How to Fade Acne Scars & Dark Spots – For Real!

For those who get breakouts, you’ve certainly experienced the brown, purple, or red scars and marks that are leftover long after the blemish has healed. These can be far worse than the blemish itself simply because a blemish only lasts five to seven days, but acne scars can last up to eight months (and be much harder to get rid of) or longer.

In this post, we’ll share some expert tips to fade acne scars much faster than ever before so your skin can be clear and even-toned—and you don’t have to feel like you must hide under makeup (🙌)!

What Causes Acne Marks?

Red or dark acne marks are the result of inflammation within the dermis. This inflammation triggers the skin to produce pigment cells, a natural response to trauma. In addition, capillaries get dilated (or can even break) during the blemish cycle, which brings out additional redness. A blemish must be cared for properly in the first place to expedite the healing process to prevent long-term damage to the skin.

What Determines the Severity of a Dark or Red Mark From a Blemish?

Have you ever noticed that some blemishes seem to leave more severe marks than others? These are the factors that will determine how bad the mark left behind is:

Your Skin Color

Deeper skin tones will hyper pigment more easily than fair skin tones due to the increased amount of natural melanin content in the skin.

The Type of Blemish You Have

If the infection came to a head and broke through the surface of the skin the way papules, whiteheads and pustules will do, then you’ll get even more of a mark. If it’s a cyst (deep, underground blemish) and your body reabsorbed the infection and it never broke the skin’s surface, you’ll have less of a mark.

How Long Your Blemish Lasted

Some people’s healing process may be slower than others. Additionally, every type of breakout seems to have a life of its own, and some will last longer than others based on size and the location on the face.

If It Was Picked At, Over-Dried, and Messed With

Every move you make once a blemish appears will greatly affect the outcome of the scar. This is why you have to be so careful in how you treat it. FACT: less picking = less scarring. More picking = more scarring. Trust me on this one!

Why did You still get a dark scar even when you barely touched it?

Even if you didn’t touch it, a blemish can still leave a red or dark mark. This is because if the infection broke through the skin’s surface, it automatically triggers a melanin response. If it was a cyst and never broke through, the bump (inflammation) underneath stretched and damaged the surrounding tissue, which also resulted in increased melanin activity. Unfortunately, even when you are so careful about not picking a blemish, you can still get a dark mark. The good news is that messing with it less should ensure a much quicker recovery.

What Can You Do at Home to Fade Your Acne Marks Faster?

Once a blemish is all healed and you’re left with a red, brown, or purple mark, it’s time to focus on doing THREE things:

1. Exfoliate to Dissolve and Lift Away Discoloration from Damaged Cells

When cells are damaged and discoloration has formed, using a gentle acid exfoliant will work very well to loosen these cells from the skin’s surface. Also, a gentle facial scrub (that uses non-plastic, round beads) massaged very lightly over the area twice a week is very effective to ensure these loosened cells are getting lifted off the skin. This will reveal the healthy, even-toned skin underneath. The combination of a chemical and physical exfoliant (not used on the same days) will be very beneficial to fade acne scars.

2. Brighten/Fade to Calm and Suppress Melanin Activity

When you’re exfoliating the skin and removing dry, damaged surface cells, a skin brightening product can absorb deeper within the mark and help to settle down active melanin so the mark can go away faster. Many forms of vitamin C (particularly magnesium ascorbyl phosphate) work very well to gently calm redness and fade acne scars.

3. Protect to Prevent UV Light From Keeping Pigment Cells Active

This is really important and something that is not often thought about. While the sun and daylight are never your friend when it comes to keeping the skin free of wrinkles, it’s also not good for blemish scars and marks. Any UV light (even on cloudy days) that sees your skin will naturally want to activate melanin cells. Since the red, dark mark is an indication of over-active melanin cells, UV light will aggravate this and make the marks stay visible for longer.

You absolutely MUST use sunscreen every single day and avoid getting daylight on your skin. If you’re blemish-prone, it’s important to use one that is lightweight and non-pore clogging. The last thing we want is your sunscreen to actually cause you breakouts since no breakouts = no marks or scars to have to deal with.

Of the Three Types of Products Mentioned, Which is Most Effective for Fading Acne Scars?

Hands down, sunscreen. From the moment the sun rises to when it sets, all of the daylight that gets on your skin (even on a cloudy day during winter) is keeping the dark pigment cells awake. Sunscreen gives them an opportunity to go to sleep to fade your acne scars. Of course, adding in an exfoliating product and a skin brightening product will dramatically fade acne scars faster, if you had to choose just one, it should be sunscreen.

What If a Blemish left an Indent in My Skin?

Generally, the deep cystic blemish will cause the most injury to the skin and affect the actual skin tissue. This can lead to keloid, hypertrophic or atrophic scars. Atrophic scars are the ones most commonly associated with acne. This is where the damage occurred very deep in the skin causing it to indent. Sometimes they can be temporary and bounce back, but some can last a lifetime.

How Can I Prevent Acne Marks From Appearing?

The ideal scenario would be to never break out again, but realize this isn’t always realistic. To prevent breakouts, maintenance of your skin is a top priority. Regular facials help revitalize your skin and dig in deeper to clear out your pores and remove texture that can lead to breakouts that you can’t accomplish at home.

You don’t always have control over a blemish appearing but you DO have control over what happens when one shows up. Call Botanica Day Spa to book your facial at 727-441-1711 today!

Love,

Gen