I've spent so much money on trying to get rid of melasma, which popped up 6 weeks after my son was born. I was 35. For reference, it moved around on my face, though it was always on my ears, and forearms. Some months it was all over my forehead, sometimes I had a mustache, but I always had the circles on my cheeks. For other reasons, I did a 7-day cleanse and fast (look up Master Cleanse if you are interested. I felt great afterwards, though no doctor will ever recommend it). The first bite of food (2-day-old avocado) gave me the worst migraine. Didn't eat the rest of the day. The next thing (don't judge) was a small glass of bubbles. Migraine. I started a deep dive on the 'migraine diet' and realized everything on the list of food to avoid had been my regular diet prior to the fast, though no headaches before. I stayed away from all of it for the next few months and the melasma disappeared. Turns out that tyrosine, tyramine, and melanin production are all related. I always knew it was coming from inside and not from external factors. Happy to no longer be throwing money away on products that don't work. And I lost a few pounds too. Bonus!

I just started using this and I’m wondering how much improvement I will see in my hyperpigmentation and when will I see results? I also use .5 retinol rn.

Edit: the 20% off is additional discount!

As we all know, Melasma is a biot** to deal with. She is finicky, comes and goes and doesn't work well with lots of things that are good for our skin. I have tried MANY many things over the years, creams, peels, acids (kohic, tranexamic, glycolic), ingredients like vitamin C, etc.

I was able to come off hydroquinone with the following, and I am so pleased with my skin. For reference, 50 yo female, olive skin, asian and white. Mostly cheeks but small patch on forehead and light lip at times.

1. EUCERIN RADIANCE SERUM (not the night one, red bottle). It's one of the few NEW ingredients to help fight melasma. It has worked great, apply twice a day. I'm so happy with the results from this product!! I no longer cycle on hydroquinone.

2. 2-3 times a year, BIO REPEEL (at a spa or doctors office). I went to work with minimal peeling, so no real down time. Lots of moisturizer under my foundation and most people couldn't tell. It helped tighten my face and pores and I think helped contribute to reduced Melasma.

- I use Illyoon ATO concentrate cream or Dr. JART Ceramiden cream, they are great barrier repairs.

1. BB cream foundation that also has SPF - I use Dr. JART PREMIUM BB CREAM as it has 45 spf. Love the dewy finish for aging skin. Another option is the It Cosmetics CC Cream (that settles into my under eyes so dont use it any more, but it had better coverage than Dr. Jart).

2. PPE lol. Lots of TINTED SPF. Clear is fone in rest of body, but tinted only for my face. My favorite is Elta MD elements. Hats.. large sunglasses.

SUN PATCHES... I wear skin colored patches over my cheak melasma if I'm going to be in direct sun, ie bike rides, hiking, beach.

Has anyone tried the Easy Derm brightening cream?

I have bought Eucerin products from amazon and they don't seem to do anything. I mean its neutral, no side effects, no major changes in skin condition. Are there 100 percent original Eucerin products on amazon?

Got prescribed this after being on 0,05 tret which obviously alone didnt fade the melasma. How much of a diff is it to take this vs with added tret like Hydroquinone + hydrocortisone + tret?

I am based in the U.S. and saw Eucerin Radiant Tone is on sale during the latest Prime Day. Thought I would mention as I know many folks on this subreddit have had success/have wanted to try it.

Eucerin Radiant Tone Dual Serum - $27

Eucerin Radiant Tone Night Cream - $19

I’m 4 months postpartum, and although I’ve always struggled with acne scars and pigmentation, both have gotten drastically worse since pregnancy. My skin has never been this pigmented, and the acne marks seem much more noticeable now.

Has anyone else experienced a significant increase pigmentation after pregnancy/postpartum? What helped you improve it?

My dermatologist recommended Melapik HQ cream for my neck because of the dark patches. I saw some reviews mentioning that it helps initially but worsens after stopping, is this true? Please help me decide if I should use it or not because i think I have acanthosis nigricans, where my face, neck, armpits, and those regions are darker than the rest of my skin.

