Common skin pigmentation problems faced by Asian women

Everyone dreams of having flawless and even-toned skin. Often, spots which appears on our skin prevents us for having such. Here are the 3 commonest pigmentation faced by Asian women, particularly Malaysian.

Melasma – they are brown or grayish brown patch found on the face. Being influenced by female hormones, they tend to appear more in females and male. People with darker skin tone are more prone to melasma because they have more melanin producing cells which are responsible for the lesion.

Freckles – tan or light brown lesions which are flat and small. They may overlap and run together, resulting in a larger appearance.

Lentigines – also known as age-spots, they are sharply defined, round and in brown or black patches. They are flat and tend to occur in sun-exposed area.

Being common, these skin conditions are harmless. Nevertheless, they affect our self-esteem and social well being. The good news is, they can be treated. The treatment involves applying lasers to the involved skin which typically takes less than an hour. 

Moisturizer - How to choose one that best suits me?

We all know moisturizer is a must in your skin care routine. However, with the myriad of moisturizers on the shelves, how do you choose one which suits you best?

Moisturizers can be divided into ointment, cream and lotion. Ointment, which contains oil, has the greatest ability to lock in moisture. But it may be too oily for some. Cream comes in second in its ability to capture moisture while lotion, which is the thinnest comes last. If you have dry skin, you may want to use ointment-based moisturizers while if you have oily face, you may want to stick to lotion. What if you have dry skin and yet you loathe the feeling of oil on your skin, you may consider using cream or lotion but do apply them more frequently as they tend to dry up pretty fast, leaving no moisture in your skin. Many a times, we use a mixture of them in our daily living and do let me explain how.

Your moisturizer regime is actually dictated by your lifestyle and skin type. If you, like the most of us, work in an air-conditioned office while sleep in a well-ventilated bedroom, you may consider using ointment as your morning moisturizer and a lotion at night. This is because air-conditioning tends to dry your skin pretty fast while a well ventilated room may have our friendly high moisture in the atmosphere. If you apply thick makeup, you may want to use a cream moisturizer to make sure that your skin can breathe through the layers of moisturizer and makeup. If you do tend to suffer from oily skin towards the evening, you may want to consider using cream or lotion rather than ointment in the morning.

I hope this helps you to choose what suits you best. Good luck!!

What causes wrinkles around the eyes?

The area around the eyes is very prone to getting wrinkles. Before we recommend any remedial actions on how to combat wrinkles around the eyes, why don’t we have a look at the causes that are responsible in causing them?

 Aging – our skin is elastic and it regains its original form after muscle contraction without forming wrinkles. However, as we age, our skin gradually loses some of its elasticity and wrinkle lines begin to form.

Sun exposure – over exposure to the sun dries our skin and damages the supporting structures underlying the skin. This causes an increase in the skin laxity and wrinkles formation.

Smoking – smoking exposes the skin to oxidative stress which damages its collagen and elastin. It also constricts the blood vessels over the skin, decreasing perfusion and hydration over the affected areas. This causes dull looking skin apart from wrinkle formation.

Dehydration – our skin needs to be well hydrated. Apart from drinking plenty of clear water, we need to make sure that the skin is well hydrated via external application of moisturizers and eye creams.

While aging is not modifiable, the other three are. Religious application of sunscreen, avoidance of over-exposure to the sun and cessation of smoking will do a great deal in preventing wrinkles around the eyes. Also don’t forget the eye care regime! 

What is UV Light doing to your skin ?

Sunlight contains ultraviolet (UV) lights. These lights are responsible for wrinkles, pigmentations, sunspots and destruction of the underlying supporting tissues of skin, thus changing the texture and elasticity of the skin. In short, it is one of the main causes of aging of our skin.

In fact UV light is so strong that not only does it affects the epidermis and dermis, it also penetrate deep into the skin to affect the blood vessels and sweat glands of the skin.

However, not all people are equally affected by UV light. Patients with lighter skin tone will be more affected by UV light as the skin contains less melanocytes compared to patients with darker skin. Hence, patients with lighter skin should be more meticulous in protecting themselves from UV lights i.e. be religious in applying sunscreen an use a sunscreen with a higher SPF factor. Wearing long sleeves shirts, summer hat and sunglasses are also important to protect yourself from the sun.

While it is important to shield yourself from UV lights, do be mindful that the skin needs vitamin D, a vitamin D which is produced after exposure to sunlight. The trick is to ensure that you are adequately protected during exposure. 

Invasive and Non-Invasive in the aesthetic world

The term “invasive” is frequently thrown by doctors during consults. To the less medically inclined, we would like to give a brief explanation as what non-invasive or minimally invasive means in the world of aesthetic medicine. Invasive procedure denotes a procedure which is intrusive to the body. E.g. surgical facelift is an invasive procedure as it involves cutting and removing tissues. Healing generally takes a longer time and the patient will be left with a scar.

Non-invasive procedures are such as giving fine injections to create a face lifting effect. No doubt that is some intrusion of the body but this is done in a less drastic way. These procedures take a short time to heal as it is less intrusive and there is no scar to be seen. As the procedure is less invasive, the risk of infection is lower. However, being less invasive, the results may not be as drastic as you would see in a surgical facelift.

Both kinds of procedures have their pros and cons. Do speak to your doctor to find out your expected results and the intrusiveness of the procedure you would like to have before deciding what is best for you.