Good Whitening Lotion Suggestions

Bleaching Creams, skin lighteners, skin whiteners...whatever you want to call them...they all have one directive as far as beauty is concerned- to create smoother looking, whiter skin. And there are tons of different brands out there that promise to do just that. But what are the hallmarks of good whitening lotions and what should you look for when you are going to make your choice?

First of all, there are some things to consider.

What are you hoping for a whitening lotion to do for you?

For instance, if you have darker skin and simply want to whiten it, then you will need to be more aggressive and possibly even take more risks or spend more money on products that are made for this.

One such ingredient that works very well but is currently being banned by many countries is hydroquonine (France has banned it, I believe....the FDA in the U.S. is currently considering making it strictly available by prescription only). The reason is because of possible links to certain forms of cancer.

That said, thousands of women use bleaching lotions with this ingredient worldwide with very little side effects. The downside is that the black market for these whitening creams is huge which ups the risk factor if you are going to try a cream or lotion with hydroquinone in it.

The good news is that even if you are looking for a bleaching lotion to whiten your entire face and do it safely, there are some natural products that may be just as good as hydroquinone. Alpha Arbutin is one of them and studies have found that it outperforms most of the other natural lightening ingredients out there.

If you are simply dealing with some sort of hyperpigmentation problem, then you may not have to be as aggressive when choosing a product since you are usually focusing on age spots or even acne pigmentation (this looks very similar to scarring but in actuality is your body's melanin responding to skin inflammation). In this case, you could try some lotions with natural skin lightening ingredients such as bearberry extract, licorice root or even absorbic acid...all of which are great natural lightening ingredients and naturally suppress the production of melanin.

The prices for whitening lotions vary wildly, largely because the market is wide open to speculation with very few skin lightening lotions actually being able to do what they claim in the time that they claim they can do it. Meladerm is one of the natural lotions that seems to be able to stand behind its guarantee though as well as a few other lotions.

First of all, throw out the notion of price.  There are some whitening lotions that are very expensive that will do almost nothing for you.  And there are also some pretty decently priced lotions that work quite well.  The thing to look for is ingredients.  Here are some ingredients that naturally lighten skin...

• Hydroquinone-  Once again, this is banned in some countries and could be harmful to your health...so tread lightly and understand the risks.
• Alpha-Arbutin-  Most skin lightening lotions won't use A-Arbutin because of the price.  It is the best natural skin whitening ingredient and you will be paying for it if it is the main ingredient in your lotion.
• Beta-Arbutin-  This works as well but isn't near as effective as Alpha Arbutin.  It is one of the more common ingredients found in this type of lotion.
• Licorice extract
• Bearberry extract
• Mulberry extract
• Kojic Acid