A total of 4 reviews of this product on Reddit.
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Give Olay Luminous Tone Perfecting Moisturizer a try. It contains niacinamide and n-acetyl glucosamine — a combination that has been shown to be very effective when it comes to fading persistent marks.
The price on this varies a lot — the best instore-bet is to get Target to match the Amazon price.
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The BHA exfoliant will smooth your skin over time — give it at least couple of month. It may take more. I had been using it more than 3 months when one day I was washing my face and realized that my skin was incredibly smooth.
To fade PIH, try adding a moisturizer that contains both niacinamide and glucosamine after your nightly tretinoin. Olay Luminous Tone Perfecting Cream is the easiest to find with that combination. Note: You can get it at Target and price match with Amazon. Also, don’t slather it on, you only need a little every night for it to do its work. If you use too much, it leaves a film.
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>my acne scars (they’re very red and make my face look so blemished.
Before you try any specific product, read this article.
Nadinola is a 2% hydroquinone cream (similar to Ambi and Palmers Skin Success) and can be used to fade moderate PIH. You cannot use it for long periods though and it can be very drying.
Personally, I prefer Olay’s Tone Perfecting Moisturizing Cream over any hydroquinone product. It fades better and is better for your skin.
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>and wanted to try out a few things for my hyperpigmented skin. I also nitpicked the most hyped about products from SCA.
Many people seem to do that. The thing is, there are different causes of hyperpigmentation and they respond differently to different treatments. Azeliac acid for example, is very good for dealing with fresh acne marks. It’s less effective on old acne marks and doesn’t do much when it comes to sun damage. And although Vitamin C will brighten any complexion, its primary contribution to skin care is as an antioxidant to prevent and heal UV damage. Persistent marks respond to hydroquinone or treatments that have been developed as substitutes.
Hyperpigmentation is a symptom of melanin production in live skin. Peeling or scrubbing dead skin doesn’t really make much of a difference when the skin has been damaged to the extent that melanin is being overproduced.
Most of the products commonly suggested for fading are what are known as tyrosinase inhibitors — they attempt to reduce the amount of melanin being produced to one degree or another (Vitamin C being among the mildest and hydroquinone the strongest). In addition to other benefits, niacinamide works to block what is being produced from being transferred to live skin. It turns out that combining the two types of melanin suppression is much more effective than piling on different types of tyrosinase inhibitors (or increasing the concentrations of one type).
That’s the science behind the products I listed above. N-acetyl glucosamine is a tyrosinase inhibitor that has been found to work synergistically with niacinamide to deliver fading comparable to higher concentrations of hydroquinone without the negative side effects such as drying, halos, and in the worst cases, ochronosis.
If you are already using tretinoin and have dry flaky skin from hydroquinone, I would strongly advise you to refrain from other alleged treatments and just use something like Olay Luminous Tone Perfecting Moisturizer with the tretinoin
