Dark Spot Corrector

Don't fall for another one of those tubes of dark spot corrector from the drugstore! I've tried No7, Garnier and vitamin C serums up the yin yang. What you need to remove dark spots and even out your skin tone may be right in your kitchen. You guessed it, it's FOOD.

I've come to believe nobody needs to spend a fortune on skincare. I believe what our skin needs is not a little bit of plant extract with a whole lot of fillers, chemical agents and preservatives. What our skin is thirsty/hungry for is just the plant or whatever is the main active ingredient without any of that junky stuff. That junky stuff sets our skin up to fail. And then that's how they get us to keep buying products to "fix" it.

I stumbled upon these skincare epiphanies kinda accidentally, while I was doing a face yoga 28-day jumpstart. My face yoga results were great, but also what happened is that my complexion started to change as I started trying out some of Fumiko Takatsu's skincare recommendations. I stopped doing face yoga back in December, but my skin continued to improve. I found face yoga a little hard to keep up. But what was easy for me to do, was to swap out some of my commercial skincare products, for single-ingredient items. So before I talk about removing dark spots, let me just show you the changes I've experienced so far.

Check out these photos. I had taken before pics when I started Rodan and Fields in 2017. I still do use their Lashboost, but I'm no longer using Redefine, AmpMD roller + serum, eye cream or microdermabrasion. Why? Because after 4 months (time between first two photos) and even after many years I didn't see that much change. I also tried a TON of Korean 10-step skincare products from Soko Glam and it didn't do anything significant either. But after switching to 90% homemade skincare I saw noticeable results in just 1-2 months.

After switching to 90% homemade skincare I saw noticeable results in just 1-2 months.

All 3 photos taken in the same place in my kitchen, same lighting and no makeup whatsoever, no filters, no edits.

If you look at the differences between the 2017 photos and now, 2020, you can see:

• Texture of my skin improved--over 3 years! Usually it would get worse with age. But 2020 looks much smoother to me.

• Lines on my forehead diminished! That would have deepened with age too.

• Skin tone is more even - it's not dark in some parts and light in others. It's all one color.

• Skin is lighter - guys, I'm in the sun every day. I surf, go to kids' outdoor soccer games, track meets, we're constantly at the beach or park... my dark spots should have gone through the roof by now. You can see a bit on my left cheek and a fading acne scar on my chin, but for the most part my skin is brighter.

Which brings me to the subject of skin brightening and dark spot correcting.

In high school and even college days I would sun bathe on the sand literally like there was no tomorrow--or as we would put it, "Let's just go lay out." Gone are those days. Now I protect my face from the sun when I can. But I get dark really quickly and my dark spots get even darker.

So by the time I'm in my 40's, I'm using a dark spot corrector every single day as part of my nightly routine. You know how many Korean women are obsessed with white skin? Well, I have 2 Korean friends and I think their values have been subliminally rubbing off on me.

4 awesome skin tone color correctors:

1. YOGURT - Once a week or whenever I feel like it, I'll spread yogurt on my face right after cleansing, before moisturizing. The lactic acid in yogurt has bleaching properties (not the Clorox kind). It sloughs off the dead skin cells you don't need anymore to reveal new, fresh, dewy skin underneath! Like a baby's bottom (yay?). No need for harsh exfoliants anymore.

2. HONEY - Using raw honey to wash my face in the morning and evening has been key. Honey also has the ability to gently lighten your skin, fade scars and hyper-pigmented spots.

3. ROSEHIP SEED OIL - this is my only moisturizer for my face nowadays. No more day cream, night cream, serums, etc. It's supposed to even out your skin tone, brighten, fade scars, etc. just like the yogurt and honey.

4. BANANA PEEL - this was my first kitchen-found discovery ever--that rubbing the inside of a banana peel on your dark spots can actually diminish them. The peel contains a lot of antioxidants as well as potassium, which, in conjunction the other nutrients in the peel, reduces hyper-pigmentation and leaves your skin lighter and healthier looking. I don't do this hardly at all anymore, but I know it works. Also, don't go into the sun with banana on your face because it will make your skin more susceptible to sun damage.

Left to right: yogurt mask, honey wash, rosehip seed oil applied, and banana peel discovery