Tri-luma

**Important for Tri-luma buyers**
if you guys want to save loads of money on this (ridiculously expensive) cream, please read below.....

hey mua family,
just wanted to try and help some of you.
i (like many here) LOVE skincare and use the best things that are possible in the market today to have great looking and feeling skin.
i had more sucsess with some things and less with others.
tri-luma has done AMAZING things for my skin (pigmantation, sun spots,wrinkles)
anyway once every 6 months i do a 3 month nightly cycle with "Tri-luma" and then go back to using it twice a week (instead of my reagular retin-a gel or cream i use nightly).
the reason i use tri-luma is because it already has the hydroqunone in it so i dont need to mix it by myself (like with the nu-derm system by obagi).
the "Fluocinolone" in it helps it to work stronger and go much deeper.
this combo works amazingly well to give my skin that clear fair glow i like my skin to have so much.
in my country (israel) tri-luma is so so expensive (around 250$ for a god damn tube of 30g!).
i think its even more expensive here then in the usa.
so i went and searched for pharmaceutical companys (esp in the third world) that offer generic options of the Triluma complex.

after searching so much, i finally found an amazing generic option that tri-luma users would really love and the price is SO much more affordable (around 25$ for each tube!).

it's an EXACT dupe of the Tri-luma cream.
its made by a very well known indian pharmaceutical brand and is called "Cipla".
the composition of the cream is exactly as the tri-luma complex and contains the following...

0.01% Flucinolone Acetonide (this is a synthetic hydrocortisone steroid that is present in this complex NOT to cut down on the irritation but rather to actually increase the efficacy of all three components in this complex that would otherwise have not worked as good and as deep without all three combined together ).

4% Hydroquinone (this is a "Bleaching" agent or to be exact it halts the production of melanin and breaks down excess melanin that is already present on skin).

0.05% Tretinoin (Vitamin A derivative, and the most well known and well studied Anti-aging medicine that is great for skin, if you dont already know all that has been said and written about this super star ingredient then i urge you to go read about it!).

try to find this cream online if you can,

it can be hard sometimes to find a **Reliable** source that can sell it and ship it to you.
but if you can then great!

if you are still having trouble finding an online source that can provide it for you,
contact me and i will try to help.

good luck and beautiful skin wishes to all of you guys :-)

sarai.

I have been battling melasma for 8 yrs. It wasn't bad initially (first child), but after my second, my spots turned into patches and broadened it's horizon and the spots worsened. I thought I could take care of it myself with home peels, creams, treatments, light tx, etc, but after 8 yrs and it only getting worse, I went to see a dermatologist. He rec. the Melanage Peel to me, which I did. The cost was double that of what I saw online, but he was the expert. Before the peel, the patches were on 80-90% of my face and the darkness was 5.5/6 on their scale. They even called it severe melasma. The peel was left on my skin for the Max 10 hrs. Ater that, I used the rest of the kit (one month), then went on to try the Tri Luma, since the patches were still evident. I would say the peel reduced the intensity of the patches by 50%. I was on the Tri-Luma for 2 months, and went off it for 2 months. My patches and spots reduced to about 10% of what it was before. Much better! I can now step outside w/ IT CC cream and light eye makeup and feel totally fine. I could go bare faced, but I never go anywhere w/o SPF on my face anymore day or night. The Tri-Luma helped reduce the patches and spots by 25%.
I have resumed it after a 2 month break, since I can't find anywhere saying it can go beyond 8 wks of use. My dermatologist was very pleased with my results and so am I. I am glad that I went through with this whole procedure, and I would do it again, should my spots darken and my patches come back. I had severe melasma, and now I can go without
makeup, but never spf! :-)

Went to a cosmetic dermatologist for some uneven skin tone and slight melasma. NOTHING MAJOR but I didn't like it. They told me about Tri-Luma cream but said it wasn't currently on the market but that they could call into a 'recipie' of the ingredients to a Pharmacy Solutions Center. It's the same ingredients but basically a generic Tri-Luma. The packagaing was a little jar that I have to keep in the fridge. Somewhat of an odd smell.. but I've been using it for 10 days and one word.. AMAZING.

From what I've read you generally use this for about 6-8 weeks. Noticible improvement within a couple weeks. I don't think I'll need to use this past 3-4 weeks max for my fair skin. I applied to my whole face since I had some sun damage all over. I was told by pharmacist it was good until the color turned dark and I know the shelf life won't be long BUT, it cleared up my uneven patches and smoothed me out! I used some retrinal products before so it didnt' irritate me at all. If you have patches of uneven skin tone.. ask for this!

It wasn't covered by insurance so I paid $70...kind of high but well worth it to me since it's my face.. everyone see's it.

Everyone WOC needs this in her medicine cabinet.

Yes - its is like 100 (and most insurance doesnt cover it...) but if removes any mark from a burn, inflammation, etc in a month or under..its amazing.

