A lot of people ask me: “What should I use for my melasma?”

If you are tired of spending big $$$ on products that overpromise and underdeliver, the following skincare tips make your skin brighter, smoother, healthier and leave your bank account in the black.

1 Cleansing

Oil Cleansing has become my favourite cleansing method, because it gets rid of make-up and soot from outdoor air without leaving the skin dry.

Important is the right technique and the right oil for your skin type:

• Massage oil of your choosing onto your face. The hands and face must be kept free of water at this stage.
• Wet a soft cloth with very warm water and wipe everything off.

The Oils

Dry skin

All nut oils including coconut oil. Also, olive and avocado oil are great.

Oily & acne prone skin

Jojoba oil—a bit more expensive but the only oil that will definitely not clog your pores.

Tip:

Organic oils from the supermarket will do it. Choose a very soft cloth and wipe gently!

2 Moisturizing

Melasma is an inflammatory skin condition and needs TLC.

The focus is barrier repair and anti-inflammatory ingredients.

Some of the best ingredients for melasma are:

Licorice root—anti- inflammatory & brightening

Frankincense—brightening

German Chamomile–anti-inflammatory

Rose (Rosa damascena) —a high vibrational plant—perfect for skin healing

Skincare Brands & Products

LUMENESSENCE Face oil by Ecvilibria with liquorice root, rose, frankincense and German chamomile—A ready to use product and DIY recipe available soon.

BEST SKIN EVER FRANKINCENSE by Living Libations.

3 SPF

The safest sun protection is shade and zinc-based products (including mineral make-up). I know zinc suncreens are sticky and many leave a white coat.

But, there is no chemical sunscreen that doesn’t have questionable filters in them. Most (if not all) chemical filters are hormone disruptors.

Remember, melasma is a symptom of hormone imbalance. You don’t want to add to the problem.

Best to avoid direct sun during peak hours, and wear a wide-brim hat.

Clean Sunscreens

Smidge(available in NZ) and Sky&Sol(a tallow based clean sunscreen/US-based)—are two examples. Health food stores usually have good sunscreens too. Alternatively, make your own mineral sunscreen to be sure it meets your standards.

4 Exfoliation

Please avoid over exfoliation!

Peeling away your “dead” cell layer makes your skin sensitive to the environment, which triggers more pigmentation. If you must because your skin feels like the back of an elephant, I encourage to try this:

Save the $ and rub the fruit peel of your choosing on your cleansed face, leave for 5–15 minutes and rinse off thoroughly.

Mango, paw paw and pineapple are loaded with enzymes. In fact many “fancy-pants” exfoliators use dried fruit powders.

These exfoliations are intense. Please don’t do them on sensitive skin (redness and heat alert)!

Tip:

Oil cleansing is already gently exfoliating.

5 Masks

Clay masks are detoxifying (and exfoliating). Perfect to draw impurities from tissues that melanin likes to hold onto.

The flesh of a fresh aloe vera plant is soothing, hydrating and anti-inflammatory. Perfect for stressed melasma skin.

Raw honey is hydrating, calming and deeply healing. Perfect for any skin.

6 Massage

Detox and nourishment are the two cornerstones in melasma healing.

Massage does both! If done gently, it helps lymph flow and detox.

If done with slightly more pressure, it stimulates the blood flow and the nourishment with healing nutrients, antioxidants and oxygen.

Cupping is great too!

Tip:

Please use face oil to avoid rubbing and stretching.

Lastly, you may think, where is the vitamin C serum in your recommendations? Isn’t that supposed to brighten? Yes, it is. Although, there are problems with vitamin C.

It is a very unstable vitamin and water-soluble. Therefore, needs to be packaged in a specific way for effective delivery and this comes with a price tag.

Your skin gets vitamin C through the blood from the food you eat. When choosing to get vitamin C from your food, you bypass these problems easily and can spend that money on mor exciting things.

Also, because of its chemistry, it is usually formulated in water-based skincare products. I don't believe in water-based products anymore. Again, hydration is an inside job coming from basic self-care like eating, moving, resting, etc. Your skin needs to have a strong, lipid rich barrier to hold the moisture inside. Face oils are doing a better job keeping the moisture inside than hyaluronic-based serums that draw water from the deeper skin layers.

If you still want a vitamin C skincare product, Miod skincare has you covered. They developed the amazing, waterless vitamin C serum VITAMIN C ELIXIR.

All their Australian-made products are divine and uphold strong ethics. I vouch for them; have used their products when I had my own studio.

And overall, true melasma healing is an inside job. The tips on the slides help to improve your skin texture, brighten slightly and support skin healing but won't make your melasma go away.

If you would like to be notified when Lumenessence is available again or when the recipe is published, please leave me your email address in the Send a Love Letter section below and you are the first person to know.