Skinprint.com

An important aspect in maintaining beautiful skin is keeping even skin tone.  As you can see in the picture above skin with even coloration tends to look better. The root cause of uneven skin tone can be of multiple sources.  It can range from simple accumulation of dead skin cells on the surface of the skin, pigmentary changes in skin including sun damage, hormonally based spotting and naturally occurring melanin banding, and redness from rosacea and generalized chronic irritation responses.

Exfoliation

Dead skin cells which are not removed from the skin are one of the easiest ways to improve skin tone.  Exfoliation techniques include: topical exfoliant products, chemical peels, micro-dermabrasion, laser ablation and derma-planing.  The choice of these is important relative to how much needs to be removed versus downtime. A word of caution; don't use topical products with "walnut shells",  "peach pits" or any other sharp exfoliants.  They tend to "micro-ablade" the skin which is like rubbing sand on glass...the skin will get duller.

Pigmentation Issues

As previously discussed pigmentation can be from mulitple sources.  If you have sun damage, there is only one ingredient or process that will completely remove it....endonuclease.  Melanin banding which is a completely inherited trait  (smooth darkness around the eyes and lower mouth which darkens with age) can be managed with topical lighteners to give a much more even look to the entire face.  The active ingredients would be chosen based on the presentation of the banding pattern.  Hormonal pigmentation like Melasma can be tricky but can be managed with topicals and laser therapy.

Redness

Again, chronic redness can be from mulitple sources.  The most common is rosacea which is a chronic reddening of the skin which can be made worse by caffeine, wine and stress.  There are several types of rosacea which may include a combination of redness with papules and pustules and capillary involvement.  An important note**:  In our clinic about 50% of the international cases which have been diagnosed as rosacea are actually excessive bacterial build up on the skin.  When this happens the bacteria reactions with skin oils to produce and irritant called short chain fatty acids which are a skin irritant.  This gives rise the the chronic redness.  We manage this with a simple anti-bacterial wash.

Bottom Line.....figure out what type of uneven tone you have and address it with the right combination of products and services and your skin with be Beautiful!