Learn about uneven skin tone and dark marks

Each one of us has a unique skin color, which is determined predominantly by the amount of pigment (or melanin) in our skin. When melanin is overproduced, uneven skin tone results.

Uneven skin tone, dark marks, melasma, hyperpigmentation, discoloration, age spots and liver spots are all caused by the overproduction of melanin.

Understanding your skin condition

Hyperpigmentation is a broad term referring to any skin condition that is caused by the uneven overproduction of pigment (melanin) in the skin. Melasma, uneven skin tone, dark marks, brown marks, age spots, sunspots and liver spots are therefore all forms of hyperpigmentation.

Age spots (also called liver spots or sunspots) are caused by an overexposure to the sun for extended periods and are officially known as solar lentigo. They usually don’t appear before your 30’s or 40’s and typically form on the hands, arms, shoulders, face and neck, since these areas are most often exposed to the sun.

The first signs of skin aging

For many years people assumed that wrinkles, sagging and fine lines were the first signs of aging. However, scientists have now found that uneven skin tone is often the first visible effect of aging and skin damage.

Uneven skin tone has 4 main causes:

1. Solar

Exposure to the sun is by far the leading cause of uneven skin tone. Harsh UV radiation results in damage to the surface of the skin, causing sunburn, immune suppression and visible skin aging. In an attempt to protect itself from damage, the skin increases melanin production, resulting in dark patchy marks on both the face and body. Applying a broad spectrum sunblock with an SPF of 30 or more on a daily basis is therefore the most effective way to prevent this solar damage.

2. Hormonal

Although the effects of hormones on the surface of the skin are still not fully understood, we do know that skin pigmentation is very sensitive to fluctuations of estrogen and progesterone. This makes women particularly susceptible to uneven skin tone, and particularly women using hormonal forms of birth control. Uneven skin tone is also very common during and shortly after pregnancy.

3. Chemical

When the skin is exposed to harsh chemicals like chemical peels or poor quality skin lighteners, it can sometimes respond by overproducing skin pigment (melanin). This results in patchy, dark marks that may or may not fade over time.

4. Post Inflammatory

Post inflammatory pigmentation results when the skin has an inflammatory reaction to a physical injury like a burn, acne, a scratch or a cut. In attempt to protect itself from this damage, the skin increases melanin production, resulting in dark marks on both the face and body.

Traditional Eastern healers believe that uneven skin tone is caused by a lack of qi (chi) circulation to the skin. To treat uneven skin tone, traditional healers therefore actively target the meridians that govern the function of the skin. Namely the Lung (Fei), Spleen (Pi) and Liver (Gan) meridians, which regulate energy flow to and from the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis.
Learn more

Fei’d™’s active botanicals were carefully formulated and blended to rebalance the function of the skin as a whole, and to improve the appearance of uneven skin tone and dark marks.