Many blogs, articles, and tip sheets offer suggestions for keeping skin youthful and breakout free. But often the advice doesn’t apply to all skin types. Below are nine skin care tips modified for darker skin that you can share with your patients.
1. Don’t over wash.
Photo courtesy Michele Hill/Wiki Commons
Washing the face once a day to remove makeup, dirt, and bacteria can be helpful to avoid breakouts, especially in acne prone skin. However, it is important to remind patients to avoid over washing, as this may dry out the skin causing increased irritation, and may even cause wrinkles to look more prominent.
Sebum production decreases with age, especially after menopause in women. It may also be decreased in black patients, compared with white patients, as shown in a recent study (Cutis 2004;73:392-396), although the data were not statistically significant.
Patients should exercise caution when applying antiaging products after washing because washing allows antiagers to penetrate deeper, leading to faster results in most skin types, but may also lead to increased irritation and then postinflammatory hyperpigmentation in darker skin.
Gentle cleansers are best, unless the skin is especially acne prone. In this case, anti-acne cleansers with ingredients like salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, or glycolic acid may be useful. To refresh skin, a splash of lukewarm water should do.
2. Apply products with a lower pH.
Studies have shown pH to be lower in darker skin, compared with lighter skin. For darker skin, products that are slightly acidic, such as those that contain mild glycolic acid, can help maintain the skin’s pH balance and maintain homeostasis and barrier integrity.
3. Be UV obsessed.
Photo courtesy of mark wragg/iStockphoto.com.
While the epidermis of darker skin contains more melanin content and has increased melanosomal dispersion than lighter skin—providing increased protection against UV-induced skin cancers and photoaging—UV damage can still occur.
Many patients with darker skin feel they are immune to skin cancer. Patients with darker skin, while diagnosed less frequently with melanoma, die at an increased frequency from the disease because of later diagnosis. Using a sunscreen that is SPF 30 or higher that blocks both UVA and UVB wavelengths is essential.
Patients should be reminded that nothing is more important than wearing sunscreen every day to promote younger-looking skin and prevent skin cancer.
Sunscreens, especially those with a higher SPF, often do not rub in well on darker skin. Using a sunscreen with chemical blockers, or micronized physical blockers (zinc and titanium dioxide), may go on less chalky and rub in more smoothly.
Sun exposure in darker skin also leads to prolonged postinflammatory hyperpigmentation after any skin insult. Even 10 minutes of daily exposure to UVA can cause changes that lead to wrinkles and sunspots in as few as 12 weeks.
Also, advise patients to eat foods that are rich in vitamin D to avoid deficiency.
4. Manage stress.
Emotional upheavals can make a patient’s skin look 5 years older than his or her chronological age. Constant anxiety increases the stress hormone cortisol, which causes inflammation that breaks down collagen. It also triggers a chain of responses that can lead to facial redness and acne flare-ups. To quell inflammation, advise patients to eat antioxidant-rich foods such as berries, oranges, and asparagus.
5. Use a retinoid.
Vitamin A derivatives, such as topical retinoids, speed cell turnover and collagen growth to smooth fine lines and wrinkles and fade brown spots. Prescription-strength retinoids provide the fastest results—your patient should start to see changes in about a month.
To help skin adjust to any redness or peeling, advise patients to apply a pea-size drop to the face every third night, building up to nightly use. Milder over-the-counter versions are gentler, although it can take up to 3 months for users to see noticeable results.
Redness and peeling should absolutely be avoided in darker skin to avoid postinflammatory hyperpigmentation, so retinoids, while helpful, should be used cautiously.
6. Update your routine.
Advising patients to alter just one thing in their regimen every 6-12 months jump starts more impressive improvements in tone and texture. When products are applied consistently, skin slides into maintenance mode after about a year. To keep skin primed for rejuvenation, tell patients to substitute a cream that contains alpha hydroxy acids in place of a retinoid twice a week to boost benefits. Or, you can bump up the patient’s OTC retinoid to a prescription product.
Photo courtesy Clayton Hansen/iStockphoto.com.
Fish-oil capsules are a good source of omega-3 fats
7. Eat omega-3 fats.