The most worldly and wise women I’ve met have always advised me to take care of my skin, and sometimes they’re straightforward enough to tell me about their pigmentation woes. I’ve always humoured them but dismissed their warnings to me, until I noticed a larger sunspot above my upper lip a few days ago- and it was never noticeable before.
So here I am, officially in my late 20s with nowhere to hide, and my skin decides to reveal it’s truth that’s been hiding under the epidermis for a decade. Let’s ignore the redness and pores for now and talk about pigmentation.
My freckles, having been there since I was 7, still remain cute (at least that’s what my friends tell me).
What’s scaring me is the sudden influx of sunspots, which are the darker, individual ones. From here you can see a couple of prominent ones above and beside my mouth. I am suspecting that these spots have developed over the last 1-2 years because of my increase in sun exposure, during cycling and other outdoor activities. I tend to sweat alot (duh – who doesn’t when they’re working out in the tropics!), and will use my glove to wipe the sweat off my upper lip. BTW, my cycling gloves have special microfibre thumb wipes.. I’m a big geek for exercise gear design!!
All this sweating plus wiping plus hours in the sun have obviously caused my skin to change for the worse. I’ve realised – I no longer have the “superpower” skin that I thought I had when I was in my early 20s! I’m human after all, and here are my spots!
I am going to make a bigger effort to consistently protect my skin with sunblock, other facial products, a good night’s rest, and balanced nutrition.
I hope any one reading this who is still young and thinks they’ll always have good skin will realize that we’re all human after all. Even with the best genes, we will still age, our skin will change, and it’s really up to every individual to take care of themselves.
