Scars that are brown or otherwise dark colored can be lightened. This, however, will take some time because they will not fade overnight. Obviously, in order to lighten dark scars, you will have to use a product that actually works.

With the market flooded with hundreds of brands and formulas many customers will get confused. Therefore some scientifically backed advice about which ingredients to look for in a cream. And, also important, what substances you should better avoid.

It will be obvious to most people that in general natural ingredients are preferred above the use of synthetic chemicals. Provided that these natural constituents work.

Fortunately there are a few substances provided by Mother Nature that have lightening properties and, thus, aid dark scar treatment.

5 Popular Natural Scar and Skin Lightening Agents:

1. Kojic Acid
2. Hydroquinone
3. Liquorice Extract
4. Bearberry Extract(Arbutin)
5. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)

Sadly, kojic acid and hydroquinone are known to have adverse side effects:

more recent long-term Japanese studies have shown that kojic acid has the potential for causing contact dermatitis and erythema. (1)

Adverse reactions from hydroquinone use include irritant and allergic contact dermatitis, and nail discoloration. Postinflammatory hyperpigmentation may occur from the contact dermatitis. Hypopigmentation of the normal skin surrounding the treated areas may also occur. (2)

Therefore it may be best to opt for products that contain safer alternatives such as liquorice and vitamin C. These ingredients will hinder tyrosinase, an enzyme responsible for changes in skin color when exposed to sunshine or after injury.

• Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)

  In order for vitamin C to work it has to have a concentration of at least 10 percent. Besides lightening excess pigmentation in (scar) tissue it will also stabilize collagen production. This is useful in scar treatment because many scars representations of exaggerated collagen production.

  When buying a scar lightening cream that contains vitamin C you have to be aware of the fact that vitamin C is unstable. This means that it will oxidize (turn brown) when exposed to the air and lose its effectiveness.

  Many commercially available products with vitamin C have brown added coloring to hide the oxidation. Therefore, make sure to avoid these brown creams.

• Liquorice Extract

  Liquorice extract is also both effective and safe. Its potent anti-inflammatory action increases renewal of the skin. In addition, it contains liquiritin that enhances cell renewal by improving cell turnover. Licorice will increase the scar lightening effects of vitamin C.

A Dark Scar Treatment Cream With Stable Vitamin C and Liquorice.

A relative new and in popularity rising scar cream that contains both these ingredients and at the same time does not contain potentially harmful substances is InviCible scar cream.

This cream is very well-reviewed as 94% of the people who used it declared high satisfaction and rated their results as “good”, “very good”, or “excellent”.

It is hypoallergenic as it does not contain common skin irritants like preservatives (e.g. parabens) and fragrances. For more info visit their website here: InviCible Scars

Due to it’s superior safety profile, InviCible was awarded the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval and is one of only 300 products to be in compliance with the Compact for Safe Cosmetics.

How Do These Ingredients Work?

Most dark scars are caused by hyperpigmentation which is another word for excess pigmentation in skin or scar tissue. In order to lighten dark scars excessive melanin production should be reduced. (Melanin is the brown pigment that produces normal skin color.)

All the aforementioned natural substances are tyrosinase inhibitors. Tyrosinase is an enzyme that plays a role in melanin production. Many dark scars are the result of an overproduction of melanin. Reducing the production of this enzyme will decrease melanin, thus the dark appearance of a scar.



References

1. Nakagawa M, Kawai K, Kawai K. Contact allergy to kojic acid in skin care products. Contact Dermatitis 32(1):9-13 (1995 Jan).
2. Grimes PE. Melasma Etiologic and Therapeutic Considerations. Arch Dermatol 131(12):1453-7 (1995 Dec).

What should I eat to promote healing and reduce scarring? That’s what I asked the medical personnel when I was in the hospital a few years ago.

Because I had various cuts and surgical wounds on my face and body I was anxious to know but they couldn’t tell me anything useful.

