral bouquet in his mixing pot was almost complete, but Cupid felt it still needed something more. That’s when it hit him — he could add just a bit of TruSkin Vitamin C Facial Cleanser. It’s floral ingredients, like rosehip oil, would clear anybody’s skin and make it look irresistibly healthy.

The Sweetest Chocolate

With all the flower-based ingredients in place, Cupid turned his attention to chocolate. He pondered for a moment about what to do, before adding a bit more TruSkin Eye Cream into the mix.

After all, it did contain organic cocoa butter. Cupid had no doubt that it would help moisturize the fragile skin around the eye area, giving whomever his arrows hit the perfect lids to bat their eyelashes with.

But to truly get the power of cocoa butter into his creation, Cupid needed something else. His mixture required a secret ingredient no one had ever seen before.

He quickly checked around to make sure no cherubs or any other curious beings were in sight. Then, from a hidden stash he pulled out a container of TruSkin Vitamin C Night Cream.

No mortal soul had ever seen such a cream before — they weren’t quite ready for it yet. But it contained the organic cocoa butter Cupid needed. Combined with Vitamin C, rosehip oil, and organic aloe leaf juice, it was just the thing to moisturize and nourish the skin overnight so that those stung by Cupid’s arrows would look just as radiant the next morning as they had on Valentine’s Day.

Attractive Opposites

With the Night Cream added to the mixture it was time for Cupid to include the final element – opposites. Everyone knows that opposites attract, so it was only natural for Cupid to incorporate such a thing into his concoction.

He began by dividing his mixture into two different containers. He then grabbed the two bottles of TruSkin Day/Night Duo Serums.

To the second container went the Retinol Night Serum. Cupid knew that its Green Tea extracts and Retinol would soothe the skin and support collagen production. After all, who could resist a soft, youthful skin?

Off to Spread the Love

Finally, Cupid’s work was done. He reveled in the moment, admiring his skin-reinforcing love potions. Creating them had been such an obvious idea that he couldn’t believe he’d never thought of it.

There was only one more thing left for Cupid to do. He fetched his quiver and divided his arrows into two bundles – one he dipped into the first mixture, and the other into the second. 

The skin-reviving potions were so powerful that even the magical wood of Cupid’s arrow shafts smoothed out perfectly. The God of Desire smiled to himself, imagining just how amazingly it would work on lovebirds all around the world.

Cupid hung his quiver next to his famed bow and returned to his recliner. He sat back down, but not to mope around. This time, he was all giddy and couldn’t wait for Valentine’s Day to come.

DISCLAIMER: TruSkin recommends always using our products according to label instructions. Cupid might have the divine powers to mix them into one magical lotion, but we mortals should use skincare products one at a time.

No matter who your Valentine is this year, awesome skincare is officially the best gift you could give them.

Without doubt, it’s been a tough year for everybody, so what better time to put a smile on someone’s face than with a fabulous gift for Valentine’s Day? And while roses and chocolates are all well and good, effective skincare offers way more bang for your buck.

So, whether you want to share the love with your mum, sibling, partner or BFF these super popular TruSkin treats promise to brighten up anyone’s day. And far be it from us to dissuade you from employing the ‘one for them, one for me’ rule while you’re shopping. It'd be rude not to, right?

1. Niacinamide Serum

Ideal For: Your Favorite Gal

The newest member of our TruSkin line-up and fast becoming a fan favorite, Niacinamide Serum is a real boost for the skin. Otherwise known as vitamin B3, niacinamide is an effective antioxidant that works hard to fight free radical damage caused by environmental and lifestyle stress. And we all know how stressful life is right now.

Niacinamide also helps strengthen the skin’s natural barrier function and regulates oil production to improve the overall health and resiliency of your skin. Our Niacinamide Serum combines all this with the nourishing powers of vitamin E and hyaluronic acid for the perfect day and night treatment that’s ideal for all skin types. A real winner, your BFF will love.

