Journal

Ten questions, answered from the research.

The question in the words people use, what is happening in your skin, what the studies show, and our answer. Every claim names its source.

From the founders

“All I wanted was to fix it without doing more damage.”

In my college years, I tried everything: vitamin C serums that stopped working within days, sunscreens ordered from Korea because everything else made my face look like Casper the ghost, hydroquinone and at-home chemical peels that took patches of my skin with them, benzoyl peroxide washes that left my skin tight and dehydrated, turmeric masks that did little more than stain my bathroom sink, and finally, an alarmingly quick prescription for Accutane (which I turned down once I read the side effects).

Most of it made my skin angrier. All I wanted was to fix it without doing more damage. It took me years to understand why I kept failing: I was treating my skin like a problem to be beaten, when all it needed was to be looked after.

The Journal is a curated hub for skin with more melanin: the questions people actually ask, what is happening in the skin, and what the research shows, in plain words with every source named. It is here whether or not the answer turns out to be one of our products.

Quizzes

Diagnostic, not a shopping list.

Answered from the research

The ten questions.

  1. J1

    Why do my dark marks take so long to fade, and how long should I expect?

    Left alone, dark marks on deeper skin usually don't start fading for about six months. Treated, the first change shows up around week 8 to 12.

    Draft
  2. J2

    Is my skin barrier damaged?

    If your barrier is damaged, nothing else you put on will work. Start there.

    Draft
  3. J3

    Why does my skin get darker where it's dry or irritated?

    On deeper skin, dry skin doesn't just look ashy. It darkens.

    Draft
  4. J4

    Do I need sunscreen if I don't burn?

    Melanin is about an SPF 13 you were born with. Real, and not enough.

    Draft
  5. J5

    Is SPF 30 enough, and what happens if I don't use enough?

    Half the recommended amount of SPF 30 gives you roughly SPF 5.

    Draft
  6. J6

    Why does ordinary daylight darken my marks, even indoors?

    Draft
  7. J7

    Will the retinoid (HPR) make my dark spots worse?

    In the best study on Black skin, a prescription retinoid (tretinoin) lightened marks by week 4 and darkened nothing.

    Draft
  8. J8

    Which acids are safe for my skin tone?

    Gluconolactone, the acid in "Dew De La Soil," is more than twice the size of glycolic acid. That's why it's slower, and why it's gentler.

    Draft
  9. J9

    Is there a way to even out my skin without bleaching it?

    Two out of three people who use bleaching creams are trying to treat a mark, not change their color.

    Draft
  10. J10

    Why didn't my dermatologist know what to do with my skin?

    Less than 1 in 20 images in standard dermatology textbooks show deeper skin tones.

    Draft

Also in the Journal

Longer reads.