I have one question? I have just started using Ducray Regulating Creame. So just wanted to know if i can use Triluma "SkinLite Ever" creame at nite and Ducreay Creame in the morning?

I am actually writing a review for a generic version of triluma called skin-lite. Skin-lite actually contains considerably less of the active ingredients - 2% hydroquinone, .025% tretinoin and .1% cortisone. I'd always had a couple of age spots but over the last year I developed discolouration along the outside of my cheeks on both sides. This co-incided with the lead up to menopause and my hormones going crazy. I have been on the progesterone only mini pill for 3 months to regulate them. I can only assume that the manic hormones are one of the main reasons for the discolouration. For the last three weeks I have been using Skin-lite every night, and 2-3 nights a week I have also been using a cream containing 5% lactic acid. The first couple of nights I used skin-lite I had a mild tingling or burning sensation on my face. Those nights I used it just after washing my face and before applying moisturiser. I decided to take a more measured approach. Now I wash my face, apply a light moisturiser and then apply the skin-lite around half an hour later. This is a thick, slightly greasy cream, but as I am using so little of it, it doesn't make my skin feel greasy. I use it all over my face, neck, the back of my hands and my forearms up to my elbows. I use a pea sized amount at the most for my face and neck, and another small pea sized amount for each hand/forearm. I've had no major irritation or peeling, the only side effects have been a couple of largeish pimples, and considerable dryness when I used it straight on the skin before using moisturiser. I find when I wake up in the morning my skin looks very calm and I am assuming this is because of the cortisone. I am prone to broken capillaries and this has not irritated them. There has been signifcant lightening of my age spots both on my face, hands and arms. I don't really have much in the way of wrinkles so can't comment on whether it would help with wrinkles. I am aware of the skin thinning that can come with overuse of topical cortisone and so i will use this for another 3 week and then stop. However I will definitely use it again in the future. Basically I intend to continue using this for as long as I need to, probably one month using it followed by 2-3 months off. I bought two tubes of this off United States Ebay for $4 per tube plus $6 postage and handling to Australia. The ebay seller is located in India and didn't have the highest rating, but at that price I figured I could take a chance, and luckily had no problems. Skin-lite is also available on the All Day Chemist website, but beware many people have complained of being overcharged by them. There is a thread about it the on essential day spa forum.

Triluma is a great product - i was looking for something to lighten my acne scars before my wedding. I stumbled on tri luma, the reviews were good so i decided to give it a try . Within 2 weeks my blemish marks were gone, it even got rid of existing acne, made my skin smooth and even brightened up my skintone from an NC45 to NC43. :) very pleased as my wedding pictures came out great.

The downside - when my face got lighter my dark circles got darker so had to cover up more. then my skin started getting lighter in patches and it made my face look a bit wierd with different tones on different parts of the face. And of course you cannot use tri luma for more than 8 weeks at a stretch and as am planning to get pregnant i had to stop using it. But this has been one of the best products i've used for scars yet.

(update) 10.10.2014
I recently started using triluma again, after having had a baby, my skin went really dark and acne scars very very much darker. Nothing I tried improved the marks, so I resorted to triluma again( as soon as I stopped breast feeding). Its fanstatic how the marks have started to fade just 1 week after starting the cream. Very expensive .... but best purchase ever !

First of all, I would like to sincerely thank roarwoman for the wonderfully detailed review. I have been using Tri Luma now for 6 weeks now, and I am so far pleased with the results.
I have had several "splotches" of melasma that have bothered me for years. I can never say for sure what caused it, but I have never been pregnant and I am a sunscreen fanatic, so I believe they are either from taking spironolactone or from switching from Tri Sprintec to Yaz for a few years ago. I had one big splotch on my forehead that was particularly bothersome, and then on my upper lip and one one either side of my nose.
I got Tri Luma this past summer from my dermatologist, but I didn't start it right away because I was going on vacation and didn't want to be in the sun while using this stuff. So I waited, and sure enough during my vacation, even though I wore a hat at the beach and applied SPF 55 all day long, I felt like I looked like I had a gross "tan mustache."
I started Tri Luma the day I got home.
I applied just a very thin layer to each affected area every night. For the first two weeks I felt like I had wasted my money because I didn't see any of the redness, burning or peeling that I had read so much about.
Around week three I experienced some very minor peeling above my lip.
Around week four all the spots were very noticeably lighter.
Around week five all the spots were slightly red, as if I'd been undergoing a very slow chemical peel (which I guess I was, technically).
Week six, I don't even have to cover up in terms of brown spots, but my skin is red, almost like it's flushed. And it's a bit drier than normal.

Overall I'm pleased and anxious to see what happens after the fully 8 weeks. I never used more than a pea size amount, maybe not even that much. You can't smear your whole face with this potent cream and not expect to have irritation, peeling, etc. You have to be patient and realize that using more won't get you better results. You only need a very, very thin layer on the areas you're treating.