2. Skin Clearing Charcoal Wash

Ideal For: A Special Guy

Stuck for Valentine ideas for the man in your life? Then look no further than Skin Clearing Charcoal Face Wash which comes packed with activated coconut charcoal. What the heck is activated coconut charcoal? Good question. It’s a super absorbent black powder that’s produced from burning coconut shells and binds itself to toxins, oil and bacteria, then whisks them clean away. This makes it an ideal ingredient for treating oily, combination or acne-prone skin. We've gone one step further, however, and formulated it with soothing aloe, hydrating glycerin and calming lavender essential oil for a cleansing treat that benefits ALL skin types.

Fun fact: one teaspoon of activated charcoal has more surface area than a football field which is why it’s also used in emergency rooms as a quick and effective way to remove ingested poison. Interesting, huh?

3. Daily Facial Rose Water Toner

Ideal For: Treating Yourself

Nothing screams Valentine’s Day more than roses and don’t get us wrong, we’d never turn away a dozen of those red blooms – at any time of the year. But Daily Facial Rose Water Toner offers so much more. As a powerful, yet gentle skincare ingredient, rose water dates back to ancient Egyptian times when it was applied to the skin to help cleanse, heal, hydrate and reduce redness. Rose water also has powerful antibacterial and antioxidant properties and is tolerated by most skin types, often being used to help relieve the symptoms of acne, eczema and dermatitis.

More good news: you won’t find any added nasties in our Daily Facial Rose Water Toner, just pure unadulterated rose petal concentrate. Apply it to damp skin after cleansing to hydrate, heal and lift your skin – as well as your spirits.

4. Retinol Moisturizer

Ideal For: The Skincare Obsessive

Anyone who knows anything about beauty and grooming will be fully aware that retinol is the absolute gold-standard of skincare ingredients. Proven to help improve everything from fine lines and wrinkles, through to skin tone, texture, pigmentation and even acne, retinol is a true icon in the skincare world.

The down side is that retinol can sometimes be a tad drying and irritating for sensitive skin types. And this is where Retinol Moisturizer comes to the rescue. Brimming with vitamins E and B5, plus green tea and hyaluronic acid, it harnesses all the powers of a regular retinol serum, with the added benefits of complete moisturization for all skin types. *Adds five to cart.

5. C-Plus Super Serum

Ideal For: Spoiling Friends And Family

Looking to treat a loved one to a super-charged serum that combines a whole host of cleverly curated skin-loving ingredients? Then C-Plus Super Serum has totally got your back. We’re talking vitamin C, niacinamide, retinol, hyaluronic acid, glycerin, salicylic acid, aloe vera, MSM, the works. And if all those active ingredients make you wonder if this serum will make their (or your!) skin totally freak out, don’t panic because it’s surprisingly gentle. We just recommend applying it two or three times a week to begin with, before upping to every day as the skin acclimates.

C-Plus Super Serum is a real winner for brightening and rejuvenating most skin types while fighting the signs of aging such as fine lines, wrinkles, sagging and hyperpigmentation. And we truly believe that.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Your skin would be nothing without collagen and elastin. So, you should probably know a little bit more about what they are and what they do, right?

Collagen and elastin are constantly written about in the beauty world. In fact, we challenge you to find one, just one skincare article that doesn’t mention them at least once. Bet you can’t. And the reason is simple: collagen and elastin are two of the most important proteins in your skin. In fact, they’re present in all your tissues and organs... but we’ll stick with skin for now. Because that’s what we’re good at, after all;)

What Exactly Is Collagen?

As previously mentioned, collagen is a protein. But it’s not just any old protein. It’s actually the most abundant one in the whole of your body and accounts for between 70 and 80 percent of all proteins within the skin. You’ll find it just underneath the surface of your skin, in the dermis, where it’s produced by a network of cells called fibroblasts.

What's The Function Of Collagen In The Skin?

