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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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#7 ·
I think it should be noted that Carolight has it's own thread up here with a lot of information within it. It has worked well for some users, not so much for others, and there have been several users who experienced irritation and tiny bumps. But like I said, check out the threads on some of the products before you buy.
 
#9 ·
Oldies, but goodies!

Lightening Fitz V-VI Skin; a primer

Master Sources, Info/How To Thread

IMPORTANT: re HQ/RA & Steroidal Agents

More info from Ondine:

Quote: Originally Posted by

http://www.unifra.br/professores/mar...pigmenting.pdf

This link send you to one of the best & most comprehensive articles about skin depigmenting in actual humans. Written in a reader-friendly legible style (you don't need to be Dr. Kligman to understand it!) it has info that every person seeking to lighten their skin can put to practical use.
 
#11 ·
#17 ·
Also, I wanted to share that I am an avid vitamin taker. I recommend the Nature's Sunshine brand. They are vegetarian, Kosher, and produce great results. I also use Lumene's Vitamin C serums and creams for daytime and they are amazing. There is a great Vit. C serum recipe on the DIY forum. HTH.
 
#16 ·
#18 ·
Hey guys
I really need to know a good brand Vitamin C Serum (would MUAC's be good?)
and a good Sunscreen, I'm thinking of Badger
also I need to know where to get a LA Lotion?
please help

ah and I have a perma tan on my hands, I'm quite unsure if I should use 40% LA on them, if they would work or not, cause its pretty deep, should I get 65% too ?
so use 40% on my face, and 65% on my hands =/ ? I never used peels btw, only a bit of RA.
 
#19 ·
I haven't personally used a ready-made Vit C serum.. I make my own. It's pretty easy to do and cheaper in the long run. You can buy L-Ascorbic powder online or in a shop of you find a place, and mix it with distilled water and glycerin (and any other nice ingredient you'd like to use)- check the DIY threads for recipe ideas and formulation percentages.

LA lotion can also be DIYed using an LA peel and a lightweight lotion. Your best bet (for peels and DIY LA lotion) is to buy a high strength LA peel online (from lotioncrafters and places like that) and mix it yourself. Again the DIY section will have all the info on how much to use depending on the strength of LA lotion you want. For peels, you would need to mix the LA peel solution with distilled water, so for example, if you have an 88% LA peel you can mix it 50/50 with distilled water to make a 44% solution.

Please start low in both cases because you really do not want to push your skin too far, too fast- Lactic Acid though mild is still an acid and can still cause burns and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. PIH is one of the most difficult things to get rid of and can be unsightly.

Good luck!
 
#20 ·
Sorry forgot to add as well, I just bought some Badger sunblock and it's good but it does leave a white cast. What I do to combat that is use my left over invisible spray on sunscreen (obviously a chemical one) on top and rub it in. Chemical sunscreens are not that great but at least the zinc oxide provides adequate protection underneath it.

Oh and with regards to your peels.. you can do peels once a week for 6 weeks then take a 2 week break. Make sure not to use your LA lotion or any other type of AHA lotion for 24 hours before and after a peel, and like I said before start low with peels to get an idea of what will work for you. I know 44% sounds too low for your hands but at least after the 6 weeks you'll know how high you'll need the percentage to be. That's much better than starting with 65% and burning the crap out of your hands.
 
#381 ·
Oh and with regards to your peels.. you can do peels once a week for 6 weeks then take a 2 week break. Make sure not to use your LA lotion or any other type of AHA lotion for 24 hours before and after a peel, and like I said before start low with peels to get an idea of what will work for you. I know 44% sounds too low for your hands but at least after the 6 weeks you'll know how high you'll need the percentage to be. That's much better than starting with 65% and burning the crap out of your hands. Hi ProudChoc,

Oh My!!

I've been using spray on Neutrogena sunscreen 100+ on my body and the 85+ cream on my face, So do you think w/o the non chemical sunscreen its a waste all together?

 
#21 ·
Thank you! this is really helpful,
for sunscreen I am trying to find famous brand ones that could be bought from pharmacy with zinc oxide, I'm still searching, cause really for me ordering online is a hassle -_-

and yeah I ordered the 44% lactic acid =D I'll go slow!
 
#22 ·
Popular sun protection that is used by a lot of members: Devita, Pratima, Eco logical, Burnout they are all physical (zinc oxide). Shiseido is a mixture (physical and chemical). Not sure if you can get them all at the chemist. I'm in the Uk and I have to get mine online the only one I've been able to get from the chemist is la Roshay Athelios and it wasn't any good (chemical and white cast).

Some sun protection threads.

Devita 'jermsthelightersideoflife'
http://www.skincaretalk.com/skin-lig...evita-you.html

Shiseido 'hotblond'
http://www.skincaretalk.com/skin-lig...lock-over.html

Pratima 'Krystalskin'
http://www.skincaretalk.com/anti-agi...sunscreen.html

physical Sunsblock list 'lightenandlift'
http://www.skincaretalk.com/anti-agi...reen-list.html
 
#33 ·
I'm looking into Japanese sunscreens right now. Supposedly they're more mattifying than Western ones tend to be, which is a massive plus for me because 1) I HATE that shiny look you get from sunscreen, and 2) I get an oily T-zone really easily which is worse if I'm wearing sunscreen
Normally I put on sunscreen and then dust some sheer powder over the top but that's really horrible for my pores so I don't really like doing it... gonna just keep doing that until I've decided which one to buy though
 
#35 ·
Haha, to be honest I don't know, I've only ever used regular ones like Garnier in the past. I just ordered one (basically the cheapest I could find of some recommended ones from a list I found online; I figured I'd start cheap while I'm not sure and maybe branch out later when I know a little more and actually have some more money!) so when it gets here I'll try it out. Coming all the way from Japan so might take a while lol. It's this one:

http://www.makeupalley.com/product/s...p/ItemID=64135

And a list of the ingredients (pulled from the link above, which says it pulled them from cosmetic-ingredients.net):

Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Zinc Oxide, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Triethylhexanoin, Alcohol, Silica, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Glycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Panthenol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Lauryl PEG-9 Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Dimethicone, Acrylates/Polytrimethyl Siloxymethacrylate Copolymer, Dimethicone/Methicone Copolymer, Vinyl Dimethicone/Lauryl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Polyglyceryl-2 Triisostearate, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Disodium EDTA

Zinc oxide is good, right? Someone else on that list said it had titanium oxide but I don't see it in the list, unless it's under a different name...
 
#36 ·
Yes, zinc oxide is the most important ingredient. However, its other things that you may want to be careful of, as they may interact with other products you may be using. Physical sunblocks are best, and there are a couple available that don't leave the white cast to the skin.
 
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