When it comes to African American skin, dark elbows and knees are a common problem.
If you don't have dark elbows and knees, chances are a family member or a close friend does! In severe cases, it can mess with your self esteem and quite often it means covering up otherwise beautiful parts of your body even in the summertime.
The good news is you don't have to live with it forever! There are some inexpensive options for you that will help to even your skin tone even if you have stubborn pigmentation.
Many skin whitening products on the market contain dangerous ingredients and by using them on your dark knees and elbows, you risk damaging your skin by making it thinner and more sensitive to sunlight.
By making your skin more sensitive to sunlight, exposure to the sun will make it even darker and the cycle begins again - you use more dangerous skin lightening products and your skin becomes even more sensitive and you never see improvements.
In order to lighten the skin on the elbows and knees, you need to already be exfoliating regularly and moisturizing daily.
If you're not already doing that, that should be your starting point.
If you are already doing that and want to see further improvements, I suggest using skin lightening products or home remedies.
There are a number of home remedies available that are of course safer than using the dangerous skin lightening products on the market because quite often, the ingredients are safe enough to eat! One skin lightening home remedy is applying lemon juice to the affected areas daily.
Lemon juice contains natural bleaching agents and consistent use will lighten up your dark elbows and knees but it can take up to a few months.
If you choose to use skin whitening products, I suggest you choose products with only natural ingredients that are safe to the skin.
You will definitely see faster results with store-bought products over home remedies but the choice is of course yours.
Whether you use skin lightening products or home remedies, be sure to exfoliate and moisturize the affected areas.
Skin lightening products are not going to work if they just sit on top of a layer of dead skin.
Remove the dead skin first, be consistent with your efforts and you are guaranteed to see an improvement in your dark elbows and knees.