Collagen provides structure and strength to your skin by acting like scaffolding to hold it all together. Remember how firm and plump your skin was in your teens and early 20s? Yeah, that was all thanks to an abundance of collagen. It's also a major player in maintaining healthy cell turnover which rids your complexion of dulling dead skin cells so new, fresh ones can replace them.

The sad news is collagen production dramatically decreases with age and environmental damage. The sun, of course, is one of the worst offenders, but things like eating too much sugar, smoking and poor sleep all play havoc with your collagen. And these nasties not only affect how much collagen your skin churns out, but also the quality of what it does produce. Dang.

What About Elastin?

Like collagen, elastin is synthesized by fibroblasts in the dermis. It’s the second most abundant protein in your body, but it only makes up around 2 or 3 percent of all proteins found in the skin which is small fry compared to its collagen cousin. This doesn’t make elastin any less important, however. Together, they work like a fine-tuned machine to maintain healthy, youthful-looking skin.

What's The Function Of Elastin In The Skin?

Elastin is about 1000 times more flexible than collagen so, while collagen provides support and strength, elastin gives your skin flexibility and elasticity. It's what helps your skin bounce back into place after you pinch it, for example.

Skin loses elasticity as you get older thanks to a natural degradation of elastin, but those same environmental and lifestyle aggressors also play their part. This is why as you age and are more exposed to the elements, your skin can become thin, loose and saggy.

What Are The Best Ways To Boost Collagen & Elastin In Your Skin?

The good news is all is not lost for your collagen and elastin simply because you’ve hit the wrong side of age 30. In fact, there are plenty of ways to help maintain and even boost your levels.

1. Don’t Let The Sun Beat Down On You

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, the sun is bad news for your skin. Like, really bad. We understand there’s nothing better than the feeling of the sun beating down on your skin, but the damage it causes is just not worth it. UV radiation weakens collagen and elastin fibers, causing them to break down way quicker than normal. And trust us, age does a good enough job of that on its own, so don’t let the sun make things ten times worse. Instead, always protect your skin with a broad-spectrum sunscreen that contains at least SPF 30.

2. Get Plenty Of ZZZs

While your body and brain are asleep, your skin gets super busy repairing and recharging itself. Cells start to turn over quicker and collagen production amps up, big time. It figures, therefore, that if you skimp on your sleep, your levels of collagen and elastin will become seriously affected and your skin will never be able to live up to its full potential. Lack of sleep also produces higher levels of cortisol, the dreaded stress hormone, which breaks down collagen and elastin and welcomes premature aging with open arms.

The answer? Get your eight hours every single night and help your skin hydrate, restore and heal itself as you sleep with a super-charged treatment like our Retinol Moisturizer.

3. Cut Down On Sweet Treats

Simple carbs and refined white sugar? More stuff that might be temporarily good for the soul, but are in fact hell for collagen and elastin. And it’s all because of a process called glycation.

Glycation is when sugars in your bloodstream attach themselves to collagen and elastin and turn into ‘advanced glycation end’ products (AGEs). AGEs have no good qualities, but instead wreak havoc on all that lovely collagen and elastin, weakening them and making them become hard and inflexible. This makes your skin look dull and increases the visible signs of aging like sagging, fine lines and wrinkles.

Reduce your sugar intake by swapping out refined sugar, corn syrup, fruit juices and carbs for more protein-rich foods. Ha, easier said than done, right? OK, then at least try to cut down on the sweet stuff.

4. Protect Your Skin With Antioxidants

When it comes to what you put on your skin, some of the most effective ingredients for boosting collagen production and maintaining levels of elastin are antioxidants such as hyaluronic acid and vitamin C.

How so? Because antioxidants are essential for counteracting damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals are unstable atoms that are created by your skin after exposure to too much sun and pollution. In order to stabilize themselves, free radicals steal electrons from collagen and elastin which causes no end of damage. The good thing about antioxidants, however, is they have the power to donate electrons without losing their stability which allows collagen and elastin to go about their business without fear of being broken down and damaged.

