Contact sheet · 01
Pigment has many different kinds
They are not one problem with one fix. What caused it, and how deep the pigment sits, decides what will move it and how long that takes.
Post-inflammatory marks
After spots, cuts, eczema
Brown or grey-brown marks where inflammation has been. Flat, and they follow the shape of whatever caused them.
Depth
Shallow to mixed
Outlook
Often fades
Sun spots
Solar lentigines
Well-defined tan to dark brown patches on the areas that catch the most light: cheekbones, nose, forearms, chest.
Depth
Shallow
Outlook
Best treatment is prevention
Melasma
Hormonal, symmetrical
Larger symmetrical patches, usually cheeks, forehead and upper lip. Linked to hormones and heat as well as light, and can relapse.
Depth
Can be deep
Outlook
Prevention first. Otherwise manage, not cure
Freckles
Genetic, sun-responsive
Small, scattered, and inherited. They usually darken with sun and lighten without it. Nothing needs treating unless you want it to.
Depth
Shallow
Outlook
Sunscreen to prevent darkening
Periorbital darkness
Under-eye shadow
Can be part pigment, part visible vessels, part the shadow of the eye socket itself. Worth working out which before buying anything.
Depth
Mixed causes
Outlook
Depends on cause
Uneven pigmentation
Usually more than one cause
Patchy tone across the face rather than one clear mark. Often sun damage, past inflammation and hormonal pigment layered together — which is why a single product rarely settles all of it.
Depth
Mixed
Outlook
Prevention better than cure
Densitometry · 02
How deep decides how hard
- Pigment sits at different depths.
- Shallow pigment is usually easier to treat than pigment that has dropped deeper.
- Many real cases are a mix of both.
- Which one you have decides what will move it — worth seeing a doctor to find out.
Over the counter · 04
What you can buy over the counter
These are the things you can run yourself, without a prescription. Anything stronger — and the choice between them — is a conversation with a doctor, not a shopping decision.
Sunscreen
Start here · everything else depends on it
- SPF and PA are ultraviolet numbers. Neither measures visible light.
- Visible light also contributes to melasma and dark marks.
- A tinted sunscreen helps with it — iron oxide and non-nano mineral both help block visible light, and a tinted formula usually carries both.
Tinted · iron oxide · illustrative
Absorbed in the tint
Less reaches the pigment
Active
How it works
Worth knowing
Thiamidol
Tyrosinase inhibitor
Developed specifically for dark marks.
Vitamin C
Tyrosinase inhibitor · antioxidant
Morning, under sunscreen.
Alpha-arbutin
Tyrosinase inhibitor
Slows the enzyme that drives pigment production, with little irritation.
Niacinamide
Blocks pigment transfer
A different step in the same pathway.
Tyrosinase is the enzyme that builds pigment inside the pigment cell. The finished pigment is then handed off to the surrounding skin cells, which carry it up to the surface. Three of these block the building. Niacinamide blocks the hand-off. Stacking several tyrosinase inhibitors is unlikely to be several times the effect — pairing across the two steps is the more sensible combination, and none of it works without the sunscreen above.
Prescription only · 05
What needs a prescription
Listed so you know what exists and what it is for — not so you can go and find it. Each of these needs a diagnosis first, because the treatment that clears sun spots is often the one that makes melasma worse.
Option
What it is
What to know
Azelaic acid
Anti-inflammatory · tyrosinase inhibitor
Calms inflammation and slows pigment production, and is well tolerated on reactive skin. Prescription-only here: HSA does not allow it in cosmetic products at any strength.
Hydroquinone
Time-limited course
Powerful and time-limited. Used indefinitely without supervision it can backfire and darken skin.
A prescription retinoid
Turnover
Speeds cell turnover so pigment clears faster. Expect an irritation phase, which itself can mark the skin if pushed too hard.
Oral tranexamic acid
Systemic · needs screening
Used for stubborn hormonal patches, and not suitable for everyone. Requires screening.
Peels and laser
Procedural
Can be excellent for sun spots and risky for melasma, where heat and aggressive settings can worsen the patch. Operator judgement matters more than the machine.
Azelaic acid is worth singling out. It is sold openly as a cosmetic in other countries, so it is easy to assume it is available here — it is not. In Singapore it is prescription-only at any strength, which means anything you find online claiming otherwise is either not azelaic acid or is not being sold to you legally.
Fogged prints · 06
Ways this gets ruined
Fogged
Skipping sunscreen
The one that can undo everything else. Weeks of fading, given back over a long weekend outdoors.
Fogged
Picking and squeezing
A squeezed spot tends to leave a longer-lasting mark. In people who otherwise have mild acne, this is a common source of post-inflammatory pigmentation.
Fogged
Fading marks while new ones form
Treating yesterday's marks while today's spots, eczema or friction are still going. Settle the cause first, or you stay one step behind it.
Fogged
Treating melasma like sun spots
Heat-heavy lasers and harsh peels can deepen it. Type first, treatment second.
Fogged
Quitting too early
These work over months, not weeks. A routine that is working can be dropped before it has shown anything.
Fogged
Unregulated whitening creams
Products bought loose or unlabelled have been found to contain mercury and undeclared steroids. Real harm, not a skincare debate.
Get it looked at
Some marks are not a skincare problem
→A single spot that is changing: growing, darkening unevenly, ragged at the edge, bleeding or itching. That needs a doctor, not a serum.
→Symmetrical patches across the cheeks, forehead or upper lip, especially with pregnancy or the pill. Diagnosis first: the wrong treatment can set this type back badly.
→Pigmentation that appeared with a new medication.
→A consistent routine kept up for several months with no movement at all.
Next print
Build the routine that protects the work
The routine generator picks the sunscreen, the fading actives worth your money, and the order to use them in.