Many years ago, I noticed that my skin had a sickening pallor to it. I went to a doctor who immediately ordered a blood test. True enough, the tests showed I had anemia and after months of medication, my healthy color came back.
Since my bout with anemia, I became mindful of changes in my skin. One day, I noticed the presence of some freckles on my upper cheeks and on the bridge of my nose. At first, I thought they were cute until they started to multiply and get darker. My dermatologist told me it was a condition called melasma and that it would take time to get rid of it. That started my never-ending battle with melasma.
Melasma, which looks like patchy brown discolorations found on the upper cheeks, upper lips, forehead or chin, is the most common problem among people 40 years and older. There are different kinds of melasma based on their pigment accumulation: Epidermal (superficial), dermal (deep in the dermis), and mixed (combination of both).
I started treating my melasma with the help of Margaux Arambulo Lucena, daughter of noted dermatologist and hair restoration expert Dr. Julieta Arambulo. Margaux, who runs her own M Skin Care and Wellness Institute, treated me with hydroquinone and formulas with corticosteroid and retinoic acid at first. My discoloration lightened, but I was not satisfied. She recommended that I do a miracle peel, which is a take-home treatment. It was more effective than the topical solutions and my freckles lightened considerably. After one weekend in Boracay, my melasma came back with a vengeance. Then and there, I decided I will love my skin unconditionally and continue giving it a lot of TLC. Once again, Margaux came to my rescue and I decided to do Revlite, which utilizes an extremely high speed shutter to produce nanosecond pulse widths, enabling highly effective procedures with less heat and increased safety. Revlite is recommended for Asian skin with darker tones and five sessions with a two week-interval are recommended. A temporary darkening of the melasma right after the first procedure could happen, but doctors explain that it will lighten after a few weeks or after the other sessions. Margaux gave me some lightening products after I finished my five sessions and I was good for eight months.
I knew that melasma would be creeping in every now and then so I decided to look for some treatments that could unlock the secret of keeping melasma at arm’s length. Girl friend Ria Yap recommended that I do Skeyndor’s corrective line, coupled with Urban White, at Aivee Aguilar-Teo’s Skin and Stem Care Institute where she did her sessions.
Both treatments work synergistically with each other. The corrective line is a facial treatment, which includes muscle-relaxing peptides with a complementary effect in its formula. This means a targeted treatment for addressing and correcting definitive expression and wrinkle lines on the face. The corrective line combines fill-in techniques with oil soluble sea lavender extract that relax the skin’s micro-contractures, resulting in an intensive, smoothening effect. The range includes the active substance Syn-ake or “snake venom†which suppresses the acetylcholine receptors and hence, contracts muscles involved in facial modulation. It also contains cosmetic hyaluronic acid — a new generation of non–invasive fill-in agents — which fills in wrinkles with biocompatible material in real time. Brown algae extracts, found in this line, stimulate the synthesis of three essential proteins involved in the ability to capture and store fats, thus helping address collagen production.
Urban White is a genetic depigmenting treatment, perfect for keeping my melasma at bay as it acts directly on the melanocytes. The active ingredients are capable of deprogramming the behavior of the melanosomes. Urban White acts simultaneously on the skin blemishes caused by sun and age while progressively lightening the skin’s pigment.
There are so many products on the market, but I agreed to do Skeyndor after research showed that their beauty journey spans 45 years. Their passion in continuously developing the best antiaging treatments has grown through the years, making it an internationally well-known Spanish trademark. Its corrective line won the best anti-aging product of the year in 2012 at the Asia Spa Awards.
My battle with melasma is not over, but with good products like Skeyndor, my chances of winning are better than ever!
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For inquiries on M Skin Care and Wellness Institute, call 696-7567, 502-0009, 09175801684.
For inquiries on Skeyndor treatments and products at Aivee Aguilar-Teo’s Skin and Stem Care Institute, call 403-3245 or 09175579619.