Try our C-Plus Super Serum for a potent antioxidant hit of vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide. Free radicals stand no chance...

The takeaway from all of this? Simple. Look after your collagen and elastin and they will do their best to look after you.  

What’s the deal with vitamins in skincare and do they really work? Here’s what we know about our ABCs…

Drink plenty of water… get a good night’s sleep… don’t forget to take your vitamins. This stuff has been drummed into you for years, but are you aware that topical vitamins are just as important to your skin’s health as the ones you eat?

Skincare ingredients frequently come and go, and some (yes, we’re talking to you snail mucus) just seem downright insane. But in an often confusing beauty world, there are plenty of ingredients that make absolute sense. Hyaluronic acid and glycerin in your moisturizer? Hell yes. Salicylic acid for exfoliating the skin? Count us in.

And then there are topical vitamins. From A through K, vitamins are an essential part of an effective skincare routine and they offer so many benefits to your skin, it’s hard to write them all down in one blog post. But don’t worry, we’re going to nail it because whether you’re looking to brighten and strengthen or nourish and soothe, you’re going to need at least one skincare vitamin in your life.

Here, we talk you through six of the best…

The Anti-Aging Must-Have: Vitamin A

Vitamin A is rarely mentioned on skincare products, but it’s one of the most important and highly effective ingredients in skincare. Confused? Don’t be, you simply know it as retinol – or the prescription version, tretinoin. Penny. Drops.

Retinol and tretinoin are the topical forms of vitamin A and are two of the absolute darlings of skincare ingredients, without question. We know that’s a bold statement, but ask any derm to name their number one skincare ingredient and we bet retinol would come up more than anything else.

When absorbed by the skin, retinol gets converted into retinoic acid which is super smart acid because it’s able to ‘communicate’ with your skin cells to active collagen production and stimulate cell turnover. This offers a whole host of benefits to aging skin, namely reducing lines, wrinkles and dark spots. As a sidenote, it may also be used to treat acne. 

Retinol can be a little irritating if not used wisely, but we combine it with hyaluronic acid in our Retinol Serum to help hydrate the skin as it works. Because we're clever like that.

The Sensitive Skin Solution: Vitamin B3

We love a bit of vitamin B3. So much so that we recently launched a whole new serum dedicated to it in the form of Niacinamide Serum – vitamin B3’s other, more common name.

Vitamin B3 is fast gaining momentum in skincare for its multiple benefits for all skin types. For one, it’s a potent antioxidant so great for limiting damage caused to the skin by lifestyle and environmental aggressors (sun, booze, pollution etc.).

Vitamin B3 also has powerful anti-inflammatory properties which means it’s ideal for reducing redness, swelling and irritation. Couple all this with the fact that it’s very well tolerated by most skin types and you’ve got the perfect ingredient for anyone with sensitive or acne-prone skin. And that’s not all. It may also be a valid option for soothing rosacea or eczema – just remember to always seek expert advice from your skincare professional first.

The Hydrating Healer: Vitamin B5

While we’re on the subject of the mighty B vitamins, we can’t move on without a shout-out to vitamin B5, also known as pantothenic acid or panthenol, the alcohol form of pantothenic acid.

Great for most skin types, vitamin B5 is a humectant like hyaluronic acid and glycerin. This means it has the power to draw water into the skin to help keep it hydrated. But it’s hydrating powers don’t end there, because vitamin B5 is also an emollient, so it not only attracts water to the skin, but it also seals and locks it all in. This is one of the main reasons we use it in our Eye Cream, FYI.

Research also shows that vitamin B5 helps strengthen and heal the skin’s barrier function, making it perfect for aiding in the treatment of sun burn, eczema and itchy skin. Nice work, B5.

The Glow-Getter: Vitamin C

You’ll be no stranger to vitamin C, we’re sure of it. But do you know exactly how darn good this stuff is for your skin? No? Then here we go.