Later on I learned that there are certain foods that can help promote wound healing and even reduce scar tissue creation. Also certain vitamin and mineral supplements are known to be beneficial. Different studies confirm such claims.

So, What To Eat and Which Vitamins and Minerals To Take?

Most obviously, and probably needless to point out but for the sake of completeness mentioned anyway, is the importance of a healthy, well balanced diet. Make sure to eat a varied diet. Also, smoking should be avoided at all costs.

One particular nutrient to keep in mind is protein because studies indicate that protein deficiency delays wound (and possibly scar) healing. Proteins provide the body with the building blocks that are required to repair and rebuild. They also help fighting infections.

Other proven effective nutrients are those containing zinc. Animal studies show that zinc deficiency resulted in less quick healing wounds and when dietary zinc was supplemented wound healing times decreased. According to one study report:

“Oral zinc supplementation may be beneficial in treating zinc-deficient leg ulcer patients, but its therapeutic place in surgical patients needs further clarification.” Note: topical zinc application seems to be more efficient.

Studies show that most prominent results are achieved in patients or individuals who have deficiencies of certain nutrients. When a balanced diet without deficiencies is maintained eating these foods in addition might not lead to substantial benefits. An exception is vitamin C:

Clinical studies provide evidence that wound healing in subjects judged not deficient in vitamin C can be significantly accelerated with supplements of this nutrient above the recommended daily allowance (RDA).

This was the conclusion from a study titled Vitamin C and Human Wound Healing conducted on the Department of Oral Diagnosis, University of Alabama School of Dentistry, Birmingham, Ala., USA. Read the abstract here.

There are also indications that certain oral supplements can help heal wounds and reduce scarring. Bromelain, grapefruit seed extract, glutamine, and vitamin A are a few of them. Read this page; Do Vitamin and Mineral Supplements Promote Wound & Scar Tissue Healing? for more info.

Neaclear Scar Advantage is a product I hadn’t heard of before (although it has been around for a while). Just yesterday I stumbled upon it when reading articles written by cosmetic and plastic surgeons. One of these health care practitioners recommended this cream for facial scars.

To me this doesn’t necessarily mean it is a good product because even among medical experts such as plastic surgeons and dermatologists ignorance occurs. I always like to dig for scientific reports and other indications products may actually work. Let’s have a closer look at Neaclear. Is it really as innovative and revolutionary as they say?

It is said to promote optimal scar healing with ingredients such as;

• cortisone,
• vitamin E,
• silicones,
• vitamins A & D,
• liquid oxygen,
• and vitamin C.

Let’s take a look at the respective actions of these components:

• topical cortisones reduce irritation (used in anti-itch creams) This study concludes there’s no benefit to the scar’s appearance. As there is none for vitamin E
• silicones are proven effective to decrease collagen formation and increase the scar’s maturation process.
• vitamins A (retinoids) has shown to have both benefits as side effects. No sufficient research data available for firm conclusions
• vitamin C seems to have scar healing benefits but stability is needed. It’s difficult to control whether or not Scar Advantage contains such a stable form of vitamin C.
• liquid oxygen



About the addition of liquid oxygen (whatever that may be) has been some rumor. New Scientist notes that “We have certainly never heard of a skin cream that contains liquid oxygen, the temperature of which is normally somewhere below -183 °C.” There has been a discussion on museumofhoaxes.com. Neaclear’s reaction:

the oxygenation is a special 4 step process that enables us to place oxygen into a stable liquid form. liquid oxygen normally exists only at the extremely low temperature of -183 degrees Celsius under normal atmospheric pressure. liquid oxygen in it’s purest form is highly combustible and basically “rocket fuel”.

NO, we do not have rocket fuel (pure liquid oxygen) in our products. please realize the oxygen concentration in our skin care products is not a large amount, definitely less than 5%. again, we always recommend not placing these products close to any sources of fire or anything flammable (a good piece of advice with any skin care products).



