What Are These Nasty Brown Spots on My Face?

They're called age spots, sun spots and liver spots however the proper name for these annoying brown spots is solar lentigines. For those of you in denial, they are caused by worshipping the sun and no longer just a sign of "old age."

Although unsightly, they are usually harmless. If you have age spots on your face neck and hands, you obviously have some serious sun damage and should get checked out by a dermatologist to rule out any skin cancer.

So how do you get rid of age spots? You can't. You can cover them. You can fade them but trying to change the color of your skin is futile.

There are hundreds of age spot creams on the market today claiming to tackle this problem however most do not have a high enough concentration of the ingredients known to lighten skin and fade age spots and if they do have effective ingredients, they may cause serious skin irritations.

Hydroquinone, azelaic acid, kojic acid, vitamin C, and arbutin are just some of the ingredients proven to fade these nasty brown spots by inhibiting the enzyme tyrosinase, which forms skin pigmentation. You can also resort to laser resurfacing, chemical peels, and intense pulsed light therapy but again you will not see these age spots disappear completely.

Can you get rid of age age spots naturally? I am a natural skin care advocate and I would love to say that rubbing a piece of red onion or juice of a garlic on the spots, or dabbing the spots with buttermilk and mashed chick peas will work eventually but I don't believe it could be that easy.

Get yourself an age spot cream with effective, proven ingredients, and stay out of the darn sun! Using a great product without future protection from the sun is totally useless. They are called solar lentigines for good reason.