Back in December I wrote about buying Peter Thomas Roth Ultra Gentle Skin Lightening Gel Complex, which contains the skin lightener hydroquinone and several other lightening ingredients. Even though I stay out of the sun, and use a good sunscreen daily, I still have some freckles and sun spots caused by years of not wearing any sunscreen, and these spots seem to get more prevalent as I get older!
Hydroquinone update
It’s been about 2 1/2 months, and I’ve used the gel every single night. Since my spots are all over my face, I have used the gel on my entire face. After about 3 weeks, one of my most prominent freckles began to noticeably lighten. My face as a whole looks rather pale, and I don’t know if this is because of the gel, or because I never go out in the sun, and it’s also winter!
After 2 1/2 months, I really have seen no lightening on any of the other brown spots on my face, except that one freckle. My spots are small, and not real dark, though. I am glad I tested hydroquinone, and gave it ample time to work, but for me it was pretty much useless. Despite my lackluster results, I think it’s still an excellent ingredient to try for a lot of people, because if it does work, you will get great results! And I still think the Peter Thomas Roth gel is good because it doesn’t have pore-cloggers, nor does it contain alcohol.
If you have a larger sun spot (the size of a pencil eraser or larger), then you can use a q-tip and dab on the gel daily just to the dark spot. My mom did this, and saw a dramatic lightening effect on one of her sunspots. I have a very mild case of melasma around my mouth, which the hydroquinone didn’t lighten. However, if you have large dark patches, it’s definitely worth trying hydroquinone (as long as you’re not pregnant).
It takes several weeks, or longer, to see lightening results, so be patient. If after a month you see no results at all, then it might be time to stop. Stop using the hydroquinone after 3 months, because long-term use is not recommended.
Use a good sunscreen every single day because hydroquinone can make your skin more sensitive to the sun. Now that I’m done with this experiment, I’m back to using self-tanners every day cause I’m tired of looking like a ghost! The great thing about self-tanners is that they make my skin tone look more even. It doesn’t make sense to use self-tanner and hydroquinone at the same time.
Buy Peter Thomas Roth Ultra Gentle Skin Lightening Gel Complex.
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March 5th, 2008 at 9:13 am
do you know ROC soya unify moisturizer, is that also skin lightning, what do you think of it? Do you think dull skin also need hydroquinone?
March 5th, 2008 at 10:14 am
I don’t know about that product, but I’ve been using Alpha Hydrox Spot Light for about a month now and I think the dark splotches under my eyes are about halfway gone, so I’m giving it another month. It only cost about $10 at Ulta, comes in a huge tube, and is a really light weight lotion which sinks in quickly after I dab it on with a q-tip. My spots were cute freckles that turned on me after a combo of hormones and tanning (I now wear sunscreen every day, no more tanning for me!).
March 5th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Hydroquinone is a great skin lightener, but only when its in prescription strength. Buying OTC products that contain it is a waste of money, for they only add about 1% of Hydroquinone to the product, while the prescription has 2%. I have been using this faithfully for the last 4 months on old acne scars, and it has made a HUGE difference. I love it!
You also really should only use it on your dark spots. My dermatologist has me break a q-tip in half and dip the stick part into the Hydroquinone just so that I can get it only on the spots. Let me till you the first few days I thought I would go crazy because I have about 100 spots on my face, but I’m glad I did it the way she told me because if I had not my whole face would have faded leaving me with the exact same spots on just a lighter face.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:25 pm
A great way to lighten the skin is to avoid the sun for 2 years and, during that time, take a daily 500mg Vitamin C supplement, in addition to a semi-weekly regular supplement as well.
Therapeutic sun avoidance: basking in the spa that is darkness and tranquility. Video games, television, reading, posing: whatever passes the time. If it is giddy fun to be indoors, as if out of the harsh, poison daylight, then simply enjoy every inky moment. If it is not fun, then consider it a 2 year detox and just bounce off the walls throughout.
Good luck! :O)
July 8th, 2008 at 11:53 am
I know its like super late to comment on this one, but having worked at Sephora and having tried litterally every lightening product there for at least 2 months, I would say its safe to say that they don’t work. I have gone so far as to undergo laser treatments, which really didn’t work that great either. In the beginning I saw results but in the end I think the spots came back. What has been working, beleive it or not, is Ambi. It’s like 4 or 5 bucks at Target (by the way Target often has cheaper beauty products than Walmart, and always has better sales). I have not yet tried the spot treatment, but have been using the all over lightner. No breakouts either, which is great because I was too lazy to examine the ingredients.