Also, if you have spots all over that you want to treat, I would suggest maybe doing one section at a time. I know it's hard not to try to treat everything at once, but it could help avoid having a lot of irritated peeling skin all over your face. Maybe do cheeks first, then forehead and chin or something like that.

The only real con is that I think Tri Luma is causing me to break out a bit. I've always battled acne, but it's been under control. Since starting Tri Luma I've been breaking out, not on the areas I'm treating, but around my chin and jawline. I haven't changed anything else, so I'm guessing it could be the cause. Hopefully once I stop using the Tri Luma I'll clear up.

There are a lot of comments on this product that have made me do a double take. As a dermatologist nurse, I feel some things need to be set straight regarding this product and it's effectiveness, longevity of use and follow up program.

I have been using this product for the last three weeks to help lighten melasma that I developed from taking Diane 35 for my acne. This product is a potent mix of 0.05% tretinoin (Vit-A), 4% HQ and a 1% steroid. Naturally, once you start using a cream with all the above included it will initially dry out your skin. Eventually though, your skin starts to get used to the product and most people find that the tight dry feeling eventually goes away, but it will take about 1-2 weeks. If you have sensitive skin, start by applying every second night for the first week and then every night the second week onward. If the cream continues to irritate and dry your skin, then continue using every second night. You will have slower results, but results all the same as it's better then nothing. For more resilient skin types, apply a light, even layer over area's of concern every night. Do not use this as an all over face cream, try to concentrate on the larger more concentrated area's of pigmentation. Wash your face with a MILD cleanser, wait 10-30 min for the skin to dry and then apply the cream. There is no scientific study that proves applying a moisturizer over this product reduces it's potency, but give the cream a few minutes to be absorbed by the skin before applying moisturizer.

This product should be used for no more then 8weeks, because of the steroid. It causes skin atrophy (thin skin), which burns faster and deeper in the sun if proper care is not taken (SPF/Sunblock are a MUST while using and after stopping the cream). Do not use this more then once a day unless your Derm/Dr. feels it is appropriate. A lot of what I read on here and other sites, complaint wise, are from people using the product incorrectly. Also, people who claim it does nothing for wrinkles, that is untrue. 0.05% tretinoin is a highly effective percentage of Vit-A cream that exfoliates the skin and can soften the look of fine lines/wrinkles, prevent acne/clear up existing acne and make the skin look soft and glowing.

Where people run into problems is the products they use after stopping Tri-Luma. Melasma will return for some people, it's important to maintain your results with a Vit-A cream such as Rejuva, Renova etc.. at a high enough % that it will be effective. You can also continue with a Vit-A/HQ combo cream minus the steroid. This cream, as you have read is really $$$. Get your Dr. to write the three ingredients separately, find a pharmacy that compounds and voila, you have the same thing, for half the price. The only down side is that compounded cream can expire faster, so have them make small amounts for you like 10-15g at a time and make sure you have 3-4 refills. I hope this is helpful to people interested in this product. It does work, I have seen it on myself and my clients. With anything that has medical properties you have to use it correctly or you do run into problems, get frustrated and stop using it before it has a chance to work. Patience is the key to treating Melasma. This is not a miracle cream, for some it will help immensely, other's will notice some lightening, and for some they will not experience much change. Realistic expectations are required, not some hope and a prayer that his will cure all.


*****UPDATE***** 11/16/10 -I stopped using this cream after 8 weeks and am happy to say that the brown pigment that I had along my upper lip, cheeks and forehead are almost indistinguishable. I have been maintaining with a Vit-C and Vit.A serum, medical grade product, that I use 2x/day. I'm happy to read that Tri-Luma is working for others as well. Melasma is difficult to treat and you need the patients of a Saint sometimes, but don't give up hope, if this product isn't working or is to irritating try other alternatives like Kojic acid or Azeliac Acid. Blended Jessner's peels as well as low % TCA/lactic acid combo peels are also a good treatment in a series of 4-8 peels Keep up the good fight peeps of MUA :)

At 52 I found myself spending a lot of time trying to cover up freckles after I'd put on foundation. Only they weren't really freckles. A couple weeks into using this, my husband said the skin on my face looked incredible. And he was right, as long as I loaded up with some heavy duty moisturizer. Radiant, luminous, healthy, the spots were very much faded or gone. But I noticed I was much drier than before I'd started using TriLuma and wrinkling! Directions say to use alone but I found a serious coating with Cetaphil cream after applying the TriLuma was very helpful. I'm into the 3rd month and don't use it every night now. Soon I'll start using Renova instead to help with the fine (and not so fine) lines. I'm happy with this product because it did what it was supposed to (fade out and remove sun spots) even at the expense of some seriously weird dry skin. Yep, I'd do it again. LIver spots on your face are scary. If they show up on my hands you can be sure I know what to use. continued >>