Vivité Vibrance Therapy by Allergan
WHAT IT DOES: Fights serious dark spots on their skin.
Prescription-strength hydroquinone, usually at 4 percent, was considered to be the most effective lightener available to date. The FDA was reviewing data on hydroquinone possibly to prohibit the ingredient, after a small study reported that in large oral doses, it might cause cancer in mice. So pharmaceutical companies have been searching for alternatives.
In a company-sponsored eight-week study, two sets of women put Vivite Vibrance Therapy on one side of their faces and 4 percent hydroquinone on the other. In one group, Vibrance Therapy reduced pigmentation an average of 70 percent, compared to hydroquinone's 63 percent; in the other group, the effects were similar, averaging a 62 percent reduction for both. So this brings us a safer skin lightener and it may work slightly better.
HOW IT WORKS: Vivité Vibrance Therapy targets dark spots in three different ways. A compound called methyl dihydroxybenzoate fades discoloration by stopping the enzyme that produces excess pigment (most skin-lightening treatments, including hydroquinone, just inhibit this enzyme); antioxidants, including soy and grape extract, and anti-inflammatory ingredients, such as green tea, allantoin and licorice extract, reduce the environmental damage that triggers pigment production; and on the surface of the skin, retinol and glycolic acid fade visible splotches by increasing cell turnover. The effects begin after just a few weeks, and optimal results occur progressively over several months.
WHAT AN EXPERT SAYS: "This is one of the most impressive pigment-lightening products I have tested in my career—for the first time, I have seen a product rival the results of 4 percent hydroquinone in controlled studies," says David H. McDaniel, assistant professor of clinical dermatology and plastic surgery at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia, who was an investigator in the company-sponsored clinical tests but has no financial interest in the product. "And I believe this represents a significant development, not only because the cream delivers the results of a prescription-strength gel in a product dispensed by physicians without a prescription, but it does so with an active ingredient that has been shown to be safer. Additionally, Vibrance Therapy will have other anti-aging effects due to the mixture of active ingredients and agents, whereas hydroquinone alone is simply a bleach."
Personally, I will be getting this product asap. I currently use a hydraquinoine based product and whenever I forget to apply it for a few days, the sun spots I have been working to cover up come back even darker.
There is a price war going on with this product, varying from $89 to $119 among reputable sources, so look for a deal.
If you have used this product, please leave a comment about your satisfaction.