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Skin Lightening Creams

The Best Skin Lightening Products

If you’re distressed by dark spots cropping up on your skin, take heart. There are many new skin lightening ingredients that

are even pleasant to use – unlike the traditional prescription of 10% hydroquinone.

Not only is the 10% hydroquinone gooey, but also it is irritating to many skins, turns an ugly brown color as it ages, and carries many use precautions.

Anyway, the approach today is a combination skin lightening cream in a pleasant emollient base. Studies have shown that a combination of skin lightening ingredients attacking the out of control melanin on several fronts is more effective than hydroquinone alone, even though hydroquinone is the most potent active ingredient of them all.

The reason that a multi-pronged approach may be better is that each lightening ingredient works in a different way. Some block the activation of the enzyme tyrosinase which promotes melanin production.

Some block the tyrosinase from reaching the melanine producing cells (melanocytes).

Others inhibit the action of tyrosinase.

There are also ingredients to shield the cells and prevent environmental factors from triggering more melanin production.

Before you embark on a skin lightening program for those age spots, please be sure they are nothing more than clumps of benign melanin. The best way to do this is to have a skin cancer check done by a medical professional.

If any of your dark spots have the ABCD markers, get to a dermatologist ASAP. A is for asymmetrical; B is for uneven border; C is for unusual color; and D is for diameter greater than a pencil’s attached eraser (6mm or ¼”). Once you have a clean bill of health, you can proceed with a skin lightening program.

There are three things you should keep in mind when using skin lightening creams.

First, those clumps of melanin you see in the mirror were created in the skin’s deep layers some time ago. It will take at least as long to erase them. You need to be consistent and patient.

The depth and darkness of spots within the epidermis are variable; so some age spots or discolorations are easier to lighten than others. You may see results in as little as three weeks; but it may take as long as six.

Second, you want to slow melanin production and clumping in the future. Some skin lightening ingredients help to do this, but you need to do more. The goal of skin bleaching is to turn off melanin production and eliminate unwanted pools of pigment already present in the skin.

There are many triggers that cause melanin-producing cells to go berserk: hormone changes from contraceptive pills or pregnancy which result in melasma (the mask of pregnancy); trauma to the melanocytes such as acne or even a bug bite; and aging, or more precisely damage to the melanocytes after years of UV exposure.

UV exposure is the one melanin damaging factor you can control quite effectively. Use a broad spectrum sunscreen religiously when you are using skin lightening creams and – really - for the rest of your life.

Your sunscreen should have at least an SPF 15. Since SPF is a measure of UVB protection only, you need to be sure your sunscreen also has ingredients to block UVA rays. Look for zinc oxide or micronized zinc oxide, Parsol 1789 (avobenzone), cinnamates or salicylates.

Third, you can speed up the process of evening out your skin tone by exfoliating. This brings new cells to the surface faster, aids in the absorption of treatment products and stimulates the production of collagen and elastin.

Look for AHAs, BHAs, beta-hydroxybutanoic acid, tropic acid, or trethocanoic acid.

My favorites are Avon Clinical Advanced Wrinkle Corrector and DDF Cellular Revitalization Age Renewal.

Active Ingredents in Effective Skin Lightening Products

The active ingredients to look for in a clarifying cream are: 2% hydroquinone; hydroquinone derivatives such as hauronoside (mitracarpus scaber leaf extract) and arbutin (arctostaphylos uva ursi leaf extract); beta carotene; glabridine (licorice extract); paper mulberry plant extract; kojic acid; azeleic acid; dithiaoctanediol; and vitamin C derivatives in combined form, e.g. l-ascorbic acid, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate and sodium ascorbyl phosphate.

Do NOT use any lightening cream containing mercury compounds. These are banned in the U.S. but they sometimes sneak in. Recently there were cases of mercury poisoning in New York that were traced to improperly labeled imported skin lightening creams.

Check the ingredients and, if there is no list of ingredients or if it is suspiciously short, ask yourself, “Do I know and trust this brand name?”

Some Skin Lightening Products to Try

Reviva Labs

I like Reviva Labs’ program for more severe blotchiness because the company offers a line of complementary products that addresses all the components outlined above. If you feel your condition is severe and are really committed to correcting it, this is the program for you.

Reviva offers Brown Spot Skin Lightening Night Cream, a 2% hydroquinone night cream in an emollient base.

For daytime, they have a Skin Lightener for Day Fade Cream with SPF 15 and UVA protection along with a combination of lightening ingredients including mulberry and kojic acid.

Finally they recommend you also use their Light Skin Peel once a week to speed your progress.

Murad - Age Spot & Pigment Lightening Gel

This is a great combination product containing 2% hydroquinone, glycolic acid to exfoliate and anti-inflammatory allantoin to soothe any irritation. It comes in a gel base making it easy to apply to the spots only if you prefer. The only other thing you need to do is slather on your usual sun protection.

DERMAdoctor Immaculate Correction Skin Brightener

This lotion contains the longest list of lightening ingredients I’ve seen. As I mentioned earlier, current scientific thought advises a many-pronged attack. DERMAdoctor’s choice of lightening ingredients is state-of-the-art: mitracarpus scaber extract, artcostaphylos uva ursi leaf extract (arbutin), azeleic acid, beta carotene, dithiaoctanediol and licorice extract.

It has excellent emollients and Natural Moisturizing Factors (NMFs), so will do double duty as a moisturizer. Though I don’t recognize any traditional exfoliating chemicals in the ingredient list, the company says the cream contains “Natural marine sources [that] deliver long-term benefits that alpha hydroxy acids and retinoids can without the associated irritation or sun sensitivity. Speeds up cellular turnover rate utilizing a non-irritating, acid-free chemical exfoliation technology. Increases collagen synthesis and reduces the appearance of fine wrinkles, increases moisturization and skin clarity.”

Avon Banishing Cream Skin Discoloration Lightener

If you’re on a more limited budget, you might want to try Avon. This lightening cream has 2% hydroquinone combined with citric acid for lightening. It also contains excellent emollient and NMF ingredients as well as methoxycinnamate to protect againt UVA damage. There is no mention of an SPF rating, so be sure to also use a sunscreen with at least SPF 15.

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This article is for informational purposes only. It does not purport to offer medical advice.

 

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