Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:01 Hello and welcome to a Wonder Care podcast. I'm Sheena Mitchell, pharmacist and mom of three. I combine healthcare and practical advice to support you on your parenting journey. This season is all about family skincare and it's proudly sponsored by real life. Real life. Believe your skin says how you feel. And this is so, so important as we explore family skincare concerns. Today I'm going to be talking about a topic which is pretty close to my heart, hyperpigmentation and melasma. I really wanted to do this because real life have brought a new product out, which is their Pigment Solution program, and it is something that I personally have wanted to try. So I did start using it recently. Hyperpigmentation of your skin is really frustrating, and certainly for me since I turned 40 <laugh>, it seems to just be really escalating. So I am glad to see a solution available that isn't too severe and you can get in your pharmacy. Okay, so what is hyperpigmentation?
Speaker 0 00:01:12 Hyperpigmentation is a term used to describe when you have excess melanin or higher, more concentrated patches of melanin in your skin, which cause a discoloration. This can be kind of brown or grayish, and there are actually four different types of hyperpigmentation. One of them is melasma. I'm gonna talk about that a bit more because it is quite common if you are a woman, and particularly if you've had a baby. Also, you can get hyperpigmentation after inflammation. So for example, if you've had bad acne or irritation of the skin, anything that kind of presented skin trauma, then after the skin has recovered, you can end up with patches of hyperpigmentation where the trauma once was. Obviously we're all familiar with freckles, but that is a form of hyperpigmentation. And while in most cases freckles are gorgeous and adorable, sometimes they can be annoying. I have one that develops every summer on my nose in the same spot, <laugh>, and everyone tries to wipe it off.
Speaker 0 00:02:24 Everyone will come over and go, oh, shemi if something on your nose, and just with their thumb try and wipe, wipe it off the top of my nose. And I'm like, you can't wipe that off. That's a freckle. So that is one <laugh> that I definitely find annoying. And then of course, as we get older, we have the beautiful age or liver spots. These are ones that appear, say, on your hands or on your face. And yeah, they're larger than a freckle, but basically they're just an area of hyperpigmentation. Too much melanin. The melanin and pigmentation in your skin can actually be affected by lots of different things. Sometimes it is just genetic, but sometimes, as I said, there it can be due to inflammation. It also can result from medication that you're taking. I'll explain that a bit more in a minute. And hormones play a big role in the regulation of your melanin as well.
Speaker 0 00:03:17 So that's another thing. And last but not least, and probably one of the most guilty culprits is UV radiation. And this is why I have to start this episode by saying, get your SPF 50 on your face because you will pay for it later if you don't. So it is definitely worth doing. There is no point in thinking you're gonna have a lovely golden glow on your face for so many reasons we need to wear spf. But today in the context of hyperpigmentation, you'll thank yourself later if you protect yourself as much as you can. Okay, so I wanted to talk a little bit more about melasma because it is also sometimes known as cloma or pregnancy mask. This is a condition which causes brown or grayish patches of pigmentation on the face, and it affects around 50% of pregnant women, but it's not just during pregnancy.
Speaker 0 00:04:12 Other times of hormonal transition can also trigger melasma. And 38% of women who are taking oral contraceptives can actually fall foul of melasma two. Interestingly, about 60% of all people who suffer from melasma do so before they reach 30 years of age. And while melasma isn't a dangerous thing, and it's not a melanoma, it's not itchy, it's not harmful, but actually it can have impacts and it can cause a lot of frustration and upset for people. So while it's physically harmless, it can make someone feel quite self-conscious. And for that reason, I am glad that there are products available now on the market to try and reduce it. It is most common on the face, usually on the kind of cheeks, forehead, upper lip, nose and chin, everywhere the sun hits basically. But it can also affect other areas of the body which are exposed to the suns such as your forearms, neck, and even legs.
Speaker 0 00:05:11 A distinguishing feature for hyperpigmentation is that it is flat, it is not raised. If you find that you've been taking the oral contraceptive pill and your melasma has worsened, then it's definitely considering talking to your GP or pharmacist about the contraception that you're taking to learn about different options that are not so hormonal based, if that's potentially what's triggering your worsening pigmentation. So as well as wearing a good spf, there are other things you can do and simple things like wearing a hat are not always practical or ordeal, but they are actually really helpful and beneficial. So what can we do about it? Well, obviously, first of all, we can hide it with makeup or skin camouflage, which can take some of the pressure off, or we could consider a trip to a dermatologist to discuss treatments like chemical peels, microneedling, or laser. But none of these treatments are straightforward and they can cause complications of their own.
Speaker 0 00:06:09 There's also the fact to consider that plasma can come and go, and at the moment, none of the treatments that I mentioned are long term. So ideally, I wanted to find something that you could use ongoing to keep your melasma at bay. I was really glad to see ReLife bring out the pigment solution program because it's a cosmetic treatment to reduce hyperpigmentation for a more even skin tone. So you might just need to use it for a while until your symptoms reduce. But if you find that your melasma keeps coming back after you stop using it, you can just continue to use it as part of your normal skincare. So when using this product, a study of over a hundred melasma patients, an improvement was observed of 34.62% after 45 days and of 64.4% after 90 days. So what exactly does it involve?
Speaker 0 00:07:04 Step one, it's really easy. It's a gentle cleanser with the blend of soothing ingredients which help to cleanse and prepare the skin. You just massage it in gentle circular motions on the areas that are affected by melasma, and then you just rinse it off with water. Step two is a daytime moisturizing cream. So after you've used the cleanser, you just apply the moisturizer to the areas that are affected, and you can also use a sunscreen. I definitely recommend using a a sunscreen as well during the day. The daytime moisturizing cream works to promote cell renewal with vitamin A. It also contains COGIC acid, which performs lightning action by inhibiting the synthesis of new melanin. There's also some vitamin E in there, which helps to protect the skin from oxidative stress due to solar radiation. The good news is you can apply your makeup normally after using it.
Speaker 0 00:07:54 And then finally, step three is a night cream. So in the morning you're gonna have used your cleanser and your daytime moisturizer, and then later in the day when you're going to bed, you're gonna use the cleanser again and then apply the night cream. This cream is formulated to have both chemical and mechanical peeling effects. It helps to even out pigmentation of the skin surface. The chemical peeling effect comes from the 5.7% glycolic acid and 0.3% COGIC acid. The mechanical peeling effect is a result of the biodegradable scrubbing beets. So this is a really active part of the treatment program.
Speaker 0 00:08:32 I wanted to talk about this program because it has only recently arrived into Ireland, and I think that it's a really nice good place to begin if your confidence is being a little bit knocked by uneven skin tone or if you're just absolutely sick of having people come up to you and asking you can they wipe something off your face. That is in fact a freckle <laugh>. And with 90 day use resulting in improving the appearance of melasma as measured by the MM ASI score of 64.4%. I am delighted to be trialing it at the moment myself and I will be updating my Instagram with the before and after pics. I was actually fairly horrified to see the before <laugh> because for some reason I just didn't think it was as bad as it is. Yeah, it is bad. So you'll be able to see the results that I have.
Speaker 0 00:09:24 All you gotta do is go over to Wonder Care i l on Insta, and I will put the results in my highlights in another month or so. This product is available on our website, wonder care.ie. And I'll also put a link in the show notes. I would love to hear how you get on using the product and by all means, semi before and after pictures because I find this a really fascinating area. I think skincare is improving so much, and I know myself that I feel much better if my skin is in good shape. If you found this podcast helpful, please do follow and subscribe and you will get notifications when the next episode is available. Talk to you soon.
