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Helping newbies make a start.

765K views 2K replies 401 participants last post by  Toastedalmonds 
#1 ·
Hey welcome to SCT!


There are plenty of threads on here to help you with your questions but we understand it can be quite overwhelming. From what I gather, you have up to 2 months and you want to see some results by then? What I would suggest is not to jump straight to HQ4% because it probably wouldn't even work for you. What you need to do first is understand the basics of skin lightening in order to determine what products are best for you depending on what results you want to achieve.

The basics of skin lightening are:

Exfoliation
Lightening
Moisturising
Skin Building
Protection


Exfoliation: this is always the first step and will always occur whenever you want to lighten, have blemish-free skin, get rid of or prevent wrinkles, etc... You can do this a number of different ways, but this is what I would recommend for you:

  • Purchase an exfoliating soap (I would suggest Likas Papaya Soap as it is mild and great for beginners)


  • Buy Dead Sea Salt Soap to use in the shower once or twice a week, OR take a weekly 45 min salt bath (half cup of salt+drop of lavender+drop of olive oil)

  • Get a Lactic Acid Peel or Glycolic Acid Peel and mix with your favourite lotion (for percentages, check the DIY section or use the search function to find related threads)
Please please be careful and be patient with your skin, over-exfoliation is not pretty and scrubbing your skin to death does not get results quicker. Also please be very careful with the above acids, though they are Alpha Hydroxy Acids and therefore the mildest of peels, they are still acids and burns happen all the time if you don't do your research and use them properly.

Sidenote- you had asked about Retin A? This is mainly used for acne-prone skin but a lot of SCT users use it to help their lighteners penetrate further and to encourage peeling & collagen production. Please note that you should do extensive research on this and maybe even speak to your dermatologist before buying.


Lightening: this is where you would incorporate a product that contains active ingredients that inhibit melanin production. I honestly don't think you should use a lightener until your body is exfoliated as it is kind of like a waste of the lightener (it won't penetrate far enough to be effective when you have all that dead skin in the way). The best way is to incorporate a lightener after 4-6 weeks of solid exfoliation. HOWEVER, if you do choose to use a lightener, I would recommend:

  • Nadinola Extra Strength (can be expensive to ship as there are no UK sellers of this)


These are just HQ creams, there are many other lighteners available that do NOT use HQ. Again, you need to be careful when trying out lighteners. Everybody's skin tolerates things differently, so please pay attention to your skin if you choose to use HQ. There are plenty of products out there, and most have been used by SCT members so if you come across anything you haven't heard of, search it's name using the search function, or type in the name of the product + SCT into Google and something is bound to come up. Also, there are threads on all natural lightening which you should maybe have a peek at.

Sidenote- natural serums are great for lightening at any stage in your regimen, so invest in some l-ascorbic acid powder and/or some niacinamide, and make your own serums! These actives are water soluble and are super easy to make.



Moisturising: this is hugely important for healthy skin in general, but particularly for skin that is subject to exfoliation and lightening. This can all be very drying on the skin so you need to make sure you restore the skin's moisture. This can be done by incorporating things like Vitamin E oil, Jojoba oil, Coconut oil, Eucerin lotion, Cocoa Butter, and Shea Butter into your regimen.


Skin Building: this is important for people those who lighten and exfoliate because stripping away layers of the skin can be dangerous and cause skin thinning. You need to research all the ways you can get your collagen production up. Luckily AHAs encourage cell turnover, but to be on the safe side I use things like Emu Oil and St Ives Collagen Elastin Lotion. Some research has shown that creams containing collagen don't work because the collagen molecules are too large to be absorbed by the skin, but I like the St Ives lotion because it moisturises very well for me too.


Protection: this is the most CRUCIAL element of lightening! You could have the most solid effective regimen in the world but if you go out unprotected in the sun, all your progress will go down the toilet. SAP SAP SAP SAP!!!! Have you read this around the forum? It means Sun Avoidance & Protection. Whether its sunny or rainy (and you're from the UK so you know its mostly rainy lol) you have to use a physical sunblock to protect your skin from UVA and UVB damage. Chemical sunscreens are mostly ineffective, and you can read about that on several threads as well as on online articles. The ingredient to look out for is zinc oxide. There are plenty of zinc oxide sunblocks out there, like Devita and Badger.


