Chocolate, golden honey, diverse, ebony, caramel, regal, rich, beautiful, unique, magic. Allow me to reintroduce you to your beautiful brown skin. Brown skin is pigmented skin tone. It is very diverse because it is represented by the many shades of skin color seen on people of color. From fair light brown skin tone to medium brown skin tone to dark brown skin tone. Pigmented skin tones can be seen on people from Africa, the Caribbean, South America, South Asia like India, and Southeast Asia like the Philippines. From the fair and caramel shade of Ayesha Curry to the very dark shade of delicious chocolate on Khoudia Diop, brown skin is amazingly beautiful.
Melanin, Melanin, Melanin.
Your brown skin is characterized by a natural warm tone made possible by its higher level of melanin. Melanin is made in special skin cells located at the bottom layer of the epidermis. These special cells called melanocytes are practically the same in all human beings regardless of race. However, the darker you are, the more active the melanocytes are. The more active they are, the more melanin they make, and therefore the darker you are.
Benefits
The higher level of melanin in your brown pigmented skin comes with a lot of wonderful advantages, and some of those are:
Photo-protection: Brown skin provides a natural protection against sun damage, like major sunburns and blistering. Did you know your brown skin has built-in SPF? Oh, you didn’t know? Well it does. Research shows that your natural brown skin can give you protection of up to SPF 13. That’s free of charge, no money-required-free. Now say thank you to your melanin.
Photo-aging: Brown skin helps prevent premature aging. Signs of photo-aging like fine line and wrinkles are delayed in brown skin. Melanin is the main reason they say “black don’t crack”. Well it does crack. We are just lucky that it tends to happen much later in life, and when it does start to wrinkle, it is usually wrinkles at a relatively slower pace. Did you say thank you to your melanin yet?
Skin Cancer Rates: Brown skin helps lower your chances of getting skin cancer. Did you know that? Well, research has shown that people with pigmented skin have significantly lower levels of skin cancer. Below is a chart from the CDC showing the huge difference in skin cancer numbers between ethnic group. “People of color” have the lowest numbers. Thank your melanin.
Drawbacks of Brown Skin
Now while having brown skin comes with a ton of benefits, having all this amazing melanin in your brown skin also comes with some drawbacks. Some of those are:
Hyper-pigmentation
Brown skin is continually prone to skin discoloration like hyperpigmentation. Brown pigmented skin is very delicate and any damage to it like acne leads to spots and scars that easily becomes hyperpigmented. This means the damaged skin is darker than the normal surrounding skin due to the excess melanin. This is why brown skin needs to be well cared for.
A proper skincare regimen for your skin type will go a long way to help keep acne away. And the resulting acne scars and spots. If you do get acne don’t pick at it. Easier said than done right? But picking makes the acne spots and scars darker and harder to remove, so don’t pick. Also, always wear sunscreen because the sun makes dark spots and scars darker.
Oily Skin
Brown skin tends to be on the oilier side. Not everyone with darker skin has oily skin. However, research shows that darker skin types may genetically have more oil glands that are also more active. And because they are more active, they make more oil and sebum.
But having oily skin is not entirely bad news. The good thing about oil on your skin is that it also helps to prevent wrinkles. Oil is a lubricant, a moisturizer. If your face is moisturized, then it is not cracking (wrinkling). Think wet clay vs dry clay. However, in excess, oil can mix with dead skin cell and clog your pores which essentially will cause acne. A proper skincare regimen for oily skin type is important to remove excess oil without striping your skin.
Reactive
Brown skin can be highly reactive. Changes in temperatures, pollution, and the use of harsh products can affect our skin by damaging the epidermis. A damaged epidermis can lead to all types of skin issues like dryness, dehydration, itchiness, ashiness, dullness, and graying skin.
This is why brown skin can sometimes require special attention. You should try to stay away from harsh environments (severe heat and severe cold). Also, protect your skin during temperature and season changes. Additionally, avoid putting harsh products on your skin like baking soda because they can be very damaging to your skin.
Keloids
Brown skin can be easily and severely scared (ex. Raised scars like keloid scar). Keloid usually occurs when an injury to the skin is healing. The exact cause of keloid scars is currently unknown, except that they are a result of a defect in the wound healing process. Keloids are most common in people with dark skin. It is one of the top most common skin issue for adults of African descent.
Knowing that your brown skin can make you genetically predisposed to keloids, it is therefore important that you try to consciously minimize the number of skin injuries and scars you get. You need to properly care for your delicate skin because first, skin injuries and scars are not pretty and second, no one wants an unsightly keloid on their skin.
It is important to note that some of the above drawbacks mentioned are not directly linked to melanin. However, they are just some things that people with brown skin are genetically prone to. Like oily skin and large pores. Your genes determine how oily your skin will be and how large your pores will be. Just like your genes determine how much melanin your skin will make.
Brown Skin Beauty
Now that you have been reacquainted to your beautiful and unique brown skin, you can now understand that having brown skin is a huge blessing. Therefore you should love it, care for it, and be proud of it.
To properly care for your brown skin, you will need to spend some time with your individual skin to learn what it like and dislikes. Find out which products work the best on it and help it glow. Also find out which products irritates it and avoid them. Because brown skin is different, you need to understand that not all products that work on Caucasian skin will work on your skin.
Before making any skincare purchase, do your due diligence. Look for product research, word-of-mouth recommendation, and product reviews from people that look like you; and choose wisely. Your brown skin is precious, so take proper care of it.
What relationship have you had or are you currently having with your brown skin? Comment below.
