One of the most common skin issues I see is dull skin. Anyone of any age can develop dull skin and wonder where that youthful, healthy glow is hiding.
My job is to teach people what’s causing their skin to look congested and dull and help them restore their skin’s natural radiance without damaging their skin barrier or using harsh abrasive products.
“By focusing on the causes of your skin’s issues and using products that can help even skin tone and restore brightness, you can regain the radiant, healthy-looking skin you once had.”
Shani Darden, esthetician
First things first, skin brightening isn’t skin lightening. If you have dark spots or areas of concentrated pigmentation or discoloration, that’s a different condition.
You can take measures to fade the appearance of dark spots, and you may have dark spots along with dull skin, but the focus of the following information will be to restore an overall smooth, even, and vibrant skin tone.
How Can You Know if You Have Dull Skin?
Sometimes, figuring out what’s going on with your skin isn’t easy. You might not know exactly what’s different about your skin, only that something is, in fact, different.
You may have dull skin if you experience:
- Dryness. The skin may seem dry or feel like it is never fully hydrated, even when you use moisturizers or creams.
- Irritation. Dull skin is often characterized by an uneven skin texture that can include patches of irritation, dryness, redness, or even flaking skin.
- Drab color. The skin may look like it has lost its healthy glow, or it may have an overall appearance that doesn’t look healthy, even if you are healthy and hydrated.
- Oiliness. Sometimes, dull skin can develop oily patches, especially around the nose and on the forehead.
- The appearance of more fine lines and wrinkles. It may even seem like these lines and wrinkles appear overnight.
You might have some or all of these signs, but an overall uneven skin tone is usually the chief complaint for people with dull skin.
How Can You Support Skin Health?
Understanding how the skin works is the key to understanding how to correct it when you develop skin conditions like dullness. There are several elements that help keep your skin healthy.
Skin Proteins
Your skin is made up of two major proteins: collagen and elastin. Both of these proteins are important for keeping skin looking youthful. Collagen plumps the skin and keeps it firm, and elastin helps the skin stretch and snap back into place.
When these proteins are plentiful, the skin naturally has firmness, a youthful appearance, and a natural radiance.
Skin Cell Turnover
Skin is constantly renewing itself. Your skin cells proliferate in the deepest layers of the skin and are pushed upward towards the epidermis, or the top layer of your skin. Continual skin cell turnover ensures new skin is always replacing old and/or damaged skin, keeping your skin looking youthful and bright.
Proper Skin Care
Taking care of your skin is vital to helping your skin thrive. Using products that contain proven, skin-nourishing ingredients can help ensure your skin is functioning properly and is protected against external stressors (like UV rays and pollution).
All of these pieces add up to healthy skin, so when the skin starts to look dull, I like to review my clients’ skin types, skincare routines, and lifestyle habits to find out what’s causing the shift from healthy skin to dull skin.
What Causes Dull Skin?
There are a few different reasons why you might be experiencing skin that is less glowy than it used to be. Here are the most common reasons why skin loses its bright appearance.
Less Collagen and Elastin Production
The collagen and elastin that keep your skin firm and smooth disappear as we age. In fact, we begin to lose about one percent of our collagen production each year starting at age 20.
When we produce less collagen, we begin to get fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes, hollows in the cheeks, and an overall lack of skin elasticity. This can also affect skin tone and appearance and rob you of the vitality you are used to seeing in your skin.
Slow Skin Cell Renewal
When you are a child, your skin renews rapidly. This is why kids and teenagers have this amazing, bright skin that we naturally associate with youth.
As we age, our skin cell turnover begins to slow down. Less new skin means damaged skin is more noticeable. It also means that dead skin cells may cling to the surface of the skin longer, making the skin congested and possibly leading to breakouts and blemishes.
If you have sun spots or age spots, a slow skin cell turnover will also make these much more noticeable. The same goes for blemish scars or any other type of surface-level skin damage.
Free Radical Damage
If you aren’t familiar with free radicals, let me educate you. Free radicals are unbalanced molecules that come from external sources that your skin faces every day. The sun, pollution, cigarette smoke, and even some cleaning products produce free radicals.
Free radicals affect healthy molecules that make up your skin cells in a process called oxidative stress. This can damage your skin cells, and when they proliferate, the damage gets copied to new skin cells, so the new skin you make is already damaged.
Improper Skin Care Routines
No one is perfect, and of course, there will be times when you’re too tired to remove your makeup or you accidentally end up in the sun without sunscreen. But if you consistently make these choices, the results will show up in the overall health of your skin.
Taking care of your skin is essential to everyone at every age and includes making sure you’re giving your skin the right ingredients to help it thrive.
How Can You Brighten Dull Skin?
Thankfully, correcting dull skin is relatively easy. I specialize in helping restore skin to its healthy appearance, and I do it by ensuring that we are targeting every aspect of your skin’s health with ingredients and skin care products that are scientifically backed and proven to work.