Initial Regimen Example

OK so now you have an idea of how to lighten and what type of products to buy, I thought I'd share an example of a great way to start your skin care regimen:

Face - Morning
Wash with Likas (leave soap on for 5 mins before washing off)
Apply Vitamin C serum
Moisturise
Sunblock

Face - Evening
Wash with Likas
Apply Niacinamide serum
Apply LA or GA exfoliating lotion (low %) - 3 times a week
Moisturise if need be

Body
Wash with Likas 6 times a week and Dead Sea Salt Soap once a week
Apply serum of choice
Apply LA or GA exfoliating lotion (can be higher %, up to 15%) - 3/4 times a week
Moisturise if need be

Obviously the above regimen is just to give you an idea... you can do less, you can do more (be careful), you can steadily increase your tolerance of different stuff, you can incorporate a lightener.... it's up to you. The thing is, we here at SCT can only talk about what has worked for us and discuss products and ingredients. We can't tell you what will work for you 100% because everyone is different. But I hope the above info has helped even a little bit just so you can understand why we use certain products in certain ways. One thing I will say is using the search funtion (or Google) is a great way to find out answers to any queries you have, and also to see genuine reviews on products rather than marketing


So be careful, listen to your skin, research EVERYTHING, and keep us posted on your progress


Oh and remember.. slow and steady wins the race
 
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#1,295 ·
Like a pimple? Did the 40% cause you to peel?? If so, I am shocked, it will normally make you flake, but not peel. Its a very mild acid and usually non irritating. Did you purchase a ready to use peel or dilute/make your own? I would apply neosporin on the spot you are concerned with, otherwise just keep your skin well hydrated/moisturized.

Were you using RA or any other type of exfoliating product prior to applying the peel?
 
#1,296 ·
Hi Everyone, I have been lightening for some weeks now after exfoliating for weeks. The problem now is my knees, elbows, knuckles and my lips how do I go about lightening them they are so dark? I also have dark spots on my back what can be done to lighten the spots? Thanks a lot.
 
#1,297 ·
Hey, yeah like I woke up this morning and my area with the pus has now dried and it's like an open skin peel thing with dried pus. I bought a ready-made peel. Last week when I did it, it was perfectly normal. I'm surprised that this even happened. I did use RA prior to applying the peel (the night before) and I didn't mechanically exfoliate or anything. Maybe that was the reason but to the extent of like actual open skin with dried pus.. It's mortifying lol. Going to the pharmacy later today. I also gave it a week in between the peels.
 
#1,299 ·
Hello to everybody! Could I have some opinions for my next regime?
I'm a brown guy (Indian/Arab colour) and I would like to lighten my face about 1-2 shades or to make it glow (at least one of that two :D)

I have now used for 6 weeks the kojic soap and moisturized after it; for this next period I was thinking about adding g&g oil and retin-a (as I read it's really helpful?).
I'm a bit confused about a possible regime, could someone help me with an example? I've read some old threads but I didn't understand at all a correct sequence to use all this products. Thanks a lot :)
 
#1,301 ·
Welcome!
toner am and pm after bathing with exfoliating soap.
apply serum cream or gel
oil
lightening cream and lotion or either or.
apply lactic acid lotion( three days a week). After applying lightener.
apply sunscreen during the day this is the last step. Make sure to skinbuild twice a week.
 
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#1,302 ·
Those are a lot of products why not use one oil and one jar with the carotein gel and layer instead of mixing all of them. It is a good way to see what is working and what is not and how your skin responds to them. Don't forget sunscreen and an LA lotion like amlactin, fair and white AHA lotion.
 
#1,306 ·
@moon maiden Hi I was wondering if anyone can give me advice on my hands I've been suffer from Pih for almost 2 years and its embarrassing.

I have a variety of products and if you could help me with a regime that would be great

what I am doing now is rinsing my hands with kojic San in the Am and using retin a 0.1 in the pm 3 days a week....of course sun block lol

so I have these products and I don't know what to do with them:
dodo white up soap
dodo white up oil
dodo white up lotion
piment doux
fair and white AHA.
10 and 20% peeling oil

Please help
 
#1,307 ·
@moon maiden Hi I was wondering if anyone can give me advice on my hands I've been suffer from Pih for almost 2 years and its embarrassing.

