Storytime

Melasma has been a skin condition that has been getting a bit more attention than it usually enjoys due to its appearance and discussion via several beauty vloggers on YouTube recently.  It usually appears on women in their late 20s to 30s due to a variety of factors: hormonal contraception, sun exposure and pregnancy aka the "pregnancy mask" people speak of as it is usually on the face and is driven by hormones which undergo changes in the body when a woman is pregnant.  I have some mild melasma myself so I was interested in what makeup can do about it for me and for my readers.

Beauty Guru

Melasma is a harmless tan to brown/grey skin discoloration of the pigmentation of the skin due to the factors I listed above.  It can vary in size, location and strength of color.  I have melasma on my top lip right side which I only recently noticed and under my bottom lip on either side of my chin.  It is very hormone driven and I have been taking the contraceptive pill for over a decade, if I stopped taking it the melasma may disappear.  It is incredibly variant in how it affects people, mainly women though probably from the hormones.


To prevent or maintain melasma from worsening it is highly advisable to wear High SPF 30+ sun cream daily and reapplying every four hours if heavily sweating or in and out of water daily no matter what you are doing.  I wear suncream all over any exposed body parts and BB cream with SPF etc on face.  The sun we get incidentally walking to the shop, hanging clothes outside, gardening are when we usually aren't protected from the sun because it is not as obvious as going to the beach or the swimming pools. 

Skincare preparations can assist you with the appearance of melasma.   I think it is best to see a dermatologist for official diagnosis and to obtain the right products with the right active ingredients but if you want to try and treat it yourself there are some good products out there and that are reasonably priced.

The ingredients you need to look for when buying products that can reduce melasma are:

• Hydroquinone: This medicine is a common first treatment for melasma. It is applied to the skin and works by lightening the skin. You will find hydroquinone in medicine that comes as a cream, lotion, gel, or liquid. You can get some of these without a prescription. These products contain less hydroquinone than a product that your dermatologist can prescribe.

• Tretinoin and corticosteroids: To enhance skin lightening, your dermatologist may prescribe a second medicine. This medicine may be tretinoin or a corticosteroid. Sometimes a medicine contains 3 medicines (hydroquinone, tretinoin, and a corticosteroid) in 1 cream. This is often called a triple cream.

• Other topical (applied to the skin) medicines: Your dermatologist may prescribe azelaic acid or kojic acid to help lighten melasma.

• Procedures: If a topical medicine does not get rid of your melasma, a procedure may succeed. Procedures for melasma include a chemical peel (such as glycolic acid), microdermabrasion, and dermabrasion. A dermatologist should perform these procedures. New skin problems can occur when the person who gives the treatment does not tailor it to the patient’s skin type. 
• The above ingredient information is directly taken from  Melasma Treatment Ingredients

Melasma Treatment Products

If you wish to treat your melasma at home the following products are good options at various price points:

• Alpha Skin Care Dual Action Skin Lightener $10.99 USD 0.85 fluid ounces
• Olay Pro X Even Skin Tone Spot Fading Treatment $39.99 USD 1.30 fluid ounces
• Kate Somerville Daily Discoloration Perfector Corrective Moisturiser $80.00 2 fluid ounces
• Dermadoctor Immaculate Correction Potent Hydroquinone Free Skin Brightener $62 1.70 fluid ounces
• Epicuren Discovery Skin Lightener Balancing Cream $29.00 USD 0.50 fluid ounces 

Makeup to Camouflage

If you have fair to medium colored skin then those color correctors in peach to orange are what you need to blend the melasma discoloration into the skin before you cover up with your foundation or BB Cream etc.  The only one I have tried is the Smashbox peach cream color corrector.  I simply pat it on the affected area and I don't completely blend it in as I need it to be a covered not blended.  Just soften the edges so its not just a blob of product.  The peach cream is great in my opinion it conceals my melasma wonderfully.

• Smashbox Color Correcting Sticks $23 US 0.12 ounces product
• Urban Decay Naked Skin Color Correcting Fluid $28 US 0.16 ounces product
• Becca Backlight Targeted Color Corrector  $30 US 0.16 ounces product

If you are like me and choose to continue to take the contraceptive pill; then you may always have the issue of having melasma due to the hormonal activity and sun exposure despite suncream.   I am lucky mine is mild and merges with my freckles so it is not very obvious to others.

I hope this post is helpful to those who read it.

Thankyou for reading.
Image via webmd.