There's a new way to get rid of liver spots, sun spots and freckles without surgery or lasers. The Cosmelan mask is designed to do away with blemishes and dark spots over a few weeks time.

KVUE News

Dori Wile, 44, is trying to erase years of sun exposure.

"I live out on the lake, so I've spent a lot of summers out in the sun and I've got sun damage now with the dark pigmentation," said Wile.

Rather than lasers or chemical peels, she's trying something a little less harsh. It's called Cosmelan, a facial mask designed to fade blemishes such as sun spots and freckles.

The procedure involves one office visit and three weeks of home treatments. A nurse uses an astringent to remove oils from the skin then applies a facial mask to the affected areas.

"It has a number of different creams and mild acids in there that specifically target the process of pigmentation, so it blocks the process of pigmentation and actually peels the skin a little bit as well," said Dr. Gregory Nikolaidis, dermatologist.

Patients wear the mask home, and keep it on for about six hours.

Three weeks later, Wile says, "It feels so smooth -- there's no way to describe it!" She says -- other than extreme redness the first night, the pain from the peel was almost non-existent. "Just kind of the heat sensation of a sunburn," added Wile.

Wile is convinced it's made a big difference.

"I feel like there's a glow and it definitely looks a lot. I mean, those before pictures were horrible -- just years of sun damage -- that's all gone in three weeks. It's amazing," said Wile.

The Cosmelan mask is considered a cosmeceutical, which means it's a cosmetic with medicinal benefits. It does not require FDA approval.

The manufacturer conducted a clinical trial earlier this year. It says Cosmelan did prove effective.

The procedure costs about $750. That's about half or even a quarter of the cost of most laser treatments.