The Secrets of Lightening your Dark & Discolored Body Parts (Back & Midriff)

Outrageous Ways to Improve the Skin Complexion of Back & Midriff

So, this is going to be my second installment on dark & discolored body parts after we covered dark neck, dark armpits & dark knuckles in the former post. To sneak a peek into the situation, let me exemplify a few situations that regularly debilitate many of us & at the worst, sometimes we’re too embarrassed to talk about it.

When I started this series on discolored body parts, I thought I’d make two installments & this (the 2^nd one) would be my final installment in this case but now, as I’m haunted by so many questions everyday on the same, I’ve discovered two installments may not be able to cover the problem fully as different body parts often pose different challenges (mostly due to locations & accessibility) & reasons of the darkness & discoloration can be widely variable. So I’ve decided to cover 2 of the body parts that often pose to be challenges to us this time. Those are back & midriff.

Let me also explain why these three parts are important to us & why we need to address the discoloration in these parts with immediate effect.

Below are three very common situations many of us regularly face:

As an Indian woman myself, I’m obsessed with backless saree-blouses & backless cholis. The backless choli craze although started long back with Madhuri Dixit’s  infamous ‘didi tera dewar’ number, it’s come back with a blast these days & everyone wants to flaunt their well toned back. But only spending hours in the gym wouldn’t do it. If your back skin is darker than the rest of your body, this mismatch would even be exaggerated with a backness choli & can be really harmful to your self confidence. I think this is one of the prime reasons why many of us can’t dare to wear a beautiful backless choli & look uber-stylish.

Just like the above, crop tops made a come-back in early 2016 & many of the fashionable women out there want to flaunt their gym toned abs but hey, if your midriff is darker than your face, neck or limbs, it can be really embarrassing to even don your favorite attire. I’ve experienced the same & there was a time I was be really embarrassed to wear a lehenga choli because of my much darker midriff & it really created a serious self esteem issue.

So let’s go discussing them one by one:

How Do I Lighten my Dark Back & Dark Midriff?

There’s a surprising fact I want to share today about dark back & it’s the same with dark midriff sometimes. I had this problem.

I had a dark back & midriff throughout my schooling life & to your surprise, it was not tan. While most of us, spend our most teenage hours in school dress, thus with a well covering shirt & a skirt, it was highly unlikely that I would have dark back due to sun damage or tanning. I still am not sure why it was like that though. Maybe I’m genetically predisposed to having higher melanin concentration there.

So, to conquer this, like most other skin discolorations, we need synchronized multiple approaches so that they synergistically strengthen each other & bring out the best results in the shortest time (it’s a misnomer, it can be months to years). So, I took two approaches at a time.

I employed home-made DIY body masks & a series of light chemical peels at the same time.

However, please note, that with light chemical peels, the treated skin will take some time to completely slough off. During that period while it’s still crinkly, better not to use any home-made masks & it also applies for a week afterwards (a week starting the day the chemically treated skin has completely peeled off) because most of the DIY packs that work have a greater amount of citrus (vinegar, lemon, yofurt) & active ingredients like essential oils which may cause irritation to the newly formed sensitive skin.

Now let me describe a typical body mask I use on my back & midriff.

This pack is highly active & strong since you know; we need a stronger formulation for our body because our body skin is thicker than our face.

Body Lightening Mask to Get Rid of Skin Darkness & Discolouration/ Body Lightening Pack/Mask

Firstly we need,

·         Pink Lentils or Masoor Dal

·         Yogurt

·         Turmeric (Paste or Powder)

·         Lemon Juice

·         Milk Powder

·         Essential oils of Geranium, Clove Leaf, Basil, Camphor

Procedure:

Add water on pink lentils first & you’ll see it’ll make scum. Drain the scum & add water again. Repeat the process until it’s almost cleared up. Now soak the dal overnight in water. 

The next morning, it’ll swell & soak up all the water & look like thisà

Now make a paste of it using a little water.

Then, add turmeric powder & milk powder.

Follow with yogurt & lemon juice.

Finally, add your favorite essential oil. I’ve added geranium, basil, clove leaf & camphor essential oil. Normally, I don’t use such ‘strong’ oils together for a face mask. But since body skin is thicker than face & has more sebaceous glands, it’s safe to use them here. However, you may use them as you please.

Mix well & you’ve got your skin lightening body mask ready.

You can apply this on the affected area for 20 minutes & then wash it off gently with lukewarm water (to clear up excess oil).

Doing this thrice a week can enhance your body skin color & can also lighten any tan that’s acquired over time.

