Pigmentation Continued. Let’s Talk Post Inflammatory Pigmentation.

In my last piece, we discussed sun pigmentation, how we get it and how to get rid of it. If you missed this helpful edition on pigmentation, just click here to find out all about it.

Today we are going to cover Post-Acne Marks, also known as Post Inflammatory Pigmentation.

If you’ve ever suffered or are dealing with the occasional acne breakout or recurring monthly hormonal breakouts, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about…

Firstly, we have to deal with the actual break out and try to clear it; which in itself can be trialling and take ages! Then, we finally manage to get rid of it, but what are we up against next… the blasted unsightly marks they’ve left our skin with. It’s like they’ve left these little reminders, saying “you may have got rid of me, but you’ll never forget I was here!” Spots are simply horrible little villains to our skin! What’s worse is if it’s recurring monthly breakouts, because it feels like this endless cycle can and will never end!

Fear not! What I have learnt is that it can end and it’s all about using the correct blemish battling and healing skincare which act like superheroes for your skin.

So first, why do Post-Acne Marks develop?

Post-Acne Marks are known as Post Inflammatory Pigmentation (PIH). When our skin develops acne, for whatever reason (there are many different ones), our skin develops inflammation to try to heal the acne lesions. This is a good thing, because we want those pesky spots gone! However, the flip side is that when the inflammation occurs in the skin, it then causes our cells to produce more melanin (the pigment in our skin), which leaves us with these unsightly red or dark marks.

How do you treat Post Inflammatory Pigmentation?

The first step is always to balance and clear the skin. There’s no point trying to get rid of the marks they’ve left behind if you’ve still got the acne breakouts, otherwise it’s a catch 22, and you’ll never free yourself of the cycle. I spoke about this in quite some depth in one of my recent pieces, so please click here to learn about how to balance your skin and discover all the ways to get rid of the various types of acne and congestion.

Once your skin is balanced and clear, we can move to step 2! So we can now deal with those pesky post-acne marks. As with any pigmentation, the key is to treat it asap! The fresher the mark, the easiest it is to clear as the skin hasn’t matured and structured itself properly yet, so whatever treatment you choose will penetrate easier (as the skin is thinner) and therefore act faster and more effectively.

Post Inflammatory Pigmentation is dealt with very differently to Sun Pigmentation. Previously, we spoke about Post Sun Pigmentation, weakening the roots of the pigmentation and obliterating it. Post Acne marks are a completely different ball game! We need to focus primarily on healing and restructuring the skin, then we need to continue to balance it, and we always need to add a little bit of our much loved Lotion P50, to keep that skin exfoliated, clear and smooth!

It’s all about a little TLC with this one…

STEP 1: Keeping the Balance

We don’t want to strip the skin of oils, we don’t want to dry it out or dehydrate it, we want to keep juuuust right! Hello to calming, balancing, ever so slightly mattifying and hydrating (yes, really, both!) cleanser Lait U. Double cleanse with this little comforting beauty, day and night, and you’re a third of the way there!

STEP 2: Exfoliating

Oh yes! Our much loved Lotion P50s come in here! These complex formulas work or exfoliating the skin, hydrating it, smoothing it, regulating it and balancing it all at the same time! As always, depending on your skin, it would depend on which one you would go for, here’s a quick guide:

Lotion P50: the Strong One! (I don’t recommend it to most of my clients) it’s for thick or keratinised skin. Please don’t think that if it’s strong it will work faster, it really won’t, in fact, if you don’t really need it, it will do the opposite of what it’s meant to do.

Lotion P50W: Our most popular formulation! Gentle enough for sensitive skin but definitely powerful enough to do the job for most skins. This is the perfect one for you if you consider your skin to be fairly normal in thickness, it could be a little sensitive, it could be a little oily, it could be a little dry.

Lotion P50V: The Enriched One! This formulation has extra vitamins injected into it, which will hydrate and plump the skin a little more. It’s also a little stronger than the Lotion P50W, but weaker than the Lotion P50. Perfect if you consider your skin to be a tiny bit thicker than normal or if you’re a little mature and need that extra hydration boost.

Lotion P50 PIGM400: The Pigmentation One! Aha! This one is not for you! This formulation works very hard on Sun and Age pigmentation, not post-acne pigmentation. It’s not as powerful as the others at refining and clearing the skin, so it’s best to opt for one of the other ones, in this circumstance.

STEP 3: Serumise & Cream

Here comes our true TLC heroes, our Sérum Placenta and Crème Placenta.

These are the powerful duo which will repair our skin and remove the red or dark marks. Don’t worry, we don’t get a placenta, stick it in the blender and pour it into our cream pots. It’s much more scientific than that. The cells within the placenta are scientifically removed from the tissue, treated and introduced into our products. These cells are derived from Sheep placentas and are always a bi-product. We love our animals!

Placenta is an extremely nutrient dense tissue, it contains growth factors, nutrients, amino acids, oestrogens (hormones) and stem cells. The stem cells are really the key ingredient here, and they are unique because they have the ability to repair all the different types of cells in the body. This is important because all types of cells have coded functions in their DNA,  which means that they are programmed to do a specific task. Because stem cells are so multifunctional, they can repair structures like collagen and elastin, as well as skin cells and post-inflammatory pigmentation. This is why we love Placenta!

Spots are one thing, scarring and the horrible marks they leave is another and I understand how awful these can make you feel. Sometimes it feels like your skin will never be right again. At Embassy of Beauty our mission is to help you achieve your best possible skin! On October 24^th, we are opening the Embassy of Beauty clinic and retail space. Our expert skin consultants are available on-site to discuss your skincare concerns in depth and dedicate time to work with you to prescribe a personalised skincare routine tailored to your needs. Come and visit us and book your appointment here.

One treatment we offer which is particularly good for scarring such as Post Inflammatory Pigmentation is our Soin Masque Aux Acides De Fruits. This is an intensive renewing treatment that uses fruit acids to refine your skin. It delivers the results of a chemical peel but without any downtime or causing trauma to your skin. 

Read about all our treatments in more detail here.

As always, you can speak to myself or any of our highly trained skin consultants at any time by emailing us at concierge@embassyofbeauty.co.uk or call us on 020 3358 9998. We’re always more than happy to advise and consult!