The BEST Skincare Products for Black Skin?

I get asked iterations of this question often enough that I decided to make a space for it here on my blog. But let’s break this down first. I need to cover some ground here so be patient—I’ll get to the point AND help you ;)

So yes, black skin (as well as brown skin or the umbrella term “skin of color” which encompasses Fitzpatrick skin types IV-VI) generally has one thing in common: we tend to have melanocytes (the cells that create the pigment in our eyes, skin, and hair that gives it its unique color) that can react to “trauma” by damn near frantically overproducing.

That overproduction of melanin is the dark spots or dark areas we tend to see on our skin.

Trauma sounds mad dramatic, but basically here are some things that are considered “trauma” that can lead to your melanocytes overproducing melanin (aka hyperpigmentation):

ACNE

SCRATCHES

BURNS

BUG BITES

SUN EXPOSURE

DRYNESS

REACTION TO A SKINCARE PRODUCT

The things mentioned above and more can cause inflammation in the skin. That inflammation can then lead to hyperpigmentation. Your melanocytes are basically like “WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?! LET’S MULTIPLY!!!”

One of the best ways to treat hyperpigmentation is by avoiding it in the first place. For some of the items on the list, this is doable.

Making sure you’re wearing sunscreen regularly and reapplying every two hours when you’re outdoors is one of the best ways to do this.

Both UVA rays and visible light from the sun can worsen pigmentation and accelerate the visible signs of aging.

Protecting yourself with sunscreen as well as practicing safe sun (avoiding the sun between 10 AM to 2 PM, wearing protective clothing, hats, sunglasses, etc) are key to avoiding worsening your pigmentation. If you have MELASMA, you want to be exceptionally particular about sun protection because melasma can worsen dramatically with sun exposure.

You also want to be particular about the products you use in your skincare routine. If you have NEVER tried a product or a certain active before, do a patch test first. GO LOW (in percentage) AND SLOW (slowly introduce it into your routine).

There is no race in skincare. Higher percentages and using a product more vigorously will NOT get you faster results. In fact, for some people that will actually make the situation worse as the skin keeps getting attacked and thus overproduces melanin after each of these attacks.

Last thing you want to do is try to treat your hyperpigmentation with a bunch of actives and then wind up making it worse because you went HAM. :/

So the tendency to get hyperpigmentation is what black skin/brown skin/skin of color tend to have in common. You need to take it easy with our skin because going too far can mean hyperpigmentation (“going too far” can mean different things for each of us). This is why it’s important to go to skincare pros who have LONG RECEIPTS of working on our skin. They have to understand that delicate tango of treating our skin without further irritating it as to not cause hyperpigmentation or keloids.

We also tend to suffer from transepidermal water loss—basically meaning our skin tends to not hold in hydration (particularly our body skin) which can make it dryer and more prone to things like eczema and other dry skin conditions. That sort of inflammation can lead to hyperpigmentation. This is why I stay telling y’all to stop taking those hot showers—hot water zaps your skin and can make our already dry skin even drier.

But after that, there is no other real uniform way of treating black skin/brown skin/skin of color. Amongst us there are folks who have oily skin, who have dry skin; who have dry, sensitive skin; who have oily, dehydrated skin; who have acne; who have eczema; who have psoriasis; who have allergies to certain ingredients, etc, etc, etc.

BASICALLY: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE BEST SKINCARE PRODUCT FOR BLACK SKIN/BROWN SKIN/SKIN OF COLOR.

Yes, on YouTube I often do videos on sunscreens for darker skin—but that’s because our skin can look ashy when wearing certain sunscreens (typically mineral ones).

But even then you still have to take your skin type, current skincare needs, current environment (ie your skin may react differently in summer than it does winter; you may be at a higher altitude, etc) into consideration.

If you need help putting this all together, I GOT YOU. But you have to be willing to take the time to read through the information I’ve posted here on the blog and on my YouTube channel.

STARTING YOUR SKINCARE ROUTINE

HOW TO START A SKINCARE ROUTINE (HOW TO PICK CLEANSER, MOISTURIZER, ETC)

HOW TO LAYER YOUR SKINCARE (THE ORDER TO APPLY PRODUCTS)

MINERAL SUNSCREEN FOR DARKER SKIN (A PLAYLIST OF VIDEOS)

BEST MINERAL SUNSCREENS FOR DARKER SKIN (SO FAR)

SUNSCREENS FOR DARKER SKIN (INCLUDES MINERAL & CHEMICAL)

HOW TO TREAT ACNE (A PLAYLIST OF VIDEOS)

FILLER AND BOTOX (A PLAYLIST OF VIDEOS)

HYPERPIGMENTATION SERIES (MY YOUTUBE SUBSCRIBERS DETAIL HOW THEY GOT RID OF THEIR DARK SPOTS)

HOW TO GET RID OF DARK SPOTS (A PLAYLIST OF VIDEOS)

SKINCARE BASICS (A PLAYLIST OF VIDEOS)

REMEMBER: you don’t have to go this alone AND there is only but so much over the counter products can do to treat your skin. This is where a skin pro, an esthetician and/or dermatologist comes into play. BUT you MUST make sure that person has LONG RECEIPTS of working on our skin. Some of these pros can jack us up because they don’t have experience working with our skin. Check out the video below for tips on how to find a skin of color pro near you.

Photos: Marta Skovro McAdams