I Traveled 3635 Miles to Learn How to Get Rid of My Dark Spots—5 Game-Changing Tips

I'd do virtually anything to get rid of my stubborn, post-acne dark spots. Test every skin-brightening formula under the sun? Yep. Pray to a higher power? Been there (multiple times). Take a seven-hour flight to the biggest skin aesthetics conference in the world? I'm game, especially when I can attend the lecture of one of the most decorated (and chic, might I add) derms in the biz.

Suzan Obagi, MD, is quite literally the definition of "a wealth of knowledge." She's not only the chief medical director at Obagi (the eponymous medical-grade skincare brand) but also an associate professor of dermatology and plastic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine with over 50 (yes, 50!) publications in peer-reviewed dermatologic journals. So when I received the opportunity to follow her to Paris for this year's IMCAS conference, suffice it to say I was stoked. What made me even giddier was finding out Obagi would lead an entire presentation on the exact skin issue I've been struggling with: hyperpigmentation. "Evening out skin tone [is] the most common reason people see the dermatologist," she told me over coffee a couple days before the event. Given the complexity of different types of discoloration—post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, melasma, sunspots—this makes total sense. Still, it's good to know I'm not alone!

It's been over a month since the conference, and I'm still thinking about Obagi's tailored advice (which included some piping-hot takes). No need to travel over 3000 miles for the main takeaways—here, all the skin-transforming tips I learned from the lecture and my personal chat with the sought-after derm herself.

1. Apply Antioxidants Twice a Day

When it comes to skin-brightening, antioxidant-infused serums (think vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin B3, pomegranate, etc.) are the crown royals. These supercharged formulas help neutralize free radicals that come from sun damage, pollution, and general inflammation. I'm likely not telling you groundbreaking information here. However! According to Obagi, you should be slathering on antioxidants twice a day—if you're not, you're doing your skin a major disservice.

"The biggest mistake people do [is] limit their antioxidants to the morning," she tells me. For context, the general skincare advice is to apply a vitamin C serum in the a.m. and a retinol or acid-infused serum at night. That's all well and good, but if dark spots are your main gripe, you'll want to make sure you double up on those skin-brighteners. "Any antioxidant you put on in the morning is going to be depleted within a few hours of being outdoors or throughout the course of the day," Obagi explains. (Antioxidants do their work rather quickly, she adds.) "You should reapply it again at night because nighttime is when our body repairs itself. … When you go into deep sleep, your cells are [renewing]. The mitochondria is replenishing itself and getting rid of damaged proteins, and that's the powerhouse of the cells. You can help that by putting on an antioxidant."

For those that also use retinol, don't fret. As long as you have a super-gentle, high-quality antioxidant serum (more on that in just a moment), Obagi says you can technically use them in the same routine. "Put the serum on first and your retinoid on over that," she advises. If you have hypersensitive skin, you could even wait a few minutes in between steps to ensure the active ingredients fully absorb.

2. Commit to Gentle Acids

Glycolic acid is a dermatology darling for fading dark spots, so I was quite surprised when Obagi told me to personally steer clear for the time being. Because my skin is sensitive (I even have early signs of rosacea—fun!), she says it's important to maintain a balance between sloughing pigmented cells and keeping the skin calm—more inflammation might thwart all my even-toned progress.

"Glycolic acids, by nature, are inflammatory. That's why in my office, I don't do glycolic acid peels," she says. "It's a wild horse; you can't really control it. In some people it's going to penetrate very quickly, and it may give an unintended deeper peel, or it's inflammatory and can trigger pigmentation in some patients." For sensitive skin types like me, she recommends more soothing players like gluconolactone and lactobionic acid. If you read those words and immediately thought, "Gesundheit!" I hear you. Just know them as popular polyhydroxy-acids (PHAs) that buff dead skin without causing irritation. "They'll gently exfoliat but at a higher pH, so they're less acidic on your skin. So that's going to be more tolerable," Obagi notes.

3. Pre-Condition the Skin Before Procedures

This is arguably the most important tip of all. Obagi is a fan of lasers and peels (she actually just had one herself before making the trip!), but for patients struggling with hyperpigmentation, she doesn't immediately resort to treatments. This may sound strange coming from someone so renowned in the cosmetic dermatology space, but as Obagi shared at the conference, procedures work better (and have far fewer complications) when you ensure the skin barrier is actually strong enough to receive them. "Don't give in—educate" is her golden rule.

That said, she preps her patients for at least six weeks (12 to 18 weeks for those with deeper skin tones) before any skin-brightening procedures—a concept she calls "pre-conditioning the skin." After committing to gentle yet effective antioxidant serums, retinoids, and lightly exfoliating formulas, the skin should be primed and ready to finally receive those laser zaps. Plus, there will likely be fewer spots to treat after weeks of dedicated skincare. (Obagi has the clinical before-and-after photos to prove it!)

"[People] don't realize that if you take good care of your skin, you need far fewer procedures," she tells me. "If you have a limited budget, I would much prefer that you're using a good skin care regimen rather than coming to my office to do procedures. I want to set [you] up for success."

4. Treat the Full Face, Every Time

It's common to spot-treat patches of hyperpigmentation, especially if they tend to be concentrated in a specific area, but do your skin a favor and commit to treating the whole face. "Damage is everywhere," Obagi says. "Even though you're only seeing hyperpigmentation popping up in one spot, give it time—it'll start to show in others. That's an indicator to treat the whole face."

5. Approach Spots From Multiple Pathways

Here's the thing about OTC skin-brightening products: A single-ingredient formula can only do so much. If you want to fully fade hyperpigmentation, you'll want to approach those spots from every angle possible—which, oftentimes, requires multiple actives. "It turns out there are five different pathways that you need to tackle in order to really reduce pigment in the skin," Obagi shares. Stabilizing melanocytes (aka, pigment-producing cells) are just one of those pathways. In short: You need a robust bouquet of actives to target the root of those dark spots.

Enter the multifaceted formulas below. I've specifically been using the Super Antioxidant Serum and Moisture Restore cream for the past six weeks (making sure to follow Obagi's advice on how to use them), and my dark spots have drastically improved—even the old, deep ones clustered on my chin. My skin barrier is absolutely thriving, so I may have to make the trip down to Obagi's Pittsburgh office and get the lingering marks (safely) zapped off. I've traveled much farther in the name of clear, even-toned skin—what's 300 more miles?

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