One more thing. I know this sounds rather cocky but I’m not convinced the action behind the product is pressure like stated on the Neaclear website. Yes, indeed, pressure (compression) has a beneficial effect on scar healing. Therefore it has been used since the 1960 in the treatment of burn and other scars. But how much pressure does a thin film apply? I have read lots of clinical reports and study abstracts and I am convinced to belief it is occlusion what makes that such products work.



Occlusion by silicone gels and sheets is thought to restore the water balance in the scar tissue thus preventing dehydration and excessive scar tissue. More on this in my post titled; how do silicones for scars work.



Neaclear Scar Advantage can be used on scars of all types – new or existing, traumatic or surgical. Whether or not it really works remains unclear. To me it seems comparable with other scar creams with roughly the same ingredients. The only difference is the addition of the mysterious liquid oxygen.



Have you used Neaclear Liquid Oxygen Scar Advantage? I would love to hear about your experiences. You can drop a comment below or contact me via the contact page.

Note: in order to avoid confusion, there are two Neaclear scar products on Amazon. Both with the same name but with other ingredients. The other product has chamomile and some other components in it.














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Has anyone tried Rejuvasil? It’s a silicone scar cream that also contains emu oil, vitamin C and squalene. According to the manufacturer it:

” has more effective ingredients than any other liquid silicone products and has been clinically proven to reduce keloids, hypertrophic scars, surgical scars, and burns. [...] is made with emu oil and squalene (shark oil) to make this treatment even more effective.”

I would love to hear your experiences because there are little to no reviews of this product. The reason I think it might be an effective scar treatment cream is because it also contains vitamin C.



Next to the, proven effective silicones (dimethicone), vitamin C is backed by several studies as an effective scar cream component. It is mainly considered a wound healing agent but topical use seems to have some benefits regarding scar treatment.



Some of these benefits include:

• promoting healthy scar tissue regrowth (collagen synthesis),
• protection from harmful sunlight radiation (ultraviolet A and B),
• lightening of dark colored scars (hyperpigmentation),
• and improvement of skin irritation, inflammation, itch, redness (inflammatory dermatoses).
• It’s also thought to have excellent hydrating properties.

Source: Wiley Interscience.



The problem with the addition of vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) to skin care products is that it is highly unstable. This means that it reacts when exposed to e.g. air. Cosmetic manufacturers found a solution by using a more stable vitamin C variant called tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate. RejuvaSil contains this stable form of vitamin C.



I’m not aware of emu oil having any scar treatment benefits. Nevertheless the addition of this natural oil to Rejuvasil scar cream might still be useful because it is considered to be one of the few oils able to penetrate the skin. This trait would allow active ingredients to be carried with it into the deeper layers of the skin.

The only review I could find online is this one: (Average Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 )

“So far, the best scar gel for the price. I don’t see much of a difference between this one and another best seller scar gel that I have tried from the Derm Store, except this one is about $20 less. This was my second purchase and I plan on purchasing again.”

Rejuvasil scar cream can be purchased online at Amazon (cheaper) and MakeMeHeal. (two for one)

After application silicone creams provide a thin film covering the scar. The area should be clean and dry before the self-drying cream is applied. Daily use is recommended for optimal results. Major advantage of silicone ointments over patches is that it can easily be used on the face and other parts of the body that are hard to keep covered with patches.



“The application of silicone gel improves the redness, itching, texture and thickness of hypertrophic and keloid scars in 60% to 100% of cases “ (Poston, 2000)



Ingredients: Silicone (dimethicone), Emu Oil, Squalene (Shark Oil), Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (Vitamin C)



Did you use RejuvaSil? Please let others know what you think. You can share your experiences below.

Scar Esthetique Reduction Cream Review

Scar Esthetique Reduction Cream is often bought in combination with silicone sheets. This scar reduction cream is marketed with the pay off:

“Containing more ingredients that promote scar healing and scar reduction than any other scar cream on the market”.

