Diary / Beauty / Mar 1, 2023

How to Cover Hyperpigmentation With Makeup

Written by: Piper Gray

Photography by: Ben Ritter

jones road beauty model

Hyperpigmentation is a common issue for many. Trying to cover these problem areas on your skin can be frustrating when that discoloration still peeks through your makeup, even after you’ve finished applying it. 

Below, we take you through what hyperpigmentation is, what causes it, and tips on how you can cover hyperpigmentation with makeup. 

What Is Hyperpigmentation?

Hyperpigmentation is where an area of the skin becomes darker than the rest. 

You’ve probably heard of these forms of hyperpigmentation:

-Sunspots: Also known as age spots, liver spots, or solar lentigines, sunspots are flat spots on the skin where pigmentation has increased. They can appear to be oval or round and can vary in size.

-Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation: These are dark spots that appear after a skin wound or injury has healed; this type of hyperpigmentation is different from scarring but can accompany post-injury scars.

-Melasma: Caused by hormones or sun exposure, this is the overproduction of cells that create the pigment of your skin. Melasma is most common in women. 

-Freckles: Yes, freckles are a form of hyperpigmentation.

What Causes Hyperpigmentation?

The cause of hyperpigmentation is an overproduction of melanin, the pigment that gives color to our skin. (As a refresher, those with lighter skin have less melanin, and those with darker skin have more melanin.) 

Certain areas of our skin can have extra melanin in comparison to other areas, and this causes the appearance of dark spots. Several things contribute to this:

Sun Exposure

Sun exposure is one of the main culprits of hyperpigmentation. Rays from the sun stimulate the production of melanin (the same melanin that helps you tan in the summer), but this can also lead to the development of dark spots and uneven skin tone. 

Skin Injury

When you have a wound, the skin can overproduce melanin in response to the injury. Melanocytes, the cells that produce melanin, ramp up production as a protective response, which causes dark spots and discoloration as the skin heals.

This is more common in people with darker skin tones. The response is more intense if the injured area is manipulated, like if you pick at acne spots or scratch at a scab that has formed over an injury.

Melasma

Melasma is when dark, symmetrical patches appear on the face, usually around your cheeks or forehead.

This skin condition is caused by hormonal changes, like those that occur during pregnancy (melasma is nicknamed the "mask of pregnancy"), taking birth control pills. or the onset of menopause.

Are There Treatments for Hyperpigmentation? 

Good news: Yes. There are several methods, and the treatments depend on the type and cause of hyperpigmentation.

Common treatments include:

-Topical creams: Specially formulated creams can help lighten dark spots and even out skin tone. They may contain ingredients like niacinamide, vitamin C, or kojic acid, all which work inhibiting the production of melanin.

-Dermabrasion: A procedure that removes the top layer of skin, removing dark spots and fine lines.

-Laser therapy: Targeted beams of light are used to reduce hyperpigmentation. These lasers can be intensive and remove layers of the skin, or can be targeted towards the dermis (where collagen, nerve endings, and hair follicles live) to promote collagen growth which can help to reduce dark spots.

-Cryotherapy: A procedure that involves using liquid nitrogen to freeze dark spots. This will cause the spots to fall off, revealing a more even-toned and brighter complexion.

While these treatments can lead to noticeable differences, they can take time, and some need the guidance of a doctor. In the meantime, makeup is one of the easiest ways to cover hyperpigmentation.

How Can I Cover Hyperpigmentation With Makeup? 

Makeup should be about enhancing your natural beauty, not hiding it, and can help you feel confident. You can do all of that easily, even if that means covering up the imperfections that we all have, with Jones Road Beauty's products.

jones road beauty model

Prep Your Skin

Before any makeup application, prepping your skin is a necessary step. This lets your application sit flawlessly for a long-lasting, no-makeup makeup look. Great makeup starts with clean, healthy skin, and The Cleansing Stick is a low-maintenance addition to your skincare routine. 

