Dark spots can appear out of nowhere on your face and hands. And as swiftly as they pop up, they’re agonizingly slow to fade. A number of serums claim to reduce the spots and brighten skin. But do they work? And are they safe? We ask our favorite cosmetic chemist, Javon Ford, to shed some light on the situation.
Hyper-pigmentation happens when your skin makes too much melanin, and tyrosinase is the enzyme responsible for melanin production. So the way most of the brightening serums work is by impeding that process with tyrosinase inhibitors.
Hydroquinone is the gold-standard tyrosinase inhibitor, but it was banned from over-the-counter use a few years ago when animal studies linked it to potential carcinogenicity. It’s still available by prescription, though. Its cousin is arbutin, which is derived from hydroquinone but considered safe. There are various forms of vitamin C, kojic acid, and azelaic acid, which also work by inhibiting tyrosinase, ultimately lowering melanin production.
This happens gradually. Even if you use one of these serums on a regular basis, the process is so slow that you might not notice a change for three months. These products don’t bleach the skin; they stop the skin from making more melanin. That’s why you see the word “brightening” on the labels of American products. In other countries, the words “whitening” or “lightening” are often used to imply bleaching. But brightening is what most of these products do rather than actually bleaching the skin.
These ingredients work better in combination than alone because each one has a different mechanism and a different way of inhibiting tyrosinase production. I look for a product that has multiple actives instead of just one. Some people say they reach a plateau when using vitamin C serums, which is another good reason to use vitamin C in combination with kojic acid, arbutin, or azelaic acid.
Chemical peels also work on dark spots by increasing the turnover of skin cells. That’s how glycolic acids and lactic acids brighten the skin. They slough off the dead skin, and the newer skin is less pigmented. That takes even longer than the tyrosinase inhibitors. But if you use a chemical peel in combination with a tyrosinase inhibitor, you might see a more noticeable effect in a shorter period of time.
While you’re using these products, you want to be sure that you’re not inflaming the skin and triggering more hyper-pigmentation. It’s crucial to stay out of the sun and use sunscreen regularly. A lot of brightening serums now incorporate anti-inflammatory agents to keep from exacerbating the problem.
Javon Ford is a Los Angeles–based cosmetic chemist. He posts highly informative reviews on TikTok and @javonford16
