Dark Spots: Or Why You Should Always Wear Sunscreen

I'm 26, which means, for the most part, I'm out-of-the-woods in the acne department. That's not to say that an occasional breakout doesn't crop up along my hairline from time to time, or that I don't notice a zit proliferation when I'm stressed out about an interview. I'm just saying that I no longer experience that roller-coaster, hormone-driven pimple parade every time I look in the mirror.

Because I am not constantly plagued by acne, I tend to take more notice when I do breakout. I purchase expensive concealing powders to cover up even the tiniest of red spots. If I see the beginnings of facial inflammation, I hit it with a dose of GR8/SKN's Clear. With fewer overall breakouts, I am able to concentrate all of my dermatological energy on treating the intermittent zits that manage to subvert my daily skincare routine.

The biggest surprise to my 20-something self was what happens when those breakouts start to heal. A couple of weeks ago, I was stressed: I had two interviews, a best friend hysterical over a guy, and a boyfriend springing a potential move to San Francisco on me. It was no wonder that I woke up one morning to find my cheeks dotted with an unusually high number of breakouts.

I proceeded as I normally would, washing twice a day with Clean, spot-treating with Clear, and finishing off with Reset. Unfortunately, there was one factor that I didn't consider: the sun. To ease my general stress levels, I went for morning runs along the river. On days when it was cloudy, I skipped the sunscreen. Big mistake.

No, I didn't get burned. There was no reptilian peeling. The problem was that I gradually saw the breakouts, now mostly healed, begin to darken. As I soon learned, this was due to "hyperpigmentation," a process that occurs when the sun's radiation causes melanin, the pigment responsible for skin color, to darken. Result: facial blemishes that stick around long after they are healed.

Luckily, the solution is easy. Don't make the same assumption I did! Just because the sun isn't glaring down on you does not mean that you are free from exposure. Wear sunscreen even if you can't see the culprit.