Which in fact is true. It contains an impressive amount of ‘active’ ingredients. (w/Silicone, Arnica, Antioxidants, Copper Peptides, Co-Q10)

Scar Esthetique Reduction Cream

Some of them are frequently occurring scar cream components which have no scientific scar treatment value. Onion extract is one of those. Or at least it is disputed. One animal study showed improvement while two other studies didn’t show benefits. Vitamin E is also a popular skin care product component but whether or not it is useful in scar treatment hasn’t been scientifically proven. It is often added because of its skin soothing properties. Some other ingredients of Scar Esthetique however seem more promising. Vitamin C for example.

Several studies have shown vitamin C to be an effective scar treatment constituent. Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) has shown to hydrate scar tissue, reduce scar discolorization and redness, and regulate excessive collagen formation. Major downside of vitamin C and products containing it is that it is very unstable. This means that if it is exposed to the air (oxygen) it will loose its action. (A more stable form of vitamin C is Tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate) I am not sure whether or not Scar Esthetique Reduction Cream contains a stable form of vitamin C.

Arnica montana, also referred to as Leopards bane or Mountain Tobacco, is known to promote wound healing. Historically used to reduce bruising, swelling, and  inflammation. Although advertised frequently as an effective scar treatment component its scientific efficacy has to be proven yet.  Study reports from the ‘Archives of Facial and Plastic Surgery’ show that when arnica is taken orally before surgery it reduces inflammation and bruising. Arnica stimulates white blood cell activity which might be beneficial in scar tissue reduction.

Copper peptides is another supposed scar reducing ingredient. Proteins called peptides boost the body’s reserve of an enzyme which regulates the way cells age and deal with stress.  In a previous post on copper peptides I concluded that copper peptides will probably help a little bit because copper is a part of healthy collagen placement but they have to be used in combination with peels and results will only be seen over (a relatively long) time.

Silicones (dimethicone) are proven effective scar reducing agents. Silicone sheets or ointments reduce scar elevation, redness, itch, and pain. I know of some other creams containing silicones that they stay on the surface of the skin and seal it to enable the rest of the ingredients to work. Whether this is the case in this particular cream I don’t know.

Vitamin A is an important skin care vitamin. “Today it is well recognized that the rejuvenation of skin can be achieved by applying vitamin A to the skin.” Studies show that vitamin A has some scar fading properties. There are many types and derivates of vitamin A. Retinoic acid, retinyl palmitate, retinyl acetate, and beta-carotene are a few of them. Retinyl palmitate, present in the Scar Esthetique cream accounts for about 80% of the vitamin A found in the skin. For more in-dept info on the role of vitamin A in scar treatment visit this post on the benefits of vitamin A in scar treatment.

According to the manufacturer:

“Scar Esthetique Scar Cream penetrates deep into the skin’s epidermal layers to treat scar tissue damage from the inside. It stimulates new cellular growth to reduce scarring and is the only scar cream available that can remove scars. Scar Esthetique Scar Creme is clinically proven to improve the appearance of scars, including hypertrophic and keloid scars, that result from surgery, trauma, burns, laser resurfacing and acne. It is also highly effective in reducing stretch marks and lightening brown aging spots.”

It is also said that it works like a silicone sheet at a cellular level. Whether or not this is completely true remains to be seen. No real evidence proving these statements is available. On the other hand, there’s no real proof this cream doesn’t work at all.

My conclusion for now: I think that, among the possibly, not yet proven, effective scar reduction creams Scar Esthetique might be a very promising contender. No studies to this exact mix of ingredients have been done but the components used in this cream are at least promising.

Apart from this the customer reviews of this product are pretty positive. To see for yourself click the link below. It is rated 4 out of 5 stars. I’m convinced these reviews are unbiased and real because there are other products on their website that have far less positive ratings.

Read More Reviews of Scar Esthetique Reduction Cream