Do you know the true pigmentation of your skin?
UNDERSTANDING HOW YOUR SKIN WILL AGE AND BEING ABLE TO CONTROL IT IS POSSIBLE!
The Fitzpatrick classification is used by Aestheticians to determine your skin type. This scale measures your skin’s tolerance of UV light, looking at how readily it burns and tans.
Whether sun exposure turns you beet red or into a bronze beach babe is determined by the amount of melanin in your skin.
Melanin is your skin's natural sunscreen and it gives your skin its colour plus. Therefore the more melanin you have the darker your skin colour is, and the more it is protected against UV radiation.
Knowing your skin type is crucial when thinking about what type of treatments are best for your skin, as everyone's skins responds in different ways to certain procedures.
FITZPATRICK CLASSIFICATION SCALE
I - Caucasian, Irish, English: White; very fair; red or blond hair; blue eyes; freckles likely = Always burns, never tans.
II - Caucasian, Northern or Middle European: Fair skinned (white); blue, green or hazel eyes; blond or red hair = Burns easily.
III - Eastern European, Mediterranean, Maori: Cream white; fair with any eye colour; very common skin type = Sometimes burns, gradually tans.
IV - Asian, Polynesian, South American: Typical Mediterranean Caucasian skin; medium to heavy pigmentation = rarely burns, gradually tans.
V - North Africa, Middle East: Mid-eastern skin types; rarely sun sensitive = Tans.
VI - Black African, Indian: Black skin; rarely sun sensitive = Tans well.
WHAT TREATMENTS WILL WORK FOR YOU?
With a higher melanin content, skin types IV-VI have better inbuilt protection against sunburn and environmental damage. But they are more susceptible to hyperpigmentation. Peels that are normally effective at revising pigmentation such as DMKs Pro-Alpha Six Layer and Remodelling Procedure peel may not be suitable treatments however in this case as they can potentially trigger pigmentation in these skin types.
Asian and Hispanic skin types are also predisposed to hyperpigmentation and anything that causes irritation can cause dark patches to appear on the skin. Peels formulated with lower acidic values can be used with caution.
Resurfacing treatments such as DMKs Pro-Alpha Six Layer and Remodelling Procedure peel are generally more suited to skin types I-III. With the resurfacing and chemical peels working to revise pigmentation and scarring effectively on these skin types.
INTERESTING FACT:
Ethnicity determines not just the amount of melanin in your skin but the amount of collagen and elastin as well, therefore although it may seem unfair that skin types IV-VI are restricted in the types of resurfacing and age revision treatments they can have, their skin is more likely to age better.
These skin types have more fibroblast cells (that create collagen and elastin) are more robust and do not suffer from environmental damage or sagging skin as fairer skin types do.
Which is why people from particular ethnic backgrounds do not show their age as others do because their collagen production is higher reducing the appearance of wrinkles.
On the other hand these skin types are more susceptible to keloid scarring (raised scar tissue), another reason resurfacing peels are not very suited to darker skin types.
PREVENTING PIGMENTATION IS EASIER THAN REVISING IT.
It is definitely much better to err on the side of caution and wear sunscreen everyday even if you work indoors because you can still be exposed to UVA and UVB while traveling to and from work or by sitting near a window.
DMK Soleil SPF50+ protects the skin against both UVB and UVA without feeling greasy on the skin or affecting the appearance or feel of makeup.
To find out what treatments and products are best suited to your individual skin book in for a professional skin consultation with your DMK Skin Technician.
Together we can develop the best skin programme to control how you will age in the years to come.