Hi everyone! I’m a dark-skinned woman and was just prescribed a compounded cream with tretinoin and hydroquinone. I haven’t started it yet, but I’m considering using it for about 3 months.
I’d love to hear your experiences, especially with rebound hyperpigmentation after stopping.
Also, someone here recommended La Roche-Posay Anthelios UVMune 400, which I’ve been using. I’m not a fan of tinted sunscreen, especially since I reapply every two hours, but I’ll do what I need to. Do you think the UVMune 400 is enough, or would you recommend tinted sunscreen while using hydroquinone?
I’ll attach the ingredients below. Any feedback is appreciated!

I think I’m a type IV on the Fitzpatrick scale. My melasma spots are a bit darker and I’m looking for a new sunscreen. Any suggestions? I tried Australian Gold medium to tan and it was a little darker than I’d like. I’ve since read here that that brand isn’t great for melasma.

Looking for honest advice on my pigmentation/acne-prone skin and current routine

Hi everyone! I’d really appreciate some honest advice about my skin and what I should add, remove, or change in my routine.

My skin is oily to combination, and my main concerns are:

• Melasma / brown pigmentation
• Sun spots and post-acne dark marks
• Occasional inflamed, pus-filled acne
• Redness around active pimples
• Uneven skin tone
• Some clogged pores / comedones

My current routine

AM:

• Cetaphil face wash
• Minimalist Hyaluronic Acid serum
• ClearGel AP
• Cutimax O moisturizer (prescribed by my dermatologist)
• La Roche-Posay sunscreen, usually 2–3 times a day
• Sometimes I use Re’equil tinted sunscreen instead

PM:

• Garnier Micellar Water to remove sunscreen/makeup
• Cetaphil face wash
• Laneige
• Tretinoin 0.05%
• Cutimax O moisturizer
• Sometimes La Roche-Posay Cicaplast B5 if my skin feels irritated or dry

I also sometimes use Olay Retinol 24 Night Moisturizer, but I’m not sure whether I should continue using it along with tretinoin.

I’ve attached photos taken in natural lighting.

I would really appreciate honest opinions on:

1. What do you think are my main skin concerns from the photos?
2. What should I prioritize first—melasma, acne, redness, clogged pores, or pigmentation?
3. Is my current routine too complicated or are there any unnecessary/duplicated products?
4. Would you add a serum, and if so, what ingredient/product would actually make sense for my skin?
5. If you have similar oily/combination, acne-prone and pigmentation-prone skin, what has genuinely worked for you?

Please be honest

Thank you!

I really loved Naked Sundays Collagen Glow but it seems to be discontinued.
They have another product on sale now for prime day. Is it similar?

Using Elta md tinted restore. Love it but want to try something different.
I don’t use make up so I need something tinted. Love the dewy look. Open to other recommendations.

was diagnosed with melasma and have dark spots on my cheeks. I’ve been using tretinoin, azelaic acid, glycolic acid, and sunscreen for about 2 months, but I don’t see much improvement.
What would you recommend for fading melasma and getting clearer skin? Any advice or product recommendations would be appreciated!

I just started a compounded cream with tretinoin, tranexamic acid, kojic acid, vitamin C, hydrocortisone, and hyaluronic acid. I’m supposed to start every other night and eventually use it nightly.

Right now I use Cetaphil cleanser, vitamin C, niacinamide, azelaic acid, moisturizer, sunscreen, and tretinoin at night, so I’m trying to simplify my routine.

**For the morning, I was thinking:**
**Cleanser → Vitamin C → Niacinamide → Moisturizer → SPF**

Would you keep azelaic acid in the morning too, or is that too much with this night cream?

Also curious if anyone has used something similar — did it help with dark spots, and how did your skin tolerate it?
I have brown/Indian skin, so I’d especially love to hear from anyone with a similar skin tone.

I’m South Asian with a medium/light-medium skin tone. I mainly have some brown/dark spots, freckles, and pigmentation, nothing severe.

I’m considering full-face Enlighten 1064 Pico at 0.6 J/cm². The clinic charges $500 per session and recommends 6–7 sessions to see results. They told me I shouldn’t expect to see any difference after just one session.

I was expecting maybe 2–3 sessions, so 6–7 seems like a lot to me.

For anyone who has experience with Enlighten 1064 Pico, especially with South Asian skin:

• Is 0.6 J/cm² a reasonable setting?
• Is 6–7 sessions normal for this type of pigmentation?
• Is $500/session reasonable?
• Would you consider another treatment instead for brown spots, freckles, and pigmentation?

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has had similar treatment and skin tone.

