How to brighten your skin naturally

Certain ingredients work to achieve brighter skin by rejuvenating the skin, exfoliating dead skin cells, and inhibiting the production of melanin which is a skin pigment. Basically, the more melanin your body produces, the darker your skin gets. If you’re wondering what stimulates the production of melanin, it’s UV rays!

Sunscreen

So before you consider anything else, it’s crucial to always, always apply sunscreen to protect your skin from harmful UV rays to prevent dark spots, pigmentation, uneven skin tone in the first place. Studies suggest it can even slow down signs of aging such as wrinkles and sagging of skin.

Alpha hydroxy acid (AHA)

You can also exfoliate using acids to help you achieve brighter glowing skin specifically AHAs such as glycolic, lactic and mandelic acid. They are chemical exfoliants that are great at getting rid of dead skin cells and promoting cell renewal, revealing a healthy glow. If you have sensitive skin, we suggest starting off with polyhydroxy acid (PHA) or mandelic acid as they are gentler than the other types of AHA.

Moisturiser

When you don't apply moisturiser, your skin tends to look duller, lifeless which is the complete opposite of brighter, radiant skin that you want! So make sure you're moisturising to maintain a healthy skin barrier and while you're at it, why not choose one that has brightening ingredients. Here are some great brightening ingredients to look out for.

Brightening ingredients

Niacinamide is like that best friend that everyone loves. It does so many things for your skin. It helps retains moisture, reduces hyperpigmentation, evens out your skin tone and also helps with cell renewal making it an amazing ingredient for brighter, plump skin. A clinical study even showed that it has skin lightening effects.

Alpha - arbutin is extracted from dried leaves of certain plants, such as bearberry. It helps prevent the formation of melanin aka darkening of the skin, making it an amazing skin brightener.

If you're looking for more natural options, the few that are used for their brightening effects are mulberry as well as llicorice extract. Mulbery extract has been shown to prevent melanin production making it a great skin-lightening option. Licorice extract not only helps improve hyperpigmentation but it also has anti-inflammatory properties which is great at calming down and soothing the skin.