MelloDerm-HQ Hydroquinone 4% Cream

Name: Hydroquinone 4% Cream
Brand: MelloDerm-HQ

A prescription with 1 ingredient.

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Overview

What it is

Prescription with 1 ingredient

Cool Features

It is vegan, fungal acne (malassezia) safe, and reef safe

Suited For

It has ingredients that are good for dark spots

Free From

It doesn't contain any harsh alcohols, common allergens, fragrances, oils, parabens, silicones or sulfates

Fun facts

MelloDerm-HQ is from South Africa. This product is used in 130 routines created by our community.

We independently verify ingredients and our claims are backed by peer-reviewed research. Does this product need an update? Let us know.

What's inside

Ingredients List

1

Active Ingredients

Hydroquinone 4%

Stabilising

Active Ingredients: Hydroquinone 4%
Inactive Ingredients:

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Explained

Hydroquinone

Stabilising

Hydroquinone is a classic ingredient dermatologists use to fade dark spots (things like melasma, acne marks, sun spots, and freckles).

It works in two ways:
1. By blocking an enzyme called tyrosinase; your skin uses this to make melanin, or the pigment that causes dark spots.
2. By interfering with the pigment making cells themselves so less pigment shows up over time

Just know this ingredient fades spots near the surface of skin and not the deeper ones. It's usually used at 2-4% / twice a day for 3 months, and ALWAYS with sunscreen.

This ingredient is usually well tolerated with short-term use under medical guidance. But possible reactions include irritation, contact dermatitis, and lightening of the skin around the spot you're treating.

You might hear hydroquinone called "cancer-causing". That concern comes from studies where rats were fed high oral doses; no skin cancer cases have been linked to it after more than 50 years of people putting it on their skin.

Long-term, high-strength, and unsupervised use can lead to a condition called ochronosis. This is where the skin turns blue-grey color and sometimes causes nails to turn dark as well.

The rules around it vary by country.

The EU bans it in regular cosmetics and it is prescription only in the US, EU, Japan, Canada, and Australia. Anything you see on the shelf without a prescription is technically not allowed.

Check out the European alternative to hydroquinone here.

SkinSort would like to remind friends from around the world that all skin tones are beautiful!

Learn more about Hydroquinone