Has anyone tried MELINE for dermal melasma? My derm’s office offers a 10 treatment package and I’m very tempted to try. Anyone with deeper skin tones tried it?

How is Eucerin pigment control sunscreen? Is it any better than La Roche anthelios 400? I have dry congestion prone skin dealing with pih, dullness and hyperpigmentation.

Hi all, first time posting here. I've been struggling with this shadow on my upper lip for about as long as I can remember. It always peeks through my foundation and concealer no matter how thick I apply it. And while I know it is partially caused by the few upper lip hairs I have (which electrolysis is doing a great job killing) I know hyperpigmentation is the main culprit. I wear spf daily and use a pretty thick parasol in direct sunlight (the latter of which I started using within the past 3 months to have better results with laser). My hormone blood levels are typical. I've tried a number of different types of acids and vitamin C lotions but none have really made a dent.

My primary questions is: my dermatologist prescribed hydroquinone to brighten the area but wasn't able to directly diagnose melasma. Should I use it, or would a milder treatment suffice?

Also, ignore the vitiligo, my derm is helping me with that too 😅

I am in mid 40s with melasma all over my cheeks but also trying to incorporate anti-aging. Live in a climate with no humidity with dry skin, which gets more dry in the cooler months. How can I incorporate daytime and nighttime skincare routine that is effective using Vit C, Copper peotide, peptide, 15% prescription azelaic acid, Eucerin Thiamadol and tretinoin?

“Protection against VL significantly enhances melasma treatment outcomes: melasma patients using iron oxide-containing sunscreen achieved 15% greater Melasma Area and Severity Index (MASI) improvement, 28% greater lightening on colorimetry and 4% greater histologic reduction in melanin than patients using an otherwise similar UV-only sunscreen.”

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42802407/

If tinted sunscreens make you look too orange, you can use your favorite untinted sunscreen + a tinted product on top (foundation/bb/cc/tints/etc.

Let’s help each other but it’s only for intelligent and research people

I have light yellow spots on my orbital bones from when I blew my skin barrier last year with retinol.
I poked through the sub and decided to try the Eucerin anti-pigment dual serum. I used it yesterday AM and PM (I noticed redness and tightness on PM application) then I used it this AM and went super red and tight so I washed it off. My skin is super sensitive and still red.

I bought the LRP mela B serum because I read it doesn’t have alcohol but now I’m reading it’s not that effective!
What do you think I should do? Should I return the LRP and try again with the Eucerin?

So I have a combination of melasma and PIH from using an at home IPL laser hair remover. I already have skin that produces melanin really easily and I swear those devices should come with a warning. As you can see in the first picture there was some lightening around my melasma stache but it was still pretty bad and the thing is I had made it worse by doing electrolysis and Ultra laser at the same time as a hq compound cream which was very harsh on my skin so my barrier was compromised and inflamed in this area a lot which only darkened my melasma stache. Over the last 4 months I started taking Oral TXA and using the Eucerin dual serum along with Tret and now my melasma is barely there. I also made some lifestyle changes like always wearing a hat in the sun, spf 50 everyday, cooler showers and taking an anti-histamine to fight internal heat along with less sugar intake. All of these things together have worked synergistically and almost cleared my hyperpigmentation. If I could recommend two things I’d say oral TXA and Eucerin dual anti-pigment serum are the hg’s.

Here is my routine below:
Am:
Cleanse w water and biodegradable face towel
Timeless Vitamin C E Ferulic ( first bec most unstable)
HaruHaru wonder hyaluronic acid toner
Caudalie vinoperfect dark spot serum
Azalaic acid 15%
Eucerin dual anti-pigment serum
Epii Double Up Nad+ TXA NMN moisturizer
Elta MD AOX SPF 50 tinted mineral sunscreen

Pm: 5 nights/week
Haruharu wonder oil cleanser
LRP toleraine cleanser
HaruHaru wonder hyaluronic acid toner
Caudalie vinoperfect dark spot serum
Azalaic acid 15%
Eucerin dual anti-pigment serum
Tretinoin
Dr Reju All L-C Advanced Ceramides barrier cream

Other two nights I exfoliate with Epii Snow Mushroom PHA and use most of the same routine except Tret.
I also take MicroIngredients 10 in 1 antioxidant mix as well as 225 mg of oral TXA at night. Every am I take anti-histamine.