Hydroquinone + Kojic Acid + Ascorbic Acid Compounded - Topical Cream

Description

Great for hyperpigmentation, melasma, dark spots, freckles and skin aging

Hydroquinone: Hydroquinone is classified therapeutically as a depigmenting agent. It is prepared from the reduction of p-benzoquinone with sodium bisulfite. It occurs as fine white needles that darken on exposure to air. Hydroquinone reacts with the functional parts of individual cells and effects cellular metabolism. It has cytotoxic (cell-killing or cell-damaging) activity on the pigment-producing cell of the skin, the melanocyte, as well as on many other cell types. The cell-toxic activity of hydroquinone is caused by a free-radical oxidation mechanism. Free radical development has the potential to damage the melanocyte on its own and may also damage neighboring cells or their physical structures.

Kojic Acid: Kojic acid [5-hydroxy-2-(hydroxy methyl)-4-pyrone] is a naturally occurring hydrophilic fungal derivative, evolved from certain species of Acetobacter Aspergilllus and Penicillium, and used in the treatment of hyperpigmentation disorders.
It acts by inhibiting the production of free tyrosinase with efficacy similar to hydroquinone. In Japan, kojic acid has been increasingly used in skin-care products. This is because, until recently, topically applied kojic acid at 1% concentration had not exhibited any sensitizing activity. However, more recent long-term Japanese studies have shown that kojic acid has the potential for causing allergic and irritant contact dermatitis and erythema.

Ascorbic Acid: Ascorbic acid is used as an antioxidant because its capacity to reduce o-dopaquinone back to dopa, thus avoiding melanin formation. However, ascorbic acid has other adverse effects as it can induce a large increase of free radicals with traces of metal ions by the Fenton reaction. Ascorbic acid iontophoresis has been demonstrated as an effective depigmenting strategy in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (Huh et al., 2003).