African American Skin Care Tips

Black Skin Care That Works!

African American skin care can seem like a maze. Your skin isn’t the same as Caucasian skin, but you suffer some of the same problems; oiliness, dryness and acne.

The good news is there are specialized skin care lines just for black skin, like Black Opal and Black Jack. Using these can improve your chances of positive results.

First, I want to mention that “black skin care” is used as a generalization here. You can be one of many ethnicities and have “black” skin. However, most will experience the same problems, and that is what this page addresses.

Whether you are African American, Jamaican, Ugandan, Haitian or any other ethnicity, these skin care tips are designed for you.

African American skin care needs to address the specific problems and traits this skin type has. For example…

Black skin tends to dry very easily. Because of this it will show blemish marks, scars and stretch marks more easily. This is called “hyper-pigmentation”.

If you have acne-prone skin avoid picking at the breakouts. If you pick enough at pimples, you can damage the skin permanently and give yourself keloids. Keloids are build-ups of scar tissue and are very visible.

The good news is, even though your skin will eventually start to lose its elasticity and begin showing wrinkles, there is research to support that it ages more slowly than other ethnicities. Yay for strong skin!

African American skin care may also include treating oily skin and dry skin. It’s easy for this skin type to dry out and when it does it starts to look “ashy”. You may also notice you have acne with dry skin, which is less common in other skin types.

Finally, no matter how dark your skin is, you need to wear sunscreen. Darker pigmented skin does not mean you are immune to harmful UVA/UVB rays. In fact, if you already have “sun spots” or dark spots on your skin from sun exposure, you really need to wear sunscreen regularly. Exposure to more sun will cause these spots to darken.

Now, let’s move on to specific African American skin care routines.

First, gently cleanse the dead skin off your face to get rid of the ashy appearance. A milk cleanser is effective and gentle. Twice a day is recommended.

Follow that with a hydrating moisturizer. Applying a glycerin or shea butter based cream while your skin is still slightly damp will give your thirsty skin plenty of moisture. The secret is to moisturize without being greasy.

If you have acne, try a spot treatment acne solution so you won't irritate your entire face. You may also want to visit a dermatologist so they can suggest an acne product that will benefit you best. Sulfur masks are great because you can use them all over, or just on your breakouts. They are natural and don’t usually cause any adverse skin reactions.

Visit our Dry Skin Care Tips page for additional information.

Be sure that any product you use is oil and alcohol free. Toners, moisturizers and cleansers should not contain any oil or alcohol. You may choose to use those with benzoyl peroxide, if you experience acne. However, there is some discussion that benzoyl peroxide is bad for this skin type. Benzoyl peroxide is quite effective at treating acne, but if you don't choose to use it, try something with salcylic acid instead.

Try an oil mattifier to keep shine to a minimum. This is a cream that when applied to the skin dries and absorbs oil, usually for 8 hours or so.

Facial blotter tissues are another great item. You just tear them off and use them to blot the oil throughout the day. They definitely won't clog your pores! I recommend the foundation-free version because I haven’t seen a good match for black skin yet.

Oil absorbing masques are also a good product to use once a week or so to avoid over-drying and irritating your skin. Clay masques and mud masques are two of my recommendations.

There are more helpful hints on our Oily Skin Care page.

African American skin care also has some specific areas of treatment we need to address.

Flesh Moles: If you have black skin, especially very dark skin, you may experience these. Their “real” name is Dermatosis Papulosa Nigra. Basically, they are harmless bumps often found on the jawline, forehead, chest and neck. They don’t ooze, weep, have a scab or crust nor do they bleed. They tend to look flattened.

While not harmful, they can be embarrassing or unattractive. If they are irritating you, there are several methods you can use to remove them.

You should always consult a dermatologist, and especially one who specializes in African American skin care (which I’ll get to in a minute). You can have them frozen off, cauterized or cut off.

Cosmetic Procedures: Like I mentioned above, try to find a dermatologist specializing in black skin. This is because your skin is more sensitive to injury and scars more easily and more visibly than lighter skin tones.

This specifically includes laser procedures.

Using a laser to reduce wrinkles is fine, but be aware that dark skin is at a much higher risk for permanent discoloration than lighter skin. That is why finding a specialist is so important!

Using a laser for hair removal is increasing in popularity. If your doctor is unfamiliar with black skin and uses the wrong laser you could wind up with blisters and scarring and worst of all; your hair will still be intact!

African American skin care isn’t so hard. There are just a few key areas you need to be aware of to keep your skin looking its very best. These tips, plus your own experimenting, will help you have the healthy, radiant skin you want.

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