Treating Dark Spots Naturally At Home — Without Damaging The Skin In The Process

Dark spots, age spots, sun spots, whatever you want to call them, they can be tricky to treat.

In some cases, they will require professional intervention (a dermatologist may recommend IPL laser, LED therapy, or a professional-grade chemical peel). But there are many treatments you can do at home that will fade their appearance—albeit more gradually but also in the comfort of your own home.

When addressing age spots at home, it's really important that you don't go overboard. People think that if they just treat the issue aggressively, it will fade faster—but in many cases this just increases inflammation, further damaging the skin and potentially worsening the marks.

Here, what to do instead:

Exfoliation is a useful tool for addressing many signs of aging skin, including fine lines, dullness, and yes, age spots. However, exfoliation is all about balance. "You want to exfoliate just enough to increase cell turnover and reveal fresh new skin, but be sure to not scratch or damage your skin by overusing these devices or products," says Ife Rodney, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist and founder of Eternal Dermatology, about exfoliation frequency.

So you really need to find exfoliators to suit your skin type. Those with sensitive and dry skin will benefit from gentle options like mandelic or lactic acids (look for ones further buffered with soothing ingredients). Those with dull or mature skin may need something a bit stronger, like glycolic acid (which can even promote collagen production). And for those with oily and acne-prone skin, salicylic acid will not only fade post-inflammatory dark spots, but it will help stop breakouts from forming in the first place.

For those with particularly stubborn dark spots, arbutin has impressive capabilities.

"Arbutin is a naturally occurring compound in the leaves of a variety of different plants, including pear trees and the bearberry plant, that prevents the formation of melanin," says board-certified dermatologist Keira Barr, M.D., noting that the overproduction of melanin in certain areas is what makes up dark spots and melasma patches. "It functions as a tyrosinase inhibitor to provide skin-brightening effects. This happens because when your skin and these cells come in contact with UV light, the tyrosinase enzyme is activated. Arbutin blocks this."   

When treating any skin condition or concern, your most effective route is to tend to it through many avenues—topical, technical, lifestyle, and internal. In terms of internal support, certain antioxidants have actually been shown to help reduce age marks.

For example, a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial found that taking pomegranate whole fruit extract orally could help with common sun-induced pigmentation (aka sun spots). 

"There's actually clinical trials showing that if you drink pomegranate juice or take a certain dose of pomegranate extract, it actually has a UV protective effect against the sun—essentially it can help your skin repair from sun damage—which we know is the leading cause of brown spots," says board-certified dermatologist Whitney Bowe, M.D., in an episode of Clean Beauty School. "There's another that shows that it can actually help brighten dark spots from the past and help with hyperpigmentation." 

Another popular antioxidant, astaxanthin has been shown to help reduce the size of age spots1, as well as ease the appearance of fine lines and dullness. You can add these nutrients to your diet or look for them in beauty supplements for an extra boost.

While these steps will certainly help you fade dark spots, they're not the only options you have available. For intel on treating age marks, check out our full guide.