I have a variety of products and if you could help me with a regime that would be great

what I am doing now is rinsing my hands with kojic San in the Am and using retin a 0.1 in the pm 3 days a week....of course sun block lol

so I have these products and I don't know what to do with them:
dodo white up soap
dodo white up oil
dodo white up lotion
piment doux
fair and white AHA.
10 and 20% peeling oil

Please help
peel your hands with the peeling oil after it heals wash your hands with dodo soap and scrub with a tooth brush. Use fair and white AHA lotion then piment doux and dodo oil and lotion for your hands then occlude at night three days a week. Peel your hands every three months.
 
#1,308 ·
Hello everyone:wavey:,

I don't know how to start or even where to start (deep breath). I have been trying to lighten my skin for the longest time. However, due to poor judgment and little research I stumbled upon a bad product that made me very skeptical of almost any lighting product out there. unfortunately, not too long after applying my test trial of fair and flawless 5XF body lighting gel, my skin got drier and patchy as if I had light eczema. I stopped and repaired my skin to its original form. On top of all that I have very dry skin :(. I'm currently using glytone body lotion 17.5% GA as an exfoliator and it has been working fine except it burns like crazy so I'm not sure how long i will last with it (I'm not sure if I should switch to an LA lotion instead or stick with GA). I'm trying to get lighter for my sister's wedding next January and I have no idea what to do or how to get from NC50 to NC45 (or a little lighter) without the dark knuckles and the [I have been bleaching and I failed skin!!!!]. I'm also scared since I've heard that some products may cause the skin to redarken even worse once stopped. I 'm desperately asking for guidance and if there is a way to use safe products/methods to get to my desired results without any surprises. Believe me, I did a TON of research, but I'm just lost on what to do.....:help:

Desperate Newbie
Thanks
 
#1,315 ·
Hello, there is some text missing on your post the beginning. I am new here and ai want to start my skin lightening process I understand I have to go through some exfoliation what are the steps and the stuff I need please. I read about using LA, kojic acid soap and San, is that all for the begining?
 
#1,316 ·
Beginning exfoliate for 4-6 weeks using exfoliating soap of your choice like kojie San, asantee, fair and white AHA soap, toujour jeune. Use an LA lotion during this time like amlactin, fair and white AHA lotion. Use a good sunscreen like devita, burnout, baby, neutrogena. And skinbuild twice a week that's when you don't exfoliate and use a regular soap like dove, or body wash like caress. And an oil like olive oil, lotion like jergens or butter like shea butter. After 6 weeks you can add a lightening cream of your choice to your regime please note you most keep exfoliating through out your journey. Decide if you want to use HQ or KA or even nature extracts like vitamin b3, licorice, gigiwhite.And diy-info your own products which work but take longer than the aforementioned methods. Or a combination of any of them. If you decide on HQ you have to stop using it after 4-6 months to avoid immunity. Then you can go back to it during that time you can use KA. Please read the threads and decide what products interest you and I can help you build a regime.
 
#1,317 ·
Thank you so much for replying I truly appreciate. Is mitchel brands a good website to purchase my products on? I read and found out house of beauty was not reliable. Also I was interested in the following brands Francoise Bedon, g&g, and labi which of these 3 brands would you recommend best? Can you please help build a regime from here or I need add anything else? Thanks again
 
#1,322 ·
They are all good brands. If you decide to use gng I recommend the cream and oil or the lotion and oil please don't use the cream on your face if you decide to use it. It is too harsh for there face. You can use a Mitchell brand serum or gel for your face with gng oil.
for Fracoise Bedon add to serums to help boost it's effectiveness. Unlike the other two which are KA based labi is HQ based so you would have to take a break from it after 4-6 months to avoid immunity then return to to after that duration. Use a good sunscreen, a facial toner like thayers brand or rosewater. And an LA lotion three times a week.
 
#1,331 ·
Hello y'all. I was directed to this forum by some good samaritan. I am looking to lighten up my dark skin in the safest ways possible. I have heard and seen people whose skin got messed up due to bleaching and that scares me away from anything bleaching. But I really wanna lighten up my skin for various reasons, and I wanna do that in "natural ways" (if there's anything like that).

This pinned post appears to be up to 6 years old so I am not sure if the information contained therein is still valid and applicable.
 
