Freckles

Freckles are not harmful, or a sign of illness. They are just melanin rich pigment cells that are contained within the skin. They are usually light brown in color and very small, but sometimes they overlap, so they look much bigger.

Being outside in the sun makes them darker. In fact, some people’s freckles tend to fade away in winter, and reappear in summer. More people with fair complexions have freckles than those without.

If you want to avoid skin discoloration, the first and the most important thing you need to do, is to avoid sun exposure, and wear sunscreen when you are in the sun. This way, your body will not need to produce more melanin, which is the substance that causes your skin to darken.

Home Remedies for Freckles:

Skin Lightening:

Since melanin is produced in the outer layers of skin, and that is where your freckles are, you might want to consider skin lightening and peeling. Hydroquinone is a very popular treatment, but tends to be irritating to the skin.

Kojic acid, discovered in Japan in 1989, is a natural product derived from a fungi. It is gentle on your skin, while it penetrates the upper layer of skin cells to inhibit the formation of melanin, it is very effective in treating freckles or skin discolorations.

Alpha Hydroxy Acids help the old skin cells to shed more quickly. When the outer, melanin bearing cells are sloughed off, the darker skin cells are gone, and that usually makes freckles lighter and less noticeable.

Diligently protecting your skin after any of these treatments is essential. You should apply SPF cream every day, and if you wear foundation makeup, choose one with sun protection in it. If you fail to protect your skin, your body will seek to protect this new skin, by speeding melanin to it, and you will have more and darker freckles as a result.

Remember that once you begin a regimen to remove, or lighten, your freckles, you have to continue that regimen, or the freckles will return.

Makeup:

Though most people find freckles appealing, the easiest way to deal with unwanted freckles is proper makeup techniques.

Choose a foundation make up, concealer, and powder close to your own skin tone. On freshly washed skin, apply concealer, lightly, to the freckles.

Apply foundation with a damp makeup sponge, and follow with a light dusting of powder.

Vitamin A and C:

Vitamin A and C boost defenses to the sun’s rays. You can try lemon juice, lime juice, or apricot and cucumber masks.

Buttermilk, applied to clean skin with a cotton ball is said to be lightening, and milk of magnesia dabbed on with a cotton ball is a soothing facial for magnesium thirsty skin.

Make keeping your skin healthy and beautiful your main priority, and before you know it, even those with the most freckles will usually see them fade away over time.