Hey, I wanted to know if any other black females in here have skin discoloration. What I mean is do you have a dark neck and dark knees and dark underarms compared to your natural skin complexion. Is there any products that will help lighten it up? I'd appreciate all the advice you can give.

Thanks
~strengthforlife

I am a black female, and used to have horrible dark spots due to acne on my face. After trying every product on the market, I researched and found a dermatologist who specialized in black skin.

I went through a round of 6 chemical peels every two weeks (dermatologist performed, NOT a beauty salon). The beauty salon stuff just doesn't work - still, DON'T let a hairdresser put chemicals on your face!!! My dr showed me horrifying pictures of beauty salon peels "gone bad". These poor women were scarred for life.

My dermatologist also gave me a customized formula that he calls "triple bleach" cream. It's fantastic, it has a very strong level of hyrdoquinone, but with steriods and an analgesic to stop black skin from overreacting to it. You see lightening effects within 3 days, even on very dark skin like mine.

After two months, my skin was GORGEOUS, better than when I was a child. People actually stopped me on the street to ask what product I used. The only problem was that for about 6 months my overall facial skin was much lighter than it's natural shade. I had to buy all new makeup and lightened my hair to soften the lightness. Then it gradually darkened back to the natural color and I had to buy all new makeup again.

Be VERY CAREFUL about who you allow to do anything on your face. Believe it or not, our skin is more sensitive than our lighter friends, and that's why we are more susceptible to scarring and discoloration that can take years to go away.

I have also tried Retiin-A + a hydroquinone product in the past with good results, but my skin FELT raw, oversensitive and awful after about a month.

This is what I have found:

1. NEVER PICK AT PIMPLES.
2. Over the counter creams (black opal, etc) are a WASTE OF MONEY. They don't penetrate your marks enough to remove them.
3. Drinking a lot of water REALLY does make a difference!
4. No matter how dark your skin is, use the strongest sunblock you can get your hands on, every day. I am told that Black people will never age if we do this, and your skin won't have the "sun excuse" to get all blotchy again. There is a product called Solbar Sunblock 50. It's great and not greasy. It doesn't sting after chemical peels either. It does have a strange (but not bad) "hospital" smell though.


Good luck!

Arlene

Ah, I got so carried away I forgot to talk about elbows and knees.

Using a rough loofah daily on elbows and knees works on white people, but will blacken your skin. Avoid anything abrasive or irritating. You can buy glycolic peels (use about a 60% strength on elbows and knees), and follow with prescription skin lightener. But I don't recommend self treating your neck. Go to dermatologist for that.

Finally, I haven't tried this but I have a (fairly light skinned) friend who swears she lightened elbows and knees by cutting lemons in quarters and taping them to knees and elbows for two weeks (changing them daily of course). They did look great, but my job doesn't allow for that kind of get up.

Good luck!

Hello I am a black female also but with the opposite problem. The middle of my face is getting lighter for some reason and spreading outward. I am looking into getting the microdermabrasion treatment if it will help. My skin is not hyper allergenic but I am a hypo allergenic(I am still working out what that means). If anyone has this problem??
It started aa few yrs ago but is more pronounced now at least for me.