I use skin lightening cream for my sun damaged skin

Article medically reviewed by Dr. Gavin Chan

Templestowe Lower, Berwick and Beaumaris Clinics

Dr. Gavin Chan, MBBS, General Registration (MED0001175745), founder of the Victorian Cosmetic Institute, began offering cosmetic medical treatments in 2004. Formerly a trainer for cosmetic pharmaceutical companies, Dr. Chan currently concentrates on offering ongoing training to cosmetic doctors at the Victorian Cosmetic Institute. He ensures that all doctors stay updated with the latest procedures and methods in the cosmetic industry. Read More

The sun’s out and you’ve managed to grab 30 minutes for lunch. So you head to the park to read your book. Sitting on the grass and kicking your shoes off, the fabulous weather is making you feel relaxed and happy. Before you head back to work you duck into the bathroom and reapply your make up. But a feeling of disappointment washes over you when you lean in closer and notice skin pigmentation on your face.

As you’re sitting at your desk it hits you. You felt so upset seeing the freckles and sun damage on your face because it’s reminded you of your grandmother’s face! You deeply loved her and have fond memories of hanging out with her. She taught you to bake passionfruit sponges and when you stayed with her, she let you watch the TV shows you wanted. But let’s face it – you don’t want to have skin like this at your age!

You don’t need to have recent sun exposure to get freckles. The sun exposure that has caused your skin to become damaged may have occurred many years ago – it’s a cumulative effect. From sitting outside at lunch for a few moments, being behind your car’s windscreen, walking from the bus to the shops or strolling to the café on the weekend. It doesn’t matter what age you are – living in Australia and having skin pigmentation or freckles on your face isn’t unusual. Australia has a depleted ozone layer and increased surface UVB levels which means the strength of sun damage is magnified. There’s no need to panic though. There are many skin lightening creams available that will effectively treat your sun-damaged skin.

Why do freckles appear on your face?

Sun damage happens at any time in your life. While you know sunscreen is important, it’s also useful to understand why sun damage develops on your face.

Pigmentation from the sun is caused by the UVA and UVB radiation; this activates your melanocytes, which increases melanin (pigment) production.

The increased melanin gives you new pigmentation or darkens your existing pigmentation. UVA also travels much deeper into skin at the base line of your skin cells (the basal cells), where it causes premature ageing of the skin including wrinkle. So what’s the best way to deal with this?

We know that prevention of sun damage is a vital step towards minimizing your chances of having skin pigmentation and freckles on your face.

You can stop the cause of sun damage by using sun protection

As you sit at in your car at the traffic lights, the backs of your hands are in the sun and the side of your face feels warm. And when you walk your dog at the park, you may wear a cap, but the sunshine can still hit your face. So you know it’s important to wear sunscreen daily. Some of you may even remember the “Slip, Slop, Slap” sunscreen TV campaign!

But with so many physical and chemical sunscreens available, we understand it’s hard to know which one is best for your skin type. And if you have skin that is irritable, sensitive or prone to breakouts, it can get even more confusing. And even though you’re vigilant with your sunscreen application in the morning, it’s very important (even when you’re not the beach!) to reapply this during the day. Our Skin Therapists can help you choose the best sunscreen and sun protection strategy for your skin.

So what’s sun protection to prevent sun damage all about? SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. It refers to the theoretical amount of time you can stay in the sun without getting your skin burned. For example, an SPF of 15 would allow you to stay in the sun 15 times longer than you could without protection. A physical sunscreen that contains active mineral ingredients like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, works by sitting on top of the skin. When you use this type of physical sunscreen the damaging UV rays will deflect and scatter damaging away from your skin. These types of sunscreens are often referred to as physical blocking sun blocks. The titanium dioxide made from titanium in its natural state is chalky, reflective and white. The zinc oxide, derived from the mineral zinc creates a material that is effective at blocking the sun’s rays.