As I always say, always apply sunscreen & during the day, cover your body well with protective clothing. Just doing this alone would solve 70% of your discolorations.

Other than that, there’s another option which can easily tackle problems like dark back, midriffà Light Chemical Peels.

AHAs like Glycolic Acid, Mandelic Acid, BHAs like Salicylic Acid with a concentration around 30-35% & TCA peel concentration upto 15% can be considered light peels. If you’re using light peels (I always suggest light peels because stronger peels need professional help & lighter ones are less likely to form scars/post inflammatory hyperpigmentation).

For demonstration purpose, I’m showing here 35% TCA Peeling procedure (you can always do so but I’d strongly suggest you not to try them at home & get professional help for stronger peel). However, this tutorial is for educational purpose only & does not encourage to take it as a DIY at-home procedure & I shall not be deemed liable for any self inflicted harm on the user’s side. Check out the Diaclaimer (https://thebeautyblogoflove.blogspot.com/p/disclaimer.html).

·         First cleanse the skin with 70% isopropanol or rubbing alcohol.

·         Pour the product in a glass cup/ temporary reservoir & use a fan brush to apply the peel. Here, I’ve used a hair coloring brush to do so.

·         Now keep the acid there for more or less 3-4 minutes. See it’s very hard to tell you the exact timeframe. For lighter peels, you can keep it for long (even longer if you have oily skin) & for stronger peels, you’ll see frosting soon & you should immediately neutralize it.

·         Frosting is the white patch that accompanies burn & discomfort as the epidermal (sometimes deeper) skin proteins (like collagen) are degraded by acid. It’s the hallmark that time’s come to neutralize the peel. If you don’t do that, it may cause severe burning & post inflammatory hyperpigmentation.

·         Neutralize the peel with a neutralizer. If you don’t have it (can be bought in the market), you can make your own by mixing baking soda & a few drops of glycerin in distilled water.

·         Alternatively you can simply wash the area with plain cold water. It’d neutralize the peel anyway.

·         You have to neutralize any peel other than TCA (self-neutralizes) or a leave-on yellow peel (contains retinoid & is advised to keep overnight).

·         Immediately after neutralizing, rub the area gently with a fresh aloevera. It’ll help soothe the burn & reduce inflammation.

·         Now depending on your skin type & peel strength, it’ll take atleast 5 days to show any sign of peeling of the skin. Even if you don’t see any peeling after that, please be assured that it’ll peel anyway & micro-peeling (peeling in microscopic level) is already going on.

Brown crinkly skin slowly peeling off after 5 days 

·         If it still doesn’t peel, despite of the treated skin turning crinckly & brown, you can soak it in lukewarm water on a regular basis for atleast 20 minutes. It’ll immensely help to peel faster.

·         Do not pick the skin. You can only cut off the hanging peeling skin & moisturize the treated are extensively & regularly.

Skin almost completely peeled after treatment with TCA 35%

·         Wear high SPF sunscreen (SPF 50 PA +++) & try to cover the area during the day with protective clothing. Do practice sun protection religiously even after the skin has peeled because the new skin is even more photo sensitive.

So This is the standard procedure of chemical peeling, demonstrating 35% professional strength TCA here but only for educational purpose.

I do not encourage doing professional peels at home. To do so, contact a registered dermatologist.

Other than the two procedures mentioned here to brighten & lighten your back & midriff, there are other standard procedures like dermaroller/microneedling. But to do so, you are aware; due to our natural anatomical restrictions we cannot access our back freely.

So, you have to get professional help for professional procedures.

Other than that, you’d often come across situations when, not tan, rather lack of regular scrubbing can darken certain body parts & this is the principle reason of skin darkening of what our back & midriff are predisposed to. As we can’t see it, scrubbing is way over our head.

I would advise scrubbing twice a week with baking soda on a body-scrubber with a long handle. But you must rub gently or you may scratch yourself & you must apply a moisturizer after that.

I’ve heard some people also advice toner application. It’s good but not feasible for long as I said earlier, our back is quite inaccessible to most of us unless we are as flexible as a yoga trainer. But you can do this to your midriff.

And always remember, without SUNSCREEN, no remedy (whether professional or DIY) should work so it’s time to get married to your sunscreen.

I hope this article helps you with your dark & discolored back & midriff. The article has got this long covering only two of the body parts so this couldn’t be finished here.

I’ll make a final installment on dark body parts next covering the remaining group of knees, elbows & butt.

Love me or hate me, let me know in the comments section below & it’d be amazing if it’s the former & don’t forget to follow me on social media (buttons on the collapsible sidebar ß)

Thank you for reading.

Cheers!!!

Koyel M.