If you came here looking for a secret formula, you’ve got it. Here’s how you can restore glowing skin, soothe sun damage, and eliminate dull, drab skin tone once and for all.
Level Up Your Daily Defenses
Begin with the basics. If you’re still using the same cleanser and lotion you used in high school, it’s time for a change. There are so many anti-aging ingredients that can help your skin stay youthful, and you can never start too early.
You can get the skin-brightening and firming ingredients you need in a simple, three-step skincare routine with my . The set includes my Retinol Reform® Serum, Lactic Acid Serum, and Cleansing Serum.
- Retinol Reform®. There’s no denying the anti-aging effects of retinol. By helping support cell proliferation and collagen production, retinol can help restore a youthful glow. Retinol is a powerful ingredient, which means that it can cause skin sensitivity in some formulations. That’s why I formulated my bestsellerRetinol Reform with encapsulated, time-release retinol to give you the benefits you want with minimal irritation.
- Lactic Acid Serum. Lactic acid is a natural exfoliant that can remove dead skin cells without scrubbing or abrasive ingredients. I also formulated this brightening serum with gluconolactone (PHA), which is another exfoliating ingredient that can be gentle on sensitive skin.
- Cleansing Serum. Packed with hyaluronic acid to combat dry skin and oat bran extract to strengthen the skin barrier, this is a cleanser that won’t leave your skin feeling uncomfortably tight, dry, or itchy.
These three brightening products can give your skin a hydrating boost with a commitment of just a few minutes per day.
Exfoliate Regularly
The mistake most people make with exfoliating is doing it too much and using products that are simply too aggressive for the task. I love the iS Clinical Tri-Active Exfoliating Masque for a once-a-week or as-needed exfoliating solution.
I also recommend the Alpha Beta Peel Pad by Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare. These are great for first-time peelers, as they are gentle.
This mask is gentle enough for all skin types and contains salicylic acid and natural plant botanicals to help dry up oily spots, remove dead skin cells, and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It can also help keep skin feeling firm by helping restore an overall even skin texture.
Try a Chemical Peel
Chemical peels are a highly successful tool I’ve always used to help my clients achieve a red carpet-level glow. Now, you can get the same level of advanced skin restoration at home with my Triple Acid Signature Peel.
This is a two-step peel that includes ingredients to remove dead skin cells, clear up congestion, and refine pores. The first step includes a mask formulated with lactic acid, glycolic acid, and mandelic acid. The second step is a soothing mask that contains both kaolin and bentonite clays to help deeply cleanse the pores and soothe areas of irritation.
I recommend this peel once every other week to help restore the skin’s brightness and glow.
Protect Your Skin
Protecting your skin from external aggressors is important to ensure your skin stays healthy and doesn’t age prematurely. It’s generally best to protect your skin with two specific skincare ingredients: sunscreen and antioxidants.
- For the sun. I’m a huge fan of a dual moisturizer and sunscreen combo because using more products than you need could lead to unwanted skin issues. I love Supergoop! Play, a combination lotion and sunscreen with an SPF 50. I recommend sunscreen use every day, even if you don’t think you’ll be outdoors much. Even driving or being in an office with a window exposes you to sunlight, which can contribute to premature aging.
- For free radical protection. Antioxidants can help protect your skin against free radicals. Acting as little shields, they can neutralize free radicals and support your overall skin health.
My Sake Toning Essence is an antioxidant-rich probiotic toner that helps support the skin barrier and keep it safe from free radicals. It also includes niacinamide (vitamin B3) that can visibly reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and helps tone and tighten pores.
Other products and ingredients that can provide antioxidant benefits include vitamin C serums, kojic acid, licorice root extract, iS Clinical Pro-Heal Serum, and aloe.
Using these products together can help ensure your skin is protected before you start your day.
Be a Peptide Pro
I told you that skin is made up of two important proteins: collagen and elastin. These proteins are made up of amino acids. Amino acids chain together to form peptide chains, which are the building blocks of both collagen and elastin.
Supporting natural collagen and elastin production is possible, provided you use the right ingredients. Using a peptide-enriched product can help support collagen production for more youthful-looking skin.
My Hydration Peptide Cream is a blend of peptides, ceramides (to help support the skin barrier, squalane to help support your skin’s moisture levels, and Hydrosella™, my proprietary ingredient that provides up to 72 hours of deep hydration.
Be a Glow Getter
Do you have drab-looking skin? By focusing on the causes of your skin’s issues and using products that can help even skin tone and restore brightness, you can regain the radiant, healthy-looking skin you once had.
Everyone’s skin goes through periods of congestion and dullness, but it’s easy to get back to base level and improve your skin’s overall texture and appearance. Using products that work and being proactive about your skincare can give you skin that looks amazing and feels firm.
For more resources on skincare, check out my blog and browse my online selection of high-quality, cruelty-free, and vegan-friendly skincare products.
Sources:
Retinol: Cream, Serum, What it is, Benefits, How to Use | Cleveland Clinic
Decreased Collagen Production in Chronologically Aged Skin | PMC
