Bleaching creams

Many of us have our imperfections on our face. Whether we like it or not, we all earn little freckles and signs of sun damage with our years. As we get older, freckles start looking less cute and more annoying.
Visiting the drug stores and the mall counters, you see all the products promoting its effect to LIGHTEN the brown spots we have. But how effective are they?
Working in derm has showed me the potential in the RX treatments compared to over the counter, mall brand creams. When it comes to lightening brown spots, many aspects should be taken into consideration. Will you be using sunscreen afterwards? Whats causing the pigmentation? (pregnancy, hormones, birth control, sun?) Whats my budget? Will I be able to tolerate my treatment.
In my experience I am mostly impressed with one ingredient. Its a prescription only so you know it cant be sold anywhere, meaning it actually can be aggressive enough to WORK!
When looking for bleaching agents, look for HYDROQUINONE. Hydroquinone is a prescription grade cream used for erasing brown spots, freckles, and melasma (otherwise known as the pregnancy mask)
***There are rumors, on this being a carcinogen. This was cleared by the FDA and is considered a safe product when used as directed and under the care of a physician.
The 2 products I rely on with HQ are OBAGI and compounded creams which have the ingredient as well as Retin A. The Retin A and HQ work AMAZING together and while one bleaches, the other exfoliates. This combo is very effective and not only have I experienced the results of it, but my mother, sisters, and patients are thrilled with the outcome.
The product we sell at work is called HQRA.($50)
HQ:Hydroquinone, R: Retin A and hydrocortisone. The hydrocortisone cuts back on the irritation that retin a can cause. This is a night time product only and should be used very wisely with small amounts.
ALWAYS use sunscreen when treating pigmentation because it can come back just as easy as they did in the first place.

Here is my regimen with ObAGi:P

Wash skin with Obagi Cleanser, Prep the skin with step 2 which is the Obagi Toner. Step 3 is missing on my kit only because I have the *HQ* in step 5. Step 4 is glycolic acid which helps with acne. Step 5 is the important part of the whole kit. It contains the 4% HQ and as you can see it is called BLENDER because you blend it with a pea-size of Retin A. Step 6 is sunscreen. The nice thing of these products is that they are all numbered and labeled AM and PM.
OBAGI is my favorite line, not only with these products but with everything that they have made. This is sold at MDs offices as well as the internet. Its actually pretty cheap @ Amazon.
I seriously Recommend this line!!!!