Vitamin C is one of the most popular antioxidants used in skincare. It’s mildly exfoliating, inhibits melanin production and has the ability to help reverse sun damage. This makes it a super popular choice for anyone looking to include a hard-working antioxidant serum in their routine, but particularly for those seeking to help lighten hyperpigmentation and add radiance to their skin.

Vitamin C can be listed in your skincare ingredients in many forms, including l-ascorbic acid, ascorbyl palmitate, sodium ascorbate and sodium ascorbyl phosphate. We know that’s a lot to remember, but just look for some kind of ascorbic/ascorbyl/ascorbate term and you’ll know that's some kind of C vit. BTW, we use sodium ascorbyl phosphate in our vitamin C range because it offers all the benefits with very little irritation. Winner.

The Master Of Moisturizing: Vitamin E

Vitamin E has been used in skincare for 50 years and counting – and as you know, you should never dismiss your elders, right?

Often seen on your ingredients label as tocopherol, tocopheryl acetate or alpha-tocopheryl acetate, vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant that’s naturally produced by your skin where it helps support, strengthen and maintain its overall health.

Levels of vitamin E deplete over time, however, so adding it to your skincare routine is a darn fine idea – especially if you notice your skin getting drier with age. Why? Because on top of its ability to fight free radicals and protect your skin from the sun, vitamin E has awesome emollient properties which means it’s the bomb at helping to repair and smooth cracks in your skin. And anyone with dryness or dehydration will know exactly how annoying and itchy cracked skin can be.

Try our Hyaluronic Acid Serum for a potent moisturizing hit of hyaluronic acid, vitamin C and vitamin E.

The Skin Strengthener: Vitamin F

A member of the omega-6 family, vitamin F is a blend of essential fatty acids, hence the ‘F’. No, honestly, that’s where it gets its name. You see, sometimes skincare really is quite simple…

Vitamin F is also known as linoleic acid and unlike most of our favorite vits, it can’t be produced naturally by the body, so including it in your diet (olive oil and leafy greens will take care of that) and skincare is vital.

So, what are its benefits for your skin? Well, vitamin F promotes ceramide production which are some of, if not the most important components of your skin’s barrier. Ceramides make up around 50 percent of your skin’s composition and basically hold everything together to keep your skin healthy and strong – kind of like the mortar in a brick wall. Like all the other good stuff in your skin, however, ceramides deplete with age, so anything you can do to help keep them replenished is a great shout. Oh hi there, vitamin F.

The Undereye Brightener: Vitamin K

Vitamin K is relatively new to the skincare world and much research is needed to prove its effects on the skin. That being said, it has definite potential – specifically for helping to reduce dark circles around the eyes. And here’s why.

A fat soluble vitamin produced by the liver, vitamin K is also known as phytonadione. It's essential to your overall health and plays an important role in blood clotting. Because of its role within the blood clotting process many skincare experts and manufacturers believe vitamin K can offer similar effects when applied topically to things like bruising, swelling, redness and excess blood that pools under your eyes. Yes, that's the stuff that causes unwanted dark circles.

The jury's still out on vitamin K, but it's one to keep an eye on. No pun intended.

So, what do you reckon? Time to add a vitamin or two to your skincare routine? We think so. 

It's time to wave goodbye to unwanted dark spots that spring up on your face from literally nowhere. Agreed? Then let’s do this.

What a pain in the butt dark spots are. Just when you’ve finally learnt to embrace your crow’s feet and gotten to grips with pesky hormonal acne spots, an unidentified patch of dark skin shows up on your forehead or cheek. What the heck is that all about?

Dark spots are known in the skincare industry as hyperpigmentation and while they’re rarely harmful to your health, they’re super, like super annoying. They’re also extremely common and are caused by an overproduction of melanin – the pigment that gives your skin (as well as your eyes and hair) its color. If you have dark skin and hair, this is because they contain more melanin and if you’re blonde and fair, well, you get our drift.

