This brightening treatment is formulated around Isobutylamido Thiazolyl Resorcinol to fade the look of dark spots.
What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Alcohol
Antimicrobial
Dicaprylyl Carbonate
EmollientGlyceryl Stearate
Emollient
Butyrospermum Parkii Butter
Skin Conditioning
Tapioca Starch
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Cocoglycerides
Emollient
Octyldodecanol
Emollient
Isobutylamido Thiazolyl Resorcinol
Bleaching
Tocopherol
Antioxidant
Potassium Cetyl Phosphate
EmulsifyingHydrogenated Palm Glycerides
Emollient
Carrageenan
Trisodium EDTA
Xanthan Gum
EmulsifyingSodium Hydroxide
BufferingHydroxyacetophenone
Antioxidant
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Parfum
Masking
Water, Glycerin, Alcohol, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Glyceryl Stearate, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Tapioca Starch, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cocoglycerides, Octyldodecanol, Isobutylamido Thiazolyl Resorcinol, Tocopherol, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides, Carrageenan, Trisodium EDTA, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hydroxide, Hydroxyacetophenone, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Glycerin (or glycerol) is a compound naturally found in your skin. It's a powerhouse humectant that pulls water into the stratum corneum.
Topically, glycerin does several things at once:
Your skin makes glycerin on its own (mostly from sebaceous oil breakdown) and shuttles it to your outermost layer of skin, or your epidermis, via aquaporin-3.
Aquaporin-3 is a transporter that is essential for normal skin hydration, elasticity, and repair. Interestingly, mice lacking in AQP3 have dry and less elastic skin that can be fully corrected with glycerin.
This ingredient is non-irritating, plays well with almost every ingredient, and works across all skin types. Typical use is anywhere between 3-10% but can go up to 79% in some leave-on products.
Just know very high concentrations (>40%) can feel tacky in low humidity.
Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.
Learn more about GlycerinIsobutylamido Thiazolyl Resorcinol (aka Thiamidol, made by Beiersdorf and used in Eucerin products) is a brightening ingredient that targets uneven skin tone, dark spots, and hyperpigmentation.
It works by blocking tyrosinase, the enzyme responsible for melanin production, so less pigment is deposited into your skin.
What makes it stand out is how specific it is to human tyrosinase: it was discovered by screening more than 50,000 compounds against recombinant human tyrosinase rather than the mushroom version most older ingredients were tested on.
Thiamidol turned out to be superior to frequently used inhibitors of hyperpigmentation (kojic acid, arbutin, and even hydroquinone) in lab testing.
The clinical evidence is solid as well for a cosmetic ingredient; it matched or beat a 2% hyroquinone for mild-to-moderate melasma in a double-blind study, reduced visible age spots at concentrations as low as 0.1% within 4 weeks, and separate trials show it helps with post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (the marks left behind after acne).
This ingredient is generally well-tolerated since it doesn't rely on the quinone-forming mechanism that can irritate skin. Studies also report minimal and self-limiting side effects.
Typical usage concentration in finished products is 0.2% (the same amount most of the clinical trials used) and it shows activity as low as 0.1%.
Overall, this is a better-researched brightening active and is a great option if pigmentation is your concern.
Be sure to also check out Rucinol, another "hydroquinone alternative".
Learn more about Isobutylamido Thiazolyl ResorcinolWater. It's the most common cosmetic ingredient of all. You'll usually see it at the top of ingredient lists, meaning that it makes up the largest part of the product.
So why is it so popular? Water most often acts as a solvent - this means that it helps dissolve other ingredients into the formulation.
You'll also recognize water as that liquid we all need to stay alive. If you see this, drink a glass of water. Remember to stay hydrated!
Learn more about Water
