Hi Guys.

My Pigmentasa Hydroquinone cream came but I've decided not to use it until I've stopped breastfeeding, as it seems real unclear if it enters the breast milk or not. Which is a shame because I really wanted to lighten up! I'm sick of being so bloody dark. When I got pregnant I really darkened up!
Anyway I was told by one of the experts to only use it for a short period, like 6 months because after that it can cause stretch marks and black skin etc. So I'm thinking, like what's the point:confused:? I'll be light for 6 months or so then I'll return to my dark colour again? SO PLEASE can anyone advise me what I can use to maintain the results of the Hydroquinone once the 6 months period is over? I want to get stocked up now so I'm ready once I've stopped nursing.

Hi Guys.

My Pigmentasa Hydroquinone cream came but I've decided not to use it until I've stopped breastfeeding, as it seems real unclear if it enters the breast milk or not. Which is a shame cos I really wanted to lighten up! I'm sick of being so bloody dark. When I got pregnant I really darkened up!
Anyway I was told by one of the experts to only use it for a short period of time, like 6 months cos after that it can cause stretch marks and black skin etc. So I'm thinking, like what's the point:confused:?! I'll be light for 6 months or so then I'll return to my dark colour again? SO PLEASE can anyone advise me what I can use to maintain the results of the Hydroquinone once the 6 months period is over? I wanna get stocked up now so I'm ready once I've stopped nursing.

Welcome Mary Bright. About the hydroquinone, it is true to avoid any skin lighteners during pregnancy and breast feeding as there is possibility of it being passed to the child. I have read about how some woman can darken during pregnancy and I have my fingers crossed that it won't happen to me, but who knows since its quite natural for me to have blemishes and hyperpigmentation.

Yes, it is recommended that hydroquinone should be used no more than 6 months, but there are many people who have used it for several years without any problems. Hydroquinone used along with retin-a (tretinoin) will not and can not cause thinned skin or stretch marks. Steroid-based products definitely will thin the skin and cause stretch marks with continued use.

Hi Golden_Girl, I hope your well and thanks for always being there to answer my questions.

Yes I darkened a lot during pregnancy! And because I'm still breastfeeding I have a feeling I haven't lost this dark Whoopie shade because of the hormones that produce the milk. I wouldn't wish it on anyone! People are cruel out there, making horrible comments about my shade. And this is coming from friends and family! And I can just tell some of them think there SO much better than me right now. I'm hearing things like "you've been spending to much time in the sun", "look how light I am to you", "you look like a native African" Which is a dumb comment because there are many brown native Africans. It's funny because I can remember a few yrs ago after returning from living in Egypt, I was real light because of the water out there and my family were making lovely comments and made me feel real good. Just goes to show I'm not imagining the stigma of being a dark female. I'm like the darkest in my family now.
I'm happy to hear many people use hydroquinone for yrs and find it OK. I'm not sure if my Pigmentasa has steroids in it because the writing is all in Spanish? I never want to go through this again I'm hoping to find a product that will help me for life.

I may post the following question to the help desk, but I'd like to ask you first if you don't mind. Would you recommend Mequinol over hydroquinone? Do you know anything about it?

Thanks again.

Hi Golden_Girl, I hope your well and thanks for always being there to answer my questions.

Yes I darkened a lot during pregnancy! And because I'm still breastfeeding I have a feeling I haven't lost