This is all simple enough, but when melanin production gets a little wayward and unwanted patchy areas of darker-than-normal skin crop up on your face (of all places), things get a little more complicated…

Not All Dark Spots Are Created Equal

There are three main reasons for uneven melanin production: the sun which, frankly, is to blame for a LOT of skin concerns; your hormones (ditto), and some kind of trauma to the skin such as acne spots or a burn. Diagnosing the exact type of hyperpigmentation you have might not be in your skillset, but here’s what you need to know to help you get an idea.

The Sun Spots: Solar Lentigines

You may be under the impression that melanin naturally protects your skin against UV damage and yes, it’s true darker skin is less likely to burn or suffer from photodamage. However, anyone can be affected by sun damage warn experts at the American Cancer Society. If you think, therefore, that you’re actually helping to protect your skin by tanning, think again – when you tan, this is simply a sign that your skin is releasing melanin to try to protect itself. And it can only do so much before your skin inevitably becomes prematurely damaged and shows signs of fine lines, wrinkles and sagging.

In some cases too much sun causes melanin production to become uneven and this is when irregular dark patches appear on the skin, called solar lentigines. According to the Mayo Clinic, solar lentigines are usually small brown, black or gray spots and appear on the most exposed areas of your body such as your face, hands, arms and upper back. Unlike moles they can’t turn cancerous, but if you’re a total sun worshipper watch your back (literally) because these are bound to get you in the end. You have been warned.

The Hormonal Spots: Melasma

Melasma is light brown or gray-ish brown in color and is most commonly experienced on the forehead, around the lips or over the cheeks and nose. It’s usually triggered by an imbalance of hormones which, just like the sun, send your melanocytes (the cells that produce melanin) wild.

According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), women are far more likely to get melasma than men due to hormonal life changes such as pregnancy, menopause, taking birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Melasma is also more commonly seen on people with darker skin tones due to their skin containing more active melanocytes.

The good news is that melasma often fades of its own accord once your hormones balance themselves out, but this is not always the case so it's always wise to treat it as best you can. Oh, and that devilish sun will make it ten times worse. We told you the sun was an evil beast.

The Trauma Spots: Post-Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation (PIH)

Unlike solar lentigines and melasma, post-inflammatory inflammation can be red, pink, brown or black depending on the tone of your skin and the depth of the pigmentation.

PIH happens when your skin becomes inflamed and consequently scars due to some kind of trauma or injury. This trauma can include anything from acne and eczema through to bug bites and burns. You know how experts are always telling you not to squeeze spots or scratch at your eczema? Well, PIH is one of the main reasons why. Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation can also be triggered by improper use of skin treatments like laser therapy or dermabrasion which is why we recommend only ever letting a board-certified skin expert loose with such high-powered treatments on your skin. 

Anyone can get PIH at any time in their lives although it’s most common in darker skin tones. And no prizes for guessing what makes it worse. It begins with an ‘s’ and ends with an ‘n’…

Prevention Is The Best Cure

The Sun: not only does it cause a whole crop of hyperpigmentation issues, but it makes every single kind so much worse. This is why sun protection is the single most important way to improve it.

Invest in a physical sunscreen containing zinc oxide, titanium dioxide or a mixture of both and apply this every day to help prevent sun-induced discoloration. And yes, we mean every single day of the year – even on cold, gray days when you might not feel it, but that sun is still there doing a number on your skin. Not keen on adding yet another step to your daily routine? Then look for a moisturizer, primer or even a foundation that contains a broad-spectrum sunscreen of SPF 30+.

3 Awesome Ways To Treat Dark Spots At Home

High-tech options like professional chemical peels, intense pulsed light treatments (IPL) and microdermabrasion are awesome ways to target dark spots at the doctor’s office, but there are also plenty of effective skincare solutions that have been proven to work. Just remember, the below are all potent, active ingredients so you should patch test all new products first and avoid overloading your skin with too much at once.

1. Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs)

AHAs such as glycolic and lactic acids are great for increasing cell turnover and ridding your complexion of dead, discolored skin cells that may lurk around on the surface of your skin longer than you’d like.

Glycolic acid is ideal for treating melasma in particular, but lactic acid is more moisturizing and better tolerated by the skin. So, take your pick. Or better still, look for a gentle but effective treatment that contains a combination of AHAs like our Eye Cream – perfect for brightening the skin around your eyes.

2. Vitamin C

Including a vitamin C antioxidant serum in your daily routine is another great shout for fading dark spots. How so? Research shows that vitamin C may help decrease melanin synthesis. So, there’s that. Vitamin C is also mildly exfoliating, works hard to minimize redness and helps prevent sun damage by battling damaging free radicals that form in the skin due to overexposure to the sun.

You’re probably well aware of what big fans of vitamin C we are ­– after all, TruSkin was born from our famous Vitamin C Serum. But don’t just take our word for it. Check out the never-ending reviews on Amazon to see what everyone has to say about this amazing, skin brightening formulation.

3. Retinol

Any dermatologist will agree: topical retinoids such as tretinoin (prescription-only) and retinol (over-the-counter) are fabulous for minimizing unwanted discolorations.

Retinoids work by turning into retinoic acid when they’re applied to the skin. Retinoic acid is the active form of vitamin A and is basically the special sauce that ‘communicates’ with your cells to increase turnover, boost collagen and therefore reduce hyperpigmentation. Retinol can also help treat acne and reduce fine lines and wrinkles but that’s a different story for another day.

The Serious Side Of Dark Spots

We don’t like to cause alarm, but some pigmentation issues are not to be treated lightly. Moles that change in color, shape, texture or just start to feel or look wrong should always be checked out by a doctor or qualified expert to rule out serious concerns such as melanoma. Similarly, patches of odd-colored skin that are itchy, dry, start bleeding or become inflamed should also be seen by a professional immediately.

The chances are your discolorations can be easily treated, but better to be safe than sorry, right?

Not sure what to look out for in the search for a kick-ass moisturizer? Well, there are some ingredients your skin could probably live without (cough, parabens). Similarly, others have the kind of moisturizing prowess that will never let you down…

Moisturizers often contain all manner of hard to pronounce and even more impossible to spell ingredients – some of which are absolute winners, and others? Well, not so much. So, how do you separate the wheat from the chaff? Knowledge, dear readers, that’s how. Now, we don’t expect you to gen up on every acid, phosphate and peptide known to humankind, but just a smidge of ingredient knowledge will go a long way to reaching the heady heights of perfectly moisturized skin.

Here are some of the most effective, clinically researched moisturizing ingredients to look out for.

Aloe Vera

The aloe vera plant is made up of over 95 percent water so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to get that as a hydrating skincare ingredient aloe is pretty hard to beat. Aloe also contains polysaccharides and phytosterols which are rich in vitamins and nutrients and work hard to help prevent transepidermal water loss (TEWL). Not sure what TEWL is? Naturally, we’ve got your back: it’s the term used for the amount of water that evaporates from the surface of your skin. The upshot is, you want your TEWL to be low and to do so you need awesome ingredients like aloe vera to help seal moisture into your skin.

Aloe’s also great for treating acne, eczema, rosacea, sunburn and is well tolerated by almost all skin types.

Glycerin

After water and fragrance, glycerin (also known as glycerine or glycerol) is the third most frequently used ingredient in cosmetics. An important component of your skin’s natural moisturizing factor (NMF), glycerin can be produced synthetically or derived from vegetable or animal sources, but don’t sweat, we use kosher vegetable glycerin in our products.

Glycerin works as a humectant, meaning it attracts water from its surroundings then draws it in like a sponge. It figures, therefore, that by applying a humectant like glycerin on a regular basis you automatically increase the levels of moisture available to your skin to help reduce dryness and irritation. Glycerin also has slight keratolytic properties which means it helps soften and shed dead skin cells to increase cell turnover and further improve the skin’s natural barrier function. Is it fair to say that glycerin’s an unsung hero in the world of skincare? Yes, we think so.

