Review: Whitening/Brightening

Coming from a Taiwanese background, no matter how much this American culture has been into the "tan, healthy bronze" I still prefer myself being more on the lighter side - the very least, my face. Luckily I do have a lighter skin tone, although that also warrants the more easily identified "imperfections" namely, freckles. It seems I always have some freckles on the highest points of my cheek bones, though they seem getting more prominent with my age. And I started paying more attention (Translation: getting more specialized products) to these little guys about 4-5 years ago.

Here are some products I've used and my experience.

NeoCeuticals Skin Brightening Gel $38 at skin-etc.com

This yellow colored gel is formulated to brighten, exfoliate and smooth discolored skin, and stimulate epidermal renewal to reveal brighter, newer cells. This product contains kojic acid, citric acid and Vitamin C along with glycolic acid (an AHA), lactic acid (an AHA) and gluconolactone (a PHA).

It's a transparent gel form with slightly yellow/brownish color - the color got darker along the time. It smelled a little bit like sulfur I was not sure why. My skin did not have sensitive response to it which I was told one time by a pharmacist in Taiwan stating that lots of people were allergic to kojic acid. So I considered myself lucky. It did seem to work - I felt my freckles got a little bit lighter. - I have one bigger spot on the right cheek and a bit dense cluster on the left cheek which I use as indicators. This one made my right side's big freckles shrink a little bit.

Lancome Bright Expert Intense Brightening Spot Correcting Serum $90 at Nordstrom

Unveil flawlessly even skin-tone and exceptional luminosity. Unique Lancôme technology targets damaged surface cells to reduce the appearance of dark spots, while a combination of vitamin CG and botanical extracts helps even out and brighten the complexion. Exceptional results:

- Brighten complexion
- Uncover natural radiance
- Even out skin-tone

The Intense Brightening Spot Correcting Serum is a breakthrough brightening serum that visibly brightens the skin and significantly reduces the number, size and intensity of dark spots.

I think Lancome has already come out with newer version of this line. I tried this about 2 years ago. I read quite some claims by the company guarenteed the great work, and I truly wanted to love it... But I did not. It did not seem having any effect on my skin. Sigh~

Chanel Precision Performance Anti-Taches ( Dark Spot Corrector Roll-On ) ~$55

An advanced anti-dark spot treatment to unify your complexion Combines Narcissus bulb extract with Licorice extract & Vitamin C Eliminates melanin synthesis at all levels Accurately corrects pigmentation irregularities Gel-like aqueous solution is easily absorbed into skin Visibly reduces size & intensity of dark spots To use: Apply regularly for at least eight weeks. Shake well & rub well over target area.

I really liked this product. It has the roll-on type that can apply more precisely to the spots. And honestly I think it worked - too bad I can not find it anywhere anymore. The "life span" on the tube indicates 12 months - the amount of the products definitely lasted longer than that - and it started brownishing... Hence I started my search journey trying to find a substitude.

Shiseido Melanoreduce 2

This product is purely Asian market specific. I have not seen anywhere in the States selling it - not even on eBay. The star ingredient in this product is called Tranexamic acid (傳明酸) which features inhibiting the effect of Tyrosinase whcih is the catalyst for melanin production. The idea is when the production process being blocked less melanin would be produced - and you will have less pigmentation.

I purchased this during the last trip back to Taiwan. I asked the counter girl how fast I would be able to see the reduction of my freckles.. of course she was vague about it and nicely told me the effect was different by individuals. I liked this product's being moisturing and I religiously used it for over a month - and I saw NO results, sadly. I guess the product focuses more on "inhibiting the production of melanin" but not so much on the "reducing".

Kiehl's Highly Efficient Skin-Tone Corrector $50 at Kieh's

The proprietary patent-pending technology covering the use of Emblica to stabilize highly unstable ingredients including Glycolic Acid, when used together in this formula, helps to correct the appearance of uneven skin tone.

Beginning at six weeks, and increasingly through a 16-week period, our formula was noted to significantly diminish the appearance of:

• Mottled pigmentation
• UV sun spots
• Uneven skin tone

This is new. It's a product combining the usage of glycolic acid, Emblica and hepes to help increase the skin cell turnover in a stablized environment and the meantime provide the benefit of antioxidant and collagen production. I've been using this twice a day for 3-4 days. Believe it or not, I already see some improvement of my skin tones. My skin started a bit dull and "dirty" - if you know what I mean. And now I can start seeing it's getting more glowy and brighter. So far this is my fav brightening product, will keep using it and report more later. :)