Manchas! How to Treat Special Skin Problems

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Us Latinas and Hispanic women have such a wide variety of skin tones, but one common problem that we tend to see are dark patches on our skin. 

Why do dark spots happen?

Genetics

Unfortunately if your mama and bueli’ had dark spots, you are much more likely to have them now or develop them later on. 

Hormones

These manchas can happen during pregnancy (as happened to me during pregnancy) or after taking birth control pills. 

Your skincare routine

This surprised us; You may develop dark patches if you use certain products, or scrubs that are not right for your skin, or even the things you use while waxing, and shaving. 

Here’s how dark spots are treated by professionals:

#1 If you see a dermatologist, they will first do an extraction or use a special light to assess whether the dark spots are on the upper or second level of your skin.

#2 They may treat it with things like Azelaic acid or Hydroquinone prescription creams like Obagi Nu-derm, which may be very harsh on your skin, and create other symptoms. 

How can you control them yourself without resorting to surgery or harsh chemicals?

We must always make sure we always protect our skin with a hopefully mineral-based sunscreen – even when the sun’s not out. This will prevent a breakout of new manchas or make older patches even darker. However, in a 2018 study, sunscreen ingredients were found to be absorbed into the bloodstream at levels higher than previously thought, so we also need to make sure we look at all the ingredients in any sunscreen we buy (you can get great tips here). 

Sometimes they may go away on their own, particularly if you have them because of pregnancy. 

Rosa Mosquetta: High in Vitamina A y C, this serum has been handed down from generation to generation in places in South America, to treat scars. In Chile, growing up, this was our go-to solution to help any facial scars of burns. It’s fitting that it’s now being used to fight Hispanic and Latina skin issues in serums like our very own Rosa Mosqueta oil.