Dual Action Skin Lightener with 2 percent Hydroquinone and 10 percent AHA

I purchased this six months ago and have been using it twice a day since then on some pigmented spots on my face and forearms. I had Limelight IPL 8 months ago and was using this product to try to fade some spots more and maintain the fading on others. On ones that were already faded it has worked well to maintain but for the still pigmented ones it's been mixed. I also use MUAC peels (glycolic previously, lactic currently) and am fanatic about sunscreen 365 days even though I live in northern Canada. My Limelight technician quit the clinic she was at and they haven't trained anyone new yet. When I go on vacation to the US I get it done there as well so looking forward to getting several limelight sessions in the winter and using this to maintain.

This is a GREAT product IF you skin care tolerate it. The line is now called Alpha Skincare and has alway had some of the strongest alpha hydroxy ingredients available for a great price. That's good and bad news. Really works but if your skin is at all sensitive, this product is going to sting, leave it looking red and achy but man oh man once your skin has gotten over the initial acclimation period, your spots will have greatly diminished and more importantly your skin will look luminous and clear. If you're using Retina, would recommend you alternate, use Retina in evening and this product in the morning to minimize irritation. I had to stop using my Vitamin C serum, as this product was too irritating with my vitamin C. I'm hoping to reintroduce my Vitamin C but need to build up to it. If this product is too irritating, try using just straight Hydroquinone - even the prescription 4% - it's less irritating as it doesn't have the alpha hydroxy acids.

I have been using this for two months on my really bad acne scars. I noticed improvement in first two weeks but after that it has kinda stopped working, i use it just in the morning. I tried using it morning and night and it did fade my scars a little bit more.

I really love this skin lightener! Works very well for me. It has 10% glycolic acid PLUS 2% hydroquinone to lighten and exfoliate dark areas and help even skin tone. I've been using it on my forehead and cheeks for about six months and I can tell a big difference :) Highly recommend!!

I have used this off and on for years, and it really is the only thing that works for me that I can buy OTC. It's not a miracle worker, but it does keep my larger melasma in check. I have a lot of freckles, with 3 eraser size "age spots" on my lower cheeks, plus I have larger dark shadows all around my face including my jaw line. In fact on my jaw line, the shadowing looks like I wore foundation 3 shades darker and left a demarcation line. I also have areas on my face that is white with no pigmentation. Lots of sun damage going on here. I'm a nc10 on my lower cheeks and an nc30 on my t-zone & jaw line. Makes choosing a foundation a real be-ach. So with that info, I use am and pm only on the darker shadowed parts and my 3 spots. It lightens the shadowed part significantly within a week, then just stops working. It's as light as it will go, but it makes a visible difference and I'm able to now cover with makeup. The sun spots I have had for over 20 years, and although it does lighten a tiny bit, they are still visible even under concealer (but barely) This product does not lighten acne marks or freckles btw. So if that's your concern, then pass on this. I never use after exfoliating(whether it's a brush or washcloth) it will sting. Nor do you have to. It will work just fine after a simple face wash. I let it sit for 15 mins, then apply my regular cream. In the am, after it sits, I use spf 15 lotion but follow up the spots I treated with a sunscreen stick of 50. You absolutely positively must wear a high spf on the parts you treated because that part is now photo sensitive and must be protected. If that's not your thing, then skip the product or use only at night, but it will take twice as long to see results. I only use a couple of weeks at a time and never during the summer because i just get too much sun to truly protect that area. I wait until fall, and start my process. If your experiencing scabbing, this product is not for you. Not all skin types is going to see a benefit, and not all spots are going to fade. It works for me though and it's cheap enough to give it a try if you have been battling years of sun damage.

I bought this because of the great reviews. But I only got bigger hyper-pigmented spots that hurt instead of the small brown and dark ones I had before. Not sure if maybe I applied too much on? Or maybe my skin isn't fit for it. I've been using aloe to calm my skin and hopefully heal the horrible scabbing. :(