#1,333 ·
Thank you. It'll take me quite some time to read through every single post in his thread (134 pages), but I will make it happen. Talking about Hydroquinone, I am really skeptical about using it.
The lightening products mentioned (Caro Light and Nadinola) in the lightening portion all contains HQ so I was wondering, there were no other more natural lightening products mentioned.
 
#1,336 ·
Hey guys,

i was wandering if it's ok to my sunblock first in the morning and then moistuizer over this because it's the only way to remove the horrible white cast? Or would this basically completely ruin the effect of the sunscreen?

Also is it possible to lighten around 4 shades and maintain this on my face without the use of Retin A? So far i've just been using AMlactin and GA 10% lotion as well as Kojic san soap and ambi fade cream. Eventually when my skins properly exfoliated i'll replace the ambi fade with nadinola.
 
#1,340 ·
Hi I am new to skin lightening... I am wondering if it is possible to lighten skin with just exfoliation.. I want to try chemical peels would that work? I am also kind of scared of the peeling I don't want uneven skin
that's why sunscreen is so important.

Hi I am new to skin lightening... I am wondering if it is possible to lighten skin with just exfoliation?.. I want to try chemical peels would that work? I am also kind of scared of the peeling I don't want uneven skin.

My goal is to have a uniform skin town all over my body. Currently the lighter parts of my body have a caramel color. The dark areas that I want to lighten are my face nd neck, area from my belly button to the top part of my thighs(mini skirt cut off area), elbows, and knees

I have also started to build an exfoliating regimen...

Face
AM
wash face with Kojic acid 4x a week
cleanse face with aha cleaner
Witch hazel
Moisturize face with lactic acid mixed with lotion
Sunscreen with Zinc

PM
Wash with aha cleanser
Moisturize face East African Shea mixed with Rose hip oil


Lactic Acid peel 15 % once a week


Dark Areas on Body
AM
Wash with Kojic acid soap (using exfoliating gloves)
Moisturize with lactic acid mixed with lotion

PM
Wash with Kojic acid soap (using exfoliating gloves)
Moisturize with lactic acid mixed with lotion

Lactic acid peel 25 % once a week



Thanks :)
Are you trying to remove a permatan or actually lighten? And what % of LA lotion are you using? Just be sure you are also using a good sunscreen!!
 
#1,338 ·
Hi I am new to skin lightening... I am wondering if it is possible to lighten skin with just exfoliation?.. I want to try chemical peels would that work? I am also kind of scared of the peeling I don't want uneven skin.

My goal is to have a uniform skin town all over my body. Currently the lighter parts of my body have a caramel color. The dark areas that I want to lighten are my face nd neck, area from my belly button to the top part of my thighs(mini skirt cut off area), elbows, and knees

I have also started to build an exfoliating regimen...

Face
AM
wash face with Kojic acid 4x a week
cleanse face with aha cleaner
Witch hazel
Moisturize face with lactic acid mixed with lotion
Sunscreen with Zinc

PM
Wash with aha cleanser
Moisturize face East African Shea mixed with Rose hip oil


Lactic Acid peel 15 % once a week


Dark Areas on Body
AM
Wash with Kojic acid soap (using exfoliating gloves)
Moisturize with lactic acid mixed with lotion

PM
Wash with Kojic acid soap (using exfoliating gloves)
Moisturize with lactic acid mixed with lotion

Lactic acid peel 25 % once a week



Thanks :)
 
#1,343 ·
I have been using african black soap in the shower in the PM as I do usually. For the past 8 days I've used Amlactin lotion twice daily (8oz bottle, 12% LA)
Everything is so far so good. I'm wondering though, if I added a 1oz bottle of the 88% LAPEEL to my next full lotion bottle would the 21-22% peel be stable?
 
#1,349 ·
@Kevin1991 your regimen seems about right to me. Probably try out supplements to see if you might get that glow. It might be the lightning around you. It happens to me, i look rather dull in my room but in the sun the parts that look light glow up. i am sorry i can't be of any help.
Don't worry and you are actually right, under the sun it looks better but still "something" is missing; the sunscreen for example is making my skin glow and giving exactly what I would like to have in normal conditions. Supplements are ok, for my sport and diet i'm taking all year multivitamins, omega3, fish oil, green tea and a diet with proteins, vegetables, vitamins, water etc... thank you for your help :)
 
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