Melasma - what is it, do YOU have it and what to do if you do!

So what is melasma? Melasma is brownish grey pigmentation - typically on the forehead, chin upper lip and nose. It is most common in women and often appears during pregnancy. It is caused by pigment cells that become hyper active and produce too much pigment. These cells tend to be scattered in irregular clumps. Melasma tends to be more common in women and more common in people with a darker skin.

Recently in a training session with Claire our Tasmania and Victoria Ella Bache trainer the topic of melasma came up. Claire mentioned that certain treatments were good for melasma, while other things could make its appearance worse.

It’s underlying cause is often hormonal changes - such as pregnancy or hormone based contraception and it can be a bit stubborn to treat.

It is not dangerous like skin cancer, or painful.

Treatment consists of finding the root causes and eliminating them, so contraception might have to be changed, or you might wait until after the pregnancy, a large part of treatment is being super diligent about exposure to the sun. In many cases hormonal changes set the stage for melasma but it will be after a sunny holiday etc that people find it has appeared.

Obviously staying out of the sun is an effective option, but it is generally not possible to completely avoid the sun. As far as sun protection goes, the physical sunscreens, such as those with zinc and titanium dioxide are the ones to go for. The other type of sunscreen that uses chemicals to specifically block UV rays does not do nearly as good a job of blocking the light and heat from the sun that can cause melasma even without the presence of UV rays.

For successful treatment of melasma it is crucial to use sun protection in conjunction with whatever treatment therapies your medical professional recommends.

At Ella Bache we have a fantastic physical sunscreen, called sunguard that I would unhesitatingly recommend to anyone, including those with Melasma. It is tinted so you won’t be white and it is thick enough and beautifully formulated enough that you can use it as your foundation.

And its coverage is excellent, which is great for those wanting to reduce the appearance of their melasma. I have a patch of skin around one eye (where I got an eyelid infection while pregnant 7 years ago) that has no pigment, and Sunguard covers it really well.

It is also a fantastic base for your other make up. We routinely use it in salon when we do special event make up for people who will require spf coverage.

In conclusion, although melasma is annoying, it can be treated and an important part of this treatment is sun protection and our SPF 40 Sunguard is a great option.

reference
image: https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-q-and-a-treating-melasma/