Black Skin 101

By Hayat Mohamed, BlackVoices.com

Skin care regimen, face cleansers, moisturizers, sun screen. If these words sound a little foreign to you, you're not alone. For many African-Americans their facial routines still consist of soap and water and if you haven't found out already, the skin on our face is far different from the rest of our body and requires a lot more care.

Renown African-American dermatologist Dr. Susan Taylor and creator of Rx For Brown Skin, took the time out to school Black Voices on the issues that we as African-Americans face with skincare and how important it is to create a regimen. Her skin care line Rx For Brown Skin caters to people of color and addresses all the issues that our skin goes through from sensitivity, hyper pigmentation and discoloration. Our skin is truly as unique as we are as a people and it deserves a lot more TLC than we thought. After reading this article we're sure you'll be on your way to a brighter and clearer you in no time.

What are the top skin concerns for people of color?

By far the top skin concern for people of color is hyper pigmentation which includes discolorations, dark marks, and uneven skin tone. Sensitive skin and acne round out the top concerns of people of color.


How does black skin really differ from Caucasian skin?

Black skin is different from Caucasian skin in several respects. First, it contains increased levels of the pigment melanin as compared to Caucasian skin. Melanin is made in cells known as melanocytes and they are very reactive. Because of the reactive and unpredictable nature of melanin, women with black skin are more likely to suffer from problems such as dark marks, blemishes and other skin discolorations such as post-inflammatory hyper pigmentation, melasma and vitiligo. Blacks often take medication for conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, and these medications can lead to skin discolorations. Finally, Black skin also reacts differently and at times more severely to common conditions such as acne, eczema, psoriasis and dandruff as compared to Caucasian skin. Abnormal scars do develop in individuals of African, Latina and Asian descent, one of the most common types is keloidal scarring. Keloids are more likely to occur in individuals with a family history or genetic susceptibility. Keloids are due to an over-production of scar tissue that is made of the building block of the skin, collagen. There are differences in collagen between Black and Caucasian skin.

How can you prevent and treat scarring?

When an acne pimple resolves, it often leaves a dark mark or discoloration that is termed post-inflammatory hyper pigmentation (PIH). Many people call PIH, scarring. For prevention, it is important to treat acne promptly and to prevent new acne lesions from developing. This can be done by using a daily skin care regimen for acne prone skin (like Rx for Brown Skin, Bright and Clear Cleanser, Toner and Moisturizer). For more severe acne, it is important to see your dermatologist who can place you on topical or oral medications. Next, for treatment of the PIH, you want to use a botanical skin brightener or hydroquinone based skin lightener. Exfoliation of the skin is also key (this removes the dead skin cells which contain the extra melanin pigment) and you may begin with an exfoliating serum (like Rx for Brown Skin Absolute Radiance Intensive Exfoliating Serum). Finally, chemical peels or microderm abrasion may be performed safely on Black skin. They are done every 3 or 4 weeks and exfoliate or remove the dead layers of skin.

Why do black people age better?

There's probably some kind of genetic component however because the melanin that we have in our skin, it protects us from sun damage. A lot of the aging changes are from the sun. so for example, if I walk outside, I have a natural SPF of 23 where as a white woman might have an SPF of 3 so she will have much more sun damage over the years than I am; hence I'm going to look younger. Also there are some other fundamental issues in aging between racial groups. For African Americans for example, I can develop discoloration on my skin due to aging. Uneven skin tone is very common for African American women who age where as we don't get the fine lines and the wrinkles. There are just differences in how we age. Another major problem is that we lose firmness in our skin and it starts to sag.

Can black develop skin cancer?

African Americans do develop skin cancer, no doubt about it. Most concerning thing is that we develop melanoma. When we develop melanoma, that's the deadly kind of skin cancer it's often diagnosed at a much later stage because it just goes unrecognized. So people are dying of melanoma, African-Americans that is, at a higher rate than whites because it's not diagnosed early enough and it occurs in unusual areas. It appears on the palms, soles, the fingernail as well as the mucus membrane. Those are unusual areas. People don't know to look for them in those areas. It could be a black streak in the fingernail; it could be a black spot on the palm or the sole. It can be a mole that has changed. There are many different faces of the presentation of it.

Can make-up worsen acne for women?

Well a couple of things. If we're talking about make-up particularly as it relates to acne prone skin, there are makeup that are oil based which have oil in them which will probably cause acne to flare up. You want to make sure if you wear foundation or various types of makeup with acne prone skin, you want to make sure that it's oil free. Or there's something else called nonchomedigenic which means it won't cause acne chomedones.

What is the cause of razor bumps?

Razor bumps are due to the following circumstances. The hair follicles of blacks are curved and the hair that grows out of the follicle is curly. So, as the hair grows out of the follicle it curves back towards the skin and pierces the skin. The hair continues to grown into the skin which inflames the skin and produces a painful, uncomfortable bump. The inflammation then leads to discoloration of the skin. Shaving the hair with a razor often cuts the hair at an angle which produces a sharp point. The sharp point pierces the skin thus setting up the inflammatory process.

How does your skin care line cater to people of color?

I developed Rx for Brown Skin to scientifically address the structural and functional differences of brown skin. The key difference in brown skin is its tendency to hyper pigment and produce dark marks when irritated or inflamed. So, the products in the Rx for Brown Skin skincare line are free of ingredients that potentially irritate brown skin which can lead to dark discolorations. Rx is fragrance-free, alcohol-free, dye-free,
lanolin-free and propylene glycol-free.

There are three regimens each consisting of Cleanser, Toner and Moisturizer
• Bright & Healthy Regimen for dry and sensitive skin
• Bright & Even Regimen for uneven skin tone and discolorations
• Bright & Clear Regimen for acne prone skin

For more information on black skin care visit Brown Skin Solutions and to learn more about Dr. Susan Taylor's skin care line go to Rx for Brown Skin.