Since 2005, we have been committed to offering our clients the most effective sun protection. We recommend the following:

• La Roche 50+ sunscreens. Head here to find out more about sunscreens
• Colorsecience Sunforgettable Mineral Sunscreen Brush SPF 50. With a natural looking SPF 50 UVA/UVB protection and sheer looking coverage, our patients tell us that this is their “go-to” sunscreen. Easy to apply and reapply over makeup, it provides protection from the sun while maintaining makeup coverage. Head here to find out more about Colorsecience Sunforgettable Mineral Sunscreen Brush SPF 50

The best skin lightening products to treat your skin pigmentation and freckles

You’ve seen the social media posts of celebrities and TV ads touting supermarket brands of skin lightening cream. If you doubt whether they actually work, you’re probably not alone!

When you invest your hard earned money into looking after your skin and face, we understand that it’s important you use products that deliver what they promise and are effective. It’s also vital that you use the skin products as recommended. For example, Vitamin A needs slow introduction and in most cases, can’t be used during the daytime. Correct application of skin lightening products is also very important as applying them in the wrong order can mean they may not even reach your skin. If you need some advice or would like to book in a skin consultation, call us on 1300 863 824.

We offer a range of products that treat sun damage on your face including:

• Vitamin C to increase your anti-oxidants while lightening and brightening your skin. Learn more about how Vitamin C can treat sun damaged skin.
• Vitamin A increases skin cell turnover, regeneration and encourages your pigmented cells to rise up and get exfoliated faster. Our clients have reported that these vitamin A products are the most effective
• Topical lightening serums are very effective at reducing skin blemishes and pigmentation. Dermaceutic Mela Cream is one of our best selling lightening creams.
• Looking for a ready to go skin brightening and lightening kit for your sun damage? The Aspect Dr Brightening Kit with cosmeticeutical strength cleanser, complete pigment serum, Exfol A Plus Serum and Resveratrol moisturiser is value for money and very effective. Find out more here about Aspect Dr Brightening Kit 

Looking for products to help you get younger looking, softer and smoother skin?

The Dermaceutic Pigment Spots & Melasma kit gives you everything you need for you skin in one pack. The products combine antioxidant Vitamin C with topical lightening creams to give you an effective and powerful solution to your sun damage and freckles. Our patients enjoy using them and appreciate the value they get from the products.

Skin lightening treatment using lasers and IV treatments

While skin lightening creams and skin brightening treatments will help your sun damage, we also offer skin-lightening treatment using lasers and IV treatments.

Our patients tell us that a combination of skin-lightening treatment using lasers and IV treatments and skin lightening creams has given them the results they wanted.

We offer:

• Intravenous skin lightening (IV skin lightening) using an antioxidant (we cannot name the antioxidant due to TGA regulations) and Vitamin C. This skin lightening and brightening treatment de-pigments and lightens your skin while it stops your cell pigmentation forming. Get more information about skin lightening treatments here
• Fraxel Laser. If you’ve got freckles on your face or pigmentation, we can use this skin lightening treatment. More information about Fraxel laser here
• Q Switch lasers are very effective in treating sun damage and melasma. Get more information about Q Switch lasers here

Skin pigmentation and freckle treatment using a needling procedure

DermaFrac is a dermal micro-needling treatment that provides simultaneous delivery of infused ingredients in a pain free, no downtime treatment that can be administered by our skin therapist’s.

This skin lightening treatment causes micro-channels that stimulate a wound healing response whilst delivering the lightening serum deeper in the skin than what can be achieved with skin care. Find out more about DermaFrac here

Find out how Victorian Cosmetic Institute can lighten and brighten your skin while treating your sun damage

You don’t need to put up with freckles, pigmentation or sun damaged skin. At your consultation, we take the time to discuss the concerns you have about your skin.

Call us on 1300 863 824 to find out more about our skin whitening cream, skin lightening products, DermaFrac (skin infusions), Intravenous skin lightening, Fraxel laser treatments and Q Switch laser facial treatment or Arrange a Consultation now.