Hydroquinone, and it’s sister ingredient Kojic Acid, don’t bleach your skin exactly. What they do is inhibit your skin from producing melanin, the stuff that gives your skin its color when you go out in the sun. When your skin goes a little crazy and produces too much melanin, you  might consider a bleaching cream. It takes about 4 to 6 weeks to see results, because your body has to exfoliate the pigmented skin before you’ll see the fresh brighter skin.
Hydroquinone has been a dermatologist-recommended product for many years and has safely treated millions of people. But, the worry is that the ingredient exhibited some cancer-causing potential in rats. The real worry is ochronosis, a darkening of the skin that dermatologists say only occurs in concentrations of 8% 10% or 12%. Over the counter products are limited to just 2% and most prescriptions are 4%.

The most shocking part of this ruling is that even prescription hydroquinone products such as TriLuma, will have to refile for approval with the FDA. That seems a bit absurd to me if they had to prove their safety and effectiveness to get approval in the first place.

The FDA is accepting comments from the public until December 26th.  My advice? Buy up all the Hydroquinone products you can find if you’re concerned about sun spots.

Here’s the filed proposal in PDF format.

 If you’re not familiar with Mexoryl, it’s a brilliant ingredient that blocks both UVA and UVB rays. While most sunscreen SPF ratings refer to protection against UVB rays that cause burning, they often weren’t as effective at protecting against UVA rays that cause premature aging and wrinkling. Mexoryl is also a great product for guys with oily skin because it’s light and not oily like a lot of sunblocks currently available in the US.

  L’Oreal-owned La Roche-Posay (or one of it’s numerous product lines) will be the first to release a Ecamsule-based sunscreen in the US.

  If you’re looking for a Mexoryl-based sunscreen and don’t want to wait until a US version hits store shelves, you can find La Roche-Posay throughout New York City (and Online) at SkinCareLab and Z Chemists.  I HIGHLY recommend the Fluide Extreme in SPF 50+.

UPDATE: The first product will be a daily moisturizer from La Roche Posay with Mexoryl SX and have a protection of SPF 15.

 [Read the FDA's Release]