If you have issues with dryness, you’ll want to apply moisturizer to keep your skin hydrated and supple. We have you covered no matter your dryness level with the Light Moisture Cream for normal to dry skin and the Miracle Cream for those with super dry skin. Those with oily skin will benefit from our Oil-Free Moisturizer.

If your skin is oily, skip the moisturizer as our What The Foundation offers all the hydration you’ll need as it contains jojoba oil and sodium hyaluronate. These ingredients are skin-soothing and contain moisturizing properties, like vitamin E, fatty acids, and antioxidants. 

Color Correction 

Color correction includes using a few shades of concealer or foundation to neutralize discoloration and help with uneven skin tone caused by blemishes or hyperpigmentation. 

Remember the color wheel from art class? Colors opposite each other balance each other out, and this is where the thinking behind color correction comes from. You’ve probably heard of using green concealer to cover redness: same idea, just different colors for hyperpigmentation. Orange or peach shades can be used to neutralize dark spots, which can be purplish in appearance. 

Enter two products you’ll want to keep in your arsenal: The Neutralizer Pencil and The Face Pencil. They’re formulated the same, both an easy-to-apply tool familiar to anyone who’s used a pencil (so, everyone). 

The consistency of both will seamlessly glide onto, and blend into, your skin wherever you apply. Finding the right pencils to match your skin tone is easy—just take our shade-matching quiz. 

The Neutralizer Pencil is ideal for covering up dark circles under the eye or any other spots that are pigmented, like recovering blemishes. The shades are especially developed to cancel out darkness, and this pencil is best followed up with The Face Pencil to add back in the appearance of your natural skin tone.

 

jones road beauty model

Foundation

After using The Face Pencil, neutralizing areas of hyperpigmentation, apply foundation over the color-corrected areas and apply the rest of your makeup as usual. Our foundation blends seamlessly into the skin and leaves you with a fresh and, most importantly, even complexion. 

What The Foundation is buildable and offers natural coverage, leaving your skin looking like your skin, only better. Resist the temptation to layer more concealer over the foundation. Caked-on products can end up being more noticeable. 

Ensuring that your products are the correct shades for your skin will make it look like you aren’t wearing any product at all. You’ll have that natural, no-makeup look while your hyperpigmented spots are perfectly covered.

Optional: Powder

If you’re not quite there in terms of feeling like you’ve sufficiently covered up your hyperpigmentation, the last step should be a targeted or all-over application of Tinted Face Powder. It’s incredibly lightweight and doesn’t settle or build, so it’s excellent for mattifying, setting your look, or simply, adding more of your natural color to help combat hyperpigmentation.

Preventing Further Hyperpigmentation 

While makeup can help cover existing areas of hyperpigmentation, there are a couple of ways you can prevent further discoloration and unevenness. Most important: Protect your skin from the sun. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen every day, even in the winter and on cloudy days.

Broad-spectrum sunscreens protect against both UVA and UVB rays. You’ll want to reach for sunscreen with a base SPF of 30. Layer sunscreen after your moisturizer in the morning, and reapply as you spend more time in the sun, especially between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., when the sun’s rays are the strongest. 

Another way to prevent hyperpigmentation is to avoid picking at already-inflamed areas, like blemishes or other skin ailments. The more the area is manipulated, the darker the area can become due to the skin trying to protect itself. 

The Bottom Line

Hyperpigmentation is a common issue for many, and while treatments can reduce the appearance of dark spots on the skin, it can often take a long time to see results. 

Using makeup to cover areas of hyperpigmentation gives a fresh chance to manage dark spots. Jones Road Beauty has clean, strategic, high-grade formulations to cover any areas of concern and enhance your natural beauty. 

Shop the article:

Bestseller

The Face Pencil

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The Neutralizer Pencil

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What The Foundation

Tinted Face Powder

Diary / Beauty / Mar 1, 2023

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