I've had nelasma for over 5 years. I have tried peels, exfoliation, otc creams, prescription creams etc. Morning worked. Some even made it worse.
I met someone who had cured her melasma and she explained to me how she had done it. It was a long explanation and as you can imagine I was so focused on the "magic formula" that I paid little attention to the reason behind it.
To make a long story short. I've been almost free of melasma for over a year and I have survived a particularly hot summer (I live in florida). I saw almost free because you can still see some minor discoloration but it's easily covered with makeup.
This is what I did. Nothing more. At this point I had quit creams and acid peels. So I'm sure this is what helped me.
- daily turmeric with water mask. Leaves a yellow tint so I do it at night and left it for 30 minutes. Rinsed with facial cleanser and went to sleep like that. By the morning the tint is gone (absorbed). Don't do it with milk or vinegar. Not as effective.
For maintenance I now do it twice a week only.
- 1,200 grams of turmeric supplement every day. Pause it for a week every three weeks.
- A green juice every day. I bought a juice extractor and prepare them myself. Carrots, celery, spinach, beets, apple, cucumber... switch it up every day.
-I limited sugar in my diet to the max. I quit sodas, ice creams, sugar in my coffee, and always check everything I buy for sugar content (even ketchup has sugar so this is important for me). I also watch for fruits high in natural sugar. Rather eat some fruits than juice them. This is what my friend said was the most important aspect of the regimen. So I avoid sugars as much as possible. I limit artificial sweeteners as well. Almost never eat those. I eat organic dark chocolate when I have a craving.
- I quit red meat. Eat mostly fish and seafood and once in a while chicken and Turkey. No red meat at all in the last year.
- use zinc-based 60+ spf sunscreen every day even when it's cloudy and also when I spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen
- before I started this diet, I did a cleanse:
Warm water with lime every morning before breakfast
Liquids only for 5 days. All prepared at home. Nothing artificial. Liquified veggie soups and juices, lemonade no sugar, herbal teas. As many times a day as I felt like. Tomato soup, spinach soup, carrot soup etc
Three days of the same liquid diet plus organic fruits and salads
That's it. As I said I tried everything topical before and all types of supplements. Nothing ever worked. I quit everything and tried this and I saw minor results in 3 months, noticeable results in 6 months, drastic results in about 8 months. (I also lost a lot of weight!)
It has something to do with hormonal balance and cleansing organs and blood.
It has worked for me and I know it has to do with the fact that I stuck with it. If I hadn't waited all those months i would have missed out. It's not easy quoting sugar and meat. But it was way more difficult living with melasma on my face. So this is something I much rather live with.