terra skin prep client closeup — 512 Skincare
terra skin prep client closeup — 512 Skincare

Pigmentation · Austin, Texas

Goal: even, clear skin tone

Not all pigment is the same, so we figure out what caused your discoloration: brown spots, sun damage, melasma, and marks from old breakouts, then fade it without setting it back.

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What causes pigmentation

What causes pigmentation

Pigmentation is a category, not one condition. Most cases trace back to sun, by a wide margin, though hormones, inflammation, and heat all play a part, and often overlap. Treating the spots without addressing what drives them is why so many at-home efforts stall.

Knowing what feeds your pigment is half the work. While the trigger keeps firing, new discoloration outpaces any treatment. This is where our 16+ years of experience are particularly valuable: your treatment is both diagnostic and personalized.

See pigmentation treatmentsBook a consultation
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512 Skincare

Find what’s driving it before you treat it.

A few questions about your skin point us toward the right starting place — and what to skip.

Take the skin quizBook a consultation

What pigmentation looks like

Types and symptoms

The same brown patch can be surface sun damage that lifts in weeks in one person and hormonal melasma that sits deep and keeps returning in another. Telling them apart is the first step.

Most discoloration comes down to melanin, the pigment that gives skin its color, behaving unpredictably: making too much, settling where it shouldn't, or both. Some melanin stays near the surface and lifts in weeks; some lives deeper and asks for months to lighten.

  • Sun spots and age spots

    Flat brown spots and freckle-like patches on the cheeks, hands, and chest, from years of UV.

  • Melasma and hormonal discoloration

    Symmetrical patches on the cheeks, forehead, or upper lip, often from pregnancy, birth control, or perimenopause, and worse in summer.

  • Uneven tone and patchiness

    Dark marks left where breakouts, cuts, or irritation healed, the post-breakout pigment known as PIH (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation).

  • Diffuse surface discoloration

    An overall sallow, tired-looking tone from surface buildup and slow turnover.

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How we work

Prescriptive, not transactional.

We recommend what your skin needs and build it as a series, then adjust depth and timing as your skin responds.

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How 512 Skincare treats pigmentation

First we identify the type, then treat

We assess before we treat for one reason: the wrong treatment can make pigment worse. It's the trickiest thing we handle, so matching the treatment to your skin matters most here.

Surface pigment, like most sun spots and early PIH, fades faster and responds to a range of treatments. Deep pigment, like melasma and long-standing marks, is slower and tends to return without ongoing care. Melasma can flare from an aggressive, heat-based treatment, so a strong BBL or ablative laser at the wrong moment can set you back. That's why we won't run heat-based work on active melasma without assessing it first. Often the safer start is a measured chemical peel or gentle microneedling, with stronger options added once we know how your skin responds.

Two things stay constant:

  1. Daily sunscreen isn't optional here, because without it new pigment forms faster than treatment can clear it.
  2. Home care does roughly half the work: cosmeceutical-grade brighteners, retinol, and antioxidants hold your results between visits. Melasma especially is managed, not cured.
Book a consultation →See chemical peels →

What to expect

Pigment is the slowest concern to clear, so we plan in months

Pigment that took years to surface won't fade in one visit. Most correction is a series, then maintenance, lasting only with daily protection.

Expect steady progress, not an overnight change. Surface pigment usually improves across a handful of sessions; deeper or hormonal pigment takes longer and needs ongoing care. The biggest variable isn't the treatment, it's what you do between visits: consistent sunscreen and the home brighteners we prescribe keep new pigment from forming.

Book a consultation →See pigmentation treatments →

  • Timeline

    Plan in months, not single sessions. Surface pigment moves faster than deep or hormonal.

  • Series, then maintenance

    Most correction is a series first, then upkeep to make it last.

  • Sun protection

    Daily broad-spectrum SPF is non-negotiable.

  • Home care

    Cosmeceutical-grade brighteners, retinol, and antioxidants do about half the work between visits.

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Is this for you

If you have tried to fade it yourself and it keeps coming back, this is for you

If your discoloration hasn't budged, or you're worried about worsening melasma, the next step is an assessment with our expert team.

Book a consultation

The treatments we use

Matching the treatment to the pigment

Surface pigment, deep pigment, and post-breakout marks each have a different approach to resolution.

We start with the gentlest option that works and save the heat-based treatments for cooler months. The range below maps each treatment to the kind of discoloration we treat with it.

Explore BBL →See chemical peels →

BBL laser

Our go-to for sun spots, freckles, and surface pigment. It targets melanin directly, so spots lift and flake off over about a week. A cooler-months series, assessed carefully on melasma-prone skin.

Chemical peels

From light brightening to deeper medical resurfacing, often the safest first move for melasma-prone skin, on PIH, sun damage, and uneven tone.

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Microneedling

Improves cell turnover and fades pigment over a series, with exosome-based and regenerative options where lasers aren't a fit.

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Nano and Micro Laser Peel

Light resurfacing for surface dullness, or pigment and texture together, used carefully on melasma-prone skin.

Dermaplaning Facial

Lifts dead skin and peach fuzz for immediate brightness and better product absorption, with real surface work on tone and texture.

Acne Facial

Where active acne drives post-breakout marks, this calms the breakouts feeding new pigment so marks can fade.

Signature Facial

Our standard facial and an easy way to start: a session that keeps even tone looking its best between corrective visits.

Explore signature facial →
Sally W.
I have been going to see Terra for facials, chemical peels and eyebrow tinting for a little over a year now. She has been nothing but professional and knowledgeable about every aspect of skin care.
Corrective FacialsChemical Peels
Ssss S.
She has transformed my skin. I go to her for peels, derma-planing and latest- micro needling. All of it is sooo wonderful. But I am now obsessed with micro-needling.
MicroneedlingDermaplane FacialChemical Peels
Kristin W.
Terra is fantastic!
BBLCorrective Facials

01-03 / 09

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Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, and this is the single most important thing to know about pigment. Heat-based treatments like an aggressive laser, used on the wrong skin or at the wrong time, can deepen pigment instead of clearing it. Melasma is especially heat-sensitive. That's why we identify the type of pigment you have before choosing a treatment, and why we won't run an aggressive heat-based treatment on skin in active melasma without assessing it first.

Next step

Start with an assessment, not a guess.

Every plan here is built around your skin and how it responds. It begins with a complimentary consultation.

Book your complimentary consultationContact the studio