Went out in the sun on your bike and got your face, hands and feet tanned? As you are aware, summers are getting hotter and winters are getting colder by the year. Even a brief exposure to harsh sunlight on a hot day can darken the skin.
Why does skin get tanned?
Sunlight has Ultraviolet rays along with light of regular wavelength. The ultraviolet rays reach deeper layers of the skin. In order to protect the skin from the harmful radiation, skin starts producing more melanin, effectively making it darker / tanned.
What happens after skin gets tanned?
As days pass on after exposure to harsh sunlight, the skin cells die and new skin cells are produced by the body. The dead skin drops off exposing the new skin effectively lightening the tan and the tan lines that were formed. This is a natural course that the body takes. You can help your body remove the tan faster by following any of the tips given below. All the ingredients mentioned are available in your kitchen or in the grocery store near you, so, you can try any of these at home to naturally remove your skin tan. You can follow these tips to remove tan from face or hands and legs.
Before we get into the tips, here is some general information which we don’t want to repeat for every tip.
- Vitamin C – This is naturally present in the skin and helps in stimulating collagen synthesis and assists in antioxidant protection against UV induced damage to the skin. This is the reason why every skin protecting cream or gel contains vitamin C.
- Antioxidants – They prevent skin from getting damaged due to pigmentation.
Tips to remove skin tan naturally
- Tomato scrub
Tomatoes have vitamin C, antioxidants and lycopene. Lycopene acts as a natural sunscreen. You can take a slice of tomato and rub on your face, hands and feet. Let it dry for half an hour and wash it off. Repeat this for 2 weeks to see glowing and lighter skin. Instead of directly rubbing the tomato slice, you can crush the tomato and apply the juice on your skin. Works the same way.
- Bengal gram flour (besan in Indian terminology) with a pinch of turmeric
Bengal gram flour is capable of lightening the skin and can also remove the tan very effectively. It also helps your body in shedding dead skin cells. Here is how you can make the bengal gram flour and turmeric paste to remove tan from your skin naturally:
- Take 3 teaspoons of bengal gram flour in a bowl
- Add a teaspoon of olive oil
- Add one teaspoon of lemon juice
- And one pinch of turmeric.
Mix them well to make a paste. Apply the paste on any part of your body. It can be on your face, hands, feet, neck, nape, dark thighs etc to lighten the skin in the area. Let it dry for half an hour and wash it off. Repeat it everyday for two weeks to see significant results.
- Orange juice and curd
Orange juice contains vitamin C. Curd acts as a natural bleaching agent and reduces pigmentation of the skin. Combination of orange juice and curd helps in skin exfoliation and soothes it. Just add one teaspoon of orange juice to 2 spoons of curd and make it a paste. Apply the paste on your targeted areas to lighten the skin.
- Aloe vera and multani mitti
Multani mitti is a very popular ingredient used in India to rejuvenate skin, especially on the face. Multani mitti cleanses skin pores, absorbs oil produced by the skin and sheds dead skin cells. Aloe vera helps in moisturizing the skin and lightens the skin apart from several other benefits. Mix two spoons of multani mitti with one teaspoon of aloe vera gel. Add some rose water to make it a facepack. Apply the paste to your skin and leave it for 15 to 30 minutes. Wash it off with cold water. Repeat the process for a couple of weeks to get radiant and clear skin.
- Cucumber juice with pure milk
Milk adds moisture to the skin while cucumber juice cools the skin. Applying the lotion of cucumber juice and milk to skin after exposure to sun’s heat can help cool it down, reduce pigmentation and exfoliate dark skin. Just add equal quantities of cucumber juice and milk to make a lotion that you can apply on your skin.
Along with these five effective tips, there are several other methods that you can try including chemical bleaching, skin exfoliation creams, skin lightening products but we recommend to try natural ways to lighten your skin and when nothing helps, you can talk to a good dermatologist or a plastic surgeon for medical treatment.
