This is advertised as a “brightening intensive lotion.”
Q1) Harmful chemicals present?
Yes. It contains Parabens (ethyl- and methyl- parabens) and I avoid parabens because they are estrogen mimickers. (See also Chemicals to Avoid – Parabens)
I respect your prerogative to use product containing both of these chemicals. Please continue reading.
Q2) Does the product have skin lightening ingredients?
Yes, these are (potentially):
- Niacinamide, listed as the 4th ingredient
- Tocopheryl Acetate (or Vitamin E)
- Morus Alba (or Mulberry) extract
- Lonicera Japonica flower extract
Antioxidants
Both Vitamin E and LJ flower extract are likely used as anti-oxidants. UV radiation generates free radicals, especially reactive oxygen species (or ROS) and both these will counter the effect of ROS.
Antioxidant activity reduces the need for skin to react to UV exposure, by producing more melanin. Therefore, at best (and I am being generous here), anti-oxidant activity, may indirectly contribute to skin lightening.
In itself it is not enough. Therefore the product has Niacinamide and Morus Alba. Out of all the ingredients, because Niacinamide is listed as the 4th ingredient, it is also mainly responsible for skin lightening.
Proper skin lighteners!
Niacinamide is an excellent skincare ingredient. It has a long track record of safety, is non-irritating, and importantly, does not interfere directly with the synthesis of melanin.
Melanin is the pigment that is primarily responsible for our skin colour (see also What gives our skin its colour?) Instead, Niacinamide reduces the amount of melanin being transferred to the epidermis (the topmost layer of our skin). By default, this means lighter skin.
Morus Alba is listed as the second to last ingredient – there is not much of it in this product. This is unsurprising as it is more expensive than Niacinamide. But it does cause skin lightening as its a tyrosinase inhibitor (see Morus Alba extract)
Q3) Products strategy for skin lightening?
This is a cleverly designed product as it contains:
- Sunscreen filters
- Antioxidants – see above
- Skin lighteners – see above
Sunscreen filters
One of the immediate body responses to over-exposure to UV radiation is that our body produces more melanin. More melanin results in tanning and darkening of skin complexion. The purpose of the sunscreen ingredients is to prevent this cascade of events caused by UVR exposure.
This day cream aims to do this by having multiple sunscreen filters: Octisalate, Avobenzone Octocrylene, and Phenylbenzimidazole Sulfonic Acid.
Would I buy this product again?
Personally, it contains parabens and that’s a big NO from my side. BUT, if you are OK with parabens, then this does produce skin lightening.
I would stress that after about 4 weeks, you may not see any difference in your complexion, despite continuous use of this product.
This would be consistent with studies that show the impact of Niacinamide in topical treatments plateaus after 4 weeks. This is by no means unique to only Niacinamide, but also applies to other skin lighteners (e.g.) retinoids.
For further information, please see Niacinamide as a skin lightener.
If you do plan use to use this product, please absolutely use a separate sunscreen product with at least an SPF 30 and that protects your skin against both UVA and UVB.
See also Top 5 sunscreen recommendations
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