Beauty

[maestra]

Hi KL- Do you know if Vit. C can be used w/hydroquinone? I see you use it w/Benoquin. Are these the same type of Rx, just w/different names? TIA.

[Katluvr58]

Hi, yes you can use the two together. I do with the benoquin. Benoquin is derived from monobenzone which is a product found in hydroquinone. Why benoquin works better for me, who knows. Hydro lightens whereas benoquin removes pigment. Sorry, all you ever wanted to know about skin bleach, lol. BTW you are the first person to page me. I'm one of the girls now, lol.

[maestra]

How do you do it? Hydroquinone first, wait 30 minutes , then apply Vit.C? I use a lot of Hydroquinone b/c the hyperpigmentation is on both sides of my face and pronounced on 1 cheekbone. I have had lightening from the Rx and wear Bobbi Brown BB cream w/spf 35 and always a hat when outdoors (I also have had basal and squamous cell cancers removed, even from my body.)

Thanks for getting back to me, I appreciate your experience and knowledge.

[Katluvr58]

On 6/22/2014 maestra said:

How do you do it? Hydroquinone first, wait 30 minutes , then apply Vit.C? I use a lot of Hydroquinone b/c the hyperpigmentation is on both sides of my face and pronounced on 1 cheekbone. I have had lightening from the Rx and wear Bobbi Brown BB cream w/spf 35 and always a hat when outdoors (I also have had basal and squamous cell cancers removed, even from my body.)

Thanks for getting back to me, I appreciate your experience and knowledge.

I am awful about the waiting part. I believe that the timeline is wait 20 minutes before applying the next product. I use the smoke one cigarette and then apply. I know I am bad. I quit smoking and picked it back up when my dad died. It is on my to do list to quit again. I could kick myself, I was 12 years smoke free. I use a lot of benoquin also. I go through a tube a month but it's a small tube. I am currently weaning down on it since the spots are gone. I alternate with the ASDM lightening cream. My derm back years ago told me to use benoquin twice a week to maintain my spot free skin. Of course back then you could find it here in the US, now you can't because the maker felt it wasn't cost effective. I think Michael Jackson just used it all up.... (sorry, I watched an autopsy special about him and his different diseases last night)

Anytime I can help maestra!!!!

[MarenSeattle]

On 6/22/2014 Katluvr58 said:

Hi, yes you can use the two together. I do with the benoquin. Benoquin is derived from monobenzone which is a product found in hydroquinone. Why benoquin works better for me, who knows. Hydro lightens whereas benoquin removes pigment. Sorry, all you ever wanted to know about skin bleach, lol. BTW you are the first person to page me. I'm one of the girls now, lol.

That's interesting re: bleaching vs removing pigment. I'll keep that in mind if, like you, the HQ doesn't do the trick. Thanks!

[Wackers3]

Maestra - I thought you might not object if I also responded to this just due to my knowledge of how Vit C and hydroquinone are used here locally. Just adding on to Kat's info. Due to the climate here, coupled with a higher than average % of melasma sufferers, many local dermatologists actually create their own formulas to help treat and prevent melasma, among other skin issues. Almost all of these formulas contain each doctor's proprietary mix of Vit C, hydroquinone and retina A. These work well on melasma, age spots and various other types of skin discolorations.

When you asked how to use them, I thought sharing with you that often these ingredients are combined into one cream might help you determine how you wanted to apply them. I don't think any waiting time is actually necessary but personally, just based on the very different consistencies of these two products, I think you'll get better results from using Vit C first then follow that (once the C absorbs which usually doesn't not take more than 5 or so minutes) with the hydroquinone. Vit C is usually a very thin serum, sometimes almost like watery, so that makes sense to be applied first, then apply the hydroquinone, which is typically in a cream based delivery system. The old rule of thinnest to thickest applies well here.

You will also benefit from the Vit C in additional ways - it helps in collagen building, is particularly effective in helping sunscreen perform better plus it's overall ability in fighting free radical damage (many of the other offenders within our environment.)

Hope you didn't mind my joining in - I just thought it might give you some additional knowledge about both these exceptional "crime fighters for the skin."

[MarenSeattle]

On 6/22/2014 Katluvr58 said:

On 6/22/2014 maestra said:

How do you do it? Hydroquinone first, wait 30 minutes , then apply Vit.C? I use a lot of Hydroquinone b/c the hyperpigmentation is on both sides of my face and pronounced on 1 cheekbone. I have had lightening from the Rx and wear Bobbi Brown BB cream w/spf 35 and always a hat when outdoors (I also have had basal and squamous cell cancers removed, even from my body.)