Have tried this multiple times over the years. After a couple weeks, it doesn't do much for a larger melasma/sun damage light brown patch on my forehead, but it does appear to slightly start lightening a smaller (half thumbnail size) sun spot below my eye. It burned on application only after a couple weeks of twice daily application. I also noticed the dark spots where I put it immediately flush red after applying. May have also caused some tiny clogged pores where I applied it. The problem is, it starts turning the spot red and crusting up like a scab at about week 2. And yes, I wear SPF 15 or 30 or 50 (depending on the activity) every single day. On medical sites, it says crusting is a sign you should discontinue use. One night laying off and using Olay Age Defying Night Cream (niacinimide based moisturizer, as the previous poster also mentioned), the scab peels off and the spot does look a little lighter. Also, I read online that in those with sensitive skin/thin skin, this can worsen broken capillaries. On my forehead, I have 3 tiny new red blood vessel spots. Probably works great if you're not sensitive to it and prone to broken blood vessels (which I am). I did see some lightening of the smaller, darker sun spot, but it's not worth risking it with the crusting, irritation, and new blood vessels showing. EDIT 9/11/14: like the glutton for punishment I am, I dug this out and tried it one more time. Tonight, after getting out of the shower (where I used my Clarisonic and CeraVe foaming to wash my face), I applied this on my forehead, under eyes, and nose. Within minutes, my skin was bright red where I applied it and was starting to itch. I'm sure the clarisonic enhanced penetration and elf to an accelerated irritation effect, and I had to wash it off immediately. So now this is definitely going in the trash, rather than the cosmetic graveyard cabinet.

I used it morning and night for 4 days and my 2mm sunspot directly below my right eye became darker, raised, and red underneath. It looked like a mosquito had bitten me on my cheek. I was sure to slather broad spectrum spf 50 on my face every morning before driving to work. It seems from reading other reviews who had success with this product that the spot gets worse before getting better, but I cannot walk around at my workplace with a dark swollen mark under my eye (makeup didn't cover it). I bought Olay Pro x spot corrector ($36) at CVS yesterday (it has niacinamide as it's main ingredient to fade spots -- not hydroquinone -- it also received a "BEST" rating from Paula's Choice reviews), and miraculously, I woke up this morning and my spot was no longer red and it had faded back to its original color of beige, which I was able to cover successfully with foundation. I'm going to continue using the Olay Pro x! After one night's use, I saw results! A better option if you are sensitive to hydroquinone.

**LATEST UPDATE** This has worked so fast (one month) and so well that in the artificial light in my bathroom I cannot see where my dark spots are to apply the product! In natural light I can see a vague darker shape on my skin but I never thought that the dark spots would disappear this much. Bear in mind that my dark spots would show through even heavy makeup and were so visible on my forehead that it looked like someone had dipped their fingers in brown paint and run their fingers down the center of my forehead from my hairline to my eyebrows. Two extremely disfiguring thick dark brown stripes. Now the are the merest shadow of what they were. I can wear makeup without people thinking I have bruises underneath, or that my face is dirty. This has truly been a miracle product for me and it has improved my self-esteem to such a degree that I can go bare faced with no fear of the stares from other people. If you have melasma and nothing else has worked, PLEASE try this. I know that it might not work for everyone but I have tried so many different products with NO RESULTS that this one has just blown me away. **UPDATE** This is working like nothing has ever worked before. My dark spots are fading faster than I would have though possible, and it is so much of a miracle to me that these ugly brown stripes on my forehead are at last half as visible as they were just one month ago. I have tried $150 creams, $90 serums and this little $10 tube has caused more of an effect then the more expensive products. I will still continue to use this up and will keep updating until I use up the whole tube. **ORIGINAL REVIEW** I was becoming more and more desperate for a solution to the 2 huge dark spots on my forehead. Nothing was working. I bought this after reading good reviews from Paula Begoun and was applying this in a thick layer on my dark spots every night. I developed rough skin and a lot of irritation on the application areas, and it took a long time to heal. Because of the irritation my dark spots went darker (they actually turned red and started peeling which is the first time that any lightening product has caused my skin to peel). I will update this review further after I have used up the whole tube but I believe that this is actually working to lighten my dark spots. I am very tentative about saying this though as I don't want this to just be wishful thinking. The lighter outer edges of the 2 dark spots seem to be fading. The darker center is still dark though but this will need a lot more treatment I imagine. Normally the whole length of the biggest dark spot (1/2 inch wide and 2 inches long in the center of my forehead) is clearly visible even when covered with makeup and after only a couple of weeks of treatment I can only see the darker center and not the edges of the dark spot. This product is definitely the harshest thing I have used on my skin though. I have to only use it for about 3 days then stop as my skin starts to almost scab over and then flake off. However, even with this intermittent treatment I am still seeing some sort of result. I will continue to use and monitor my dark spots and update later on.

I bought this because I had heard and read good reviews of it. I used the entire tube until it was completely used up, morning and night right after cleansing. I saw no results. Maybe hydroquinone does not work for everyone. Will not buy again because it didn't work for me.