What’s the Cause?

Those unattractive brown spots, also known as age spots, sun spots and liver spots, are due to overexposure to the sun, smoking and hormones. A poor diet also plays a role in their development. Although these brown spots are harmless, they can be unsightly. Fortunately they can be lightened with a variety of products and treatments.

How to Avoid

Using sunscreen daily and eating a well-balanced diet with plenty of antioxidant foods will help keep them away. Dark-leafy green vegetables contain antioxidants including polyphenols and carotenoids that make your skin more resistant to the sun’s ultraviolent rays so they’re a natural way to combat age spots.

Home Remedies

A lot of a product’s cost goes into promotion and creating beautiful packaging to lure you in for the sale. You’d have to be a scientist to understand all the countless ingredients listed. You can spend lots of money at salons and spas for facials and skincare or you can pay a few cents and make your own by using simple everyday ingredients. The recipes below are gentle enough to use every day.

Milk/Yogurt Facial

Cleopatra used to bath in milk and was said to have beautiful skin. Milk and yogurt both contain lactic acid, which is an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA). It exfoliates the skin and can be used by all skin types. Put some milk on a cotton ball and dab on your face. I like to use yogurt because it’s thicker and feels more like a mask. Leave on for 10 minutes or more and rinse.

Cucumber Facial

When you think of homemade beauty treatment the first thing I picture is some woman with a towel wrapped around her head and cucumber slices over her eyes. That’s because the cucumber has anti-inflammatory properties so it reduces puffiness. It also helps with dark spots and the overall texture of the skin.

Peel the cucumber first. There’s a lot of wax and pesticides on the skin that you don’t want on your face. After it’s peeled, slice it and put it in a blender or food processor. Add an egg white and enough dry milk powder to form a paste. Leave on for 15 to 20 minutes.

1/2 cucumber

1 egg white

Dry milk (use just enough to make a paste)

Oatmeal and Lemon Juice Mask

The lemon brightens the skin while the oatmeal absorbs dirt and impurities. It has skin soothing properties as well.

2 T cooked oats

2 T of lemon juice

Mix and apply for 15-20 minutes

Powerful Alternatives

If you want more dramatic and quick results use red light therapy, derma rollers, AHA lotions and creams, or laser surgery.

AHAs loosen dead skin so you’re skin appears bright and even-toned.

Derma rollers are hand-held devices with small micro needles that you roll over your skin. The skin responds to these tiny punctures by increasing collagen production. They also help topical ingredients absorb deeper. They’ve been popular in the UK and other parts of the world for some time but new to us here in the USA.

Red light therapy machines treat a variety of skin conditions including fading age spots. It’s recognized as one of the skincare industry’s best anti-aging technologies available.