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What is lavender?
Lavender is a small evergreen shrub with fragrant purple flowers. Lavandula or lavender oil is the oil distilled from the flower spikes of this plant. Lavender oil contains phytochemicals such as linalool and linalyl acetate.
What is it best for?
In addition to being a beautifully fragrant ingredient, lavender oil can actually promote skin healing. Lavender has been shown to increase collagen synthesis in the skin’s connective tissue. In simple words, this means that lavender oil can be used to treat minor cuts and wounds.
In addition, it can be used to soothe sunburn, insect bites, and the symptoms of eczema and psoriasis. Its anti-inflammatory properties may help reduce acne, and the essential oil can also reduce irritation and pain caused by skin conditions.
In general, lavender has a soothing property, making it an excellent ingredient for many skin conditions. To find out if lavender will help with your skin needs, take our Skin Quiz.
What is the drawback?
Lavender has relatively few drawbacks as a skin ingredient. As lavender oil is fragrant, it can irritate the skin. In addition, being an essential oil, it is a powerful ingredient, and needs to be diluted sufficiently before it is safe to use on the skin. It may also cause an allergic reaction in some individuals.
Melasma is a specific example of hyperpigmentation. Melasma looks like whole patches of brown or darker skin across the parts of the face and neck. Melasma is common among women who are pregnant - it’s even referred to as “the mask of pregnancy.” But melasma can occur in both men and women who are not pregnant, too. Melasma can be caused by UV damage, but there are also genetic, hormonal, and medication-induced causes for melasma, too.
There are a variety of topical ingredients that can be used to lighten the skin from melasma or reduce its appearance. Each ingredient works in different ways, and each has their own benefits and drawbacks. hydroquinone, arbutin, vitamin C (ascorbic acid, and tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, etc) are some of the most commonly used ingredients for melasma treatment.
Hydroquinone is a skin lightening cream that works by suppressing the production of melanin. There are drawbacks to using hydroquinone, however, including cancer risks demonstrated by recent scientific studies, as well as hydroquinone-induced ochronosis.
Arbutin is a synthesized derivative of hydroquinone. It acts as a powerful skin lightening ointment that works a bit differently than hydroquinone. It blocks the production of melanin instead of “bleaching” the skin.
Vitamin C can be used as a brightening agent to lighten the hyperpigmentation of your sunspots or melasma. It works by inhibiting the enzyme tyrosinase, preventing the formation of melatonin.
Ascorbic Acid is actually the formal scientific name for one form of Vitamin C. It can refer to either a naturally occurring Vitamin C found in foods such as citrus, or a synthetic form of ascorbic acid created to be more shelf-stable for skincare products like discoloration repair lotions and creams.
Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate is another form of Vitamin C. By synthesizing this compound from Vitamin C, dermatologists are able to give us all the benefits of Vitamin C in a more shelf-stable form that can also be soluble in oil to make more effective, deeper penetrating skin products. (Herndon 2016)
Ingredients in the vitamin A family (ie. Retinol, tretinoin, etc) and acids (glycolic acid, lactic acid, salicylic acid) help damaged pigmented skin cells shred faster, so they also help with melasma.
lavender may be effective for melasma, but there are many other factors that may affect whether this ingredient would work on your skin or if there are better ingredients that may work for you. Take this skin quiz to find the best ingredients for your skin and build your skincare routine.
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