Thanks for getting back to me, I appreciate your experience and knowledge.

I am awful about the waiting part. I believe that the timeline is wait 20 minutes before applying the next product. I use the smoke one cigarette and then apply. I know I am bad. I quit smoking and picked it back up when my dad died. It is on my to do list to quit again. I could kick myself, I was 12 years smoke free. I use a lot of benoquin also. I go through a tube a month but it's a small tube. I am currently weaning down on it since the spots are gone. I alternate with the ASDM lightening cream. My derm back years ago told me to use benoquin twice a week to maintain my spot free skin. Of course back then you could find it here in the US, now you can't because the maker felt it wasn't cost effective. I think Michael Jackson just used it all up.... (sorry, I watched an autopsy special about him and his different diseases last night)

Anytime I can help maestra!!!!

Wait 20 min? I guess I should have been paying attention. Thanks for posting this, maestro and Kat.

Same with me and smoking. Quit really easily, much to my shock. LOVED being a non-smoker (wasn't aware of how the addiction really affected my quality of life), then started again when my parents died (we still equate it with a "treat" -- a reward). I thought no problem, easy to quit, I'll just get the patches again and for the life of me I haven't been successful. It's been years of patches, smoking, patches, smoking. I'm really getting tired of it. I think when we truly view it as something distasteful rather than a goodie, that's going to help make it much easier. It's just getting to that mind-set that is tough. And yeah, a cigarette is a great time killer.

[Wackers3]

And Kat - you have always been ""one of the girls"" my dear!

[Katluvr58]

On 6/22/2014 wackers said:

And Kat - you have always been "one of the girls" my dear!

Aaaaah, thank you.

[Katluvr58]

On 6/22/2014 MarenSeattle said:

On 6/22/2014 Katluvr58 said:

On 6/22/2014 maestra said:

How do you do it? Hydroquinone first, wait 30 minutes , then apply Vit.C? I use a lot of Hydroquinone b/c the hyperpigmentation is on both sides of my face and pronounced on 1 cheekbone. I have had lightening from the Rx and wear Bobbi Brown BB cream w/spf 35 and always a hat when outdoors (I also have had basal and squamous cell cancers removed, even from my body.)

Thanks for getting back to me, I appreciate your experience and knowledge.

I am awful about the waiting part. I believe that the timeline is wait 20 minutes before applying the next product. I use the smoke one cigarette and then apply. I know I am bad. I quit smoking and picked it back up when my dad died. It is on my to do list to quit again. I could kick myself, I was 12 years smoke free. I use a lot of benoquin also. I go through a tube a month but it's a small tube. I am currently weaning down on it since the spots are gone. I alternate with the ASDM lightening cream. My derm back years ago told me to use benoquin twice a week to maintain my spot free skin. Of course back then you could find it here in the US, now you can't because the maker felt it wasn't cost effective. I think Michael Jackson just used it all up.... (sorry, I watched an autopsy special about him and his different diseases last night)

Anytime I can help maestra!!!!

Wait 20 min? I guess I should have been paying attention. Thanks for posting this, maestro and Kat.

Same with me and smoking. Quit really easily, much to my shock. LOVED being a non-smoker (wasn't aware of how the addiction really affected my quality of life), then started again when my parents died (we still equate it with a "treat" -- a reward). I thought no problem, easy to quit, I'll just get the patches again and for the life of me I haven't been successful. It's been years of patches, smoking, patches, smoking. I'm really getting tired of it. I think when we truly view it as something distasteful rather than a goodie, that's going to help make it much easier. It's just getting to that mind-set that is tough. And yeah, a cigarette is a great time killer.

I quit through hypnosis and it was hard. My son was 15 months and had allergies so I did it. I was one ugly human being for a week or two. Three years ago I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic and had to lose weight. So right now the weight staying off is a bigger issue for me. That alone is a daily battle. I knew I would be a diabetic some day genetically speaking.

Maren I can give you my suppliers info but you would need to know that benoquin is for total bleaching. There is no going back on it that is why it is basically recommended for vitiligo. Plus if you can no longer get the product you are scr**ed. I order 2-3 tubes per month to stock pile. Plus I have to keep an eye on the expiration date.