Green Tea

Usually praised for its high-powered antioxidant properties, green tea (camellia sinesis) contains a whole host of vitamins and nutrients to help balance and hydrate the skin. Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), for example, works to maintain mucus secretion which regulates sebum production and prevents dryness, cracking and even acne. Meanwhile vitamin E is a powerful emollient that repairs and smooths the skin. More on vitamin E later...

Hyaluronic Acid

Similar to its more unassuming cousin glycerin, hyaluronic acid (HA) is a humectant that sucks water into the skin. Sometimes referred to as hyaluronan on your skincare label, HA can hold up to 1,000 times its weight in water which is darn impressive, don’t you think? Your skin naturally contains a fair amount of HA, but as you age and become more and more exposed to environmental stressors, these levels start to decrease – in fact by the time you hit 40 you could have lost up to 50 percent of the stuff. This is why it’s a smart move to include HA in your daily moisturizing routine.

As a skincare ingredient, HA is formulated to act just like your own which means it rarely causes reactions or irritation. Can we get a round of applause for HA, please?

Palmitates

Palmitates might sound a little scary, but they’re really not. Produced from a naturally occurring fatty acid called palmitic acid, palmitates such as isopropyl, cetyl and ethylhexyl are what’s known in the biz as emollients. Emollients help repair, smooth and seal cracks on the surface of the skin to trap in moisture and strengthen the skin’s natural protective layer. They work especially well in skincare when formulated with humectants like glycerin and hyaluronic acid. Humectants deliver the moisture; emollients seal it all in. Clockwork.

Jojoba Oil

Another effective emollient, jojoba oil is one of our favorite, nutrient-rich oils for dry skin because it’s super light, but packs a real moisturizing punch.

Produced from the seeds of the jojoba plant (or simmondsia chinensis if you’re feeling fancy) jojoba oil is extremely stable meaning it can hold up well under extreme conditions without breaking down and rendering itself, well, useless. Jojoba oil is also very similar in its molecular makeup to your skin’s natural oils – more so than any other oil, in fact. This makes it ideal for balancing sebum production while deeply hydrating your skin and sealing it all in. Triple win.

Lecithin

Lecithin is a naturally-occurring phospholipid that’s most commonly obtained from soybeans, milk, corn or eggs. It’s another member of the skin-smoothing emollient family, but also has emulsifying benefits which means it helps stabilize skincare products that contain both oil and water.

But that’s not all, lecithin also acts as a penetration enhancer to allow other active ingredients in your products to better penetrate the skin. Now, that’s what we call an awesome team player.

Shea Butter

Say hello to yet another awesome emollient ingredient: shea butter. Derived from the nuts of the karite tree, shea butter is super popular in skincare because it’s dope at smoothing the skin without the heaviness you might experience from other pore-clogging, occlusive butters like cocoa.

Shea butter is brimming with skin-loving vitamins and fatty acids, is a rich source of free radical-fighting antioxidants and helps restore balance and hydration to all skin types. And while shea butter is produced from tree nuts, those with nut allergies need not worry because it’s very low in allergy-triggering proteins. Look out for its Latin name of butyrospermum parkii on your skincare products. You won’t regret including this baby in your routine.

Vitamin E

Last, but not least, we have vitamin E, often seen on skincare labels as tocopherol, tocopheryl acetate or alpha-tocopheryl acetate.

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble emollient and humectant rolled into one which means it has a clever way of drawing water into the skin and then holding it there to work its moisturizing magic. Your skin naturally contains a solid amount of vitamin E, but as with HA and glycerin, these levels deplete with age – hence its popularity in skincare for decades.

Vitamin E also has anti-inflammatory and repairing benefits so it’s an excellent choice for sun damaged skin or to help heal scars.