i used bio claire last summer and had great success. I was kind of lazy and often only applied it to my face. My body stayed the same color, but my face got about 1 1/2 - 2 shades lighter. Back then I didnt realize and thought it was my new hair color that made me look lighter. Also I didnt really see the difference first. It was only when some people started to ask me if I had stayed out of the sun throughout the holidays cause my face has gotten fairer and had this glow. However I ceased the use of this cream due to its incredible odour.
And maharani, I totally agree with you that there must be some other compounds in bio claire. Im almost sure its hydroquinone.
I found a swiss link about illegal skin lightening creams and the testings they did. Here are the results. As it is in written in German Ill roughly translate the most important part:
Two of 17 skin bleaching creams contained hq in high percentages between 3.7 and 5.6%. The use of hq is forbidden in the EU. One of the products was lacking the declaration that it contained hq. According to the declaration the lightening effect is to be achieved by the use of kojic acid which is prohibited in Switzerland as well as bearberry extract. Bearberry extract contains the hydroquinone-glucosid p-Arbutin. The way the product was declared it would have been tradeable in Europe. So either this is a case of a rough deception or of a mistake with the bottling of the product. The product is sold under a french brand, however it is produced in ivory coast, where hq is eventually still allowed to be used as bleaching agent legally.
Heres the link: http://www.kantonslabor-bs.ch/files/berichte/Bleichmittel2006.pdf
I know the translation is wack, but I hope you get the main points.
See the similarities :eek:
Bio claire is a french name but produced in ivory coast and it also has kojic acid and bearberry extract.This would mean that one might be using more than 5% hq without even knowing it. It also explains why I got so fast results although I didnt apply it regurlarly. (Only once a day and I even skipped some days).
To all of you that use bio claire, stop immediately!
If you are fine with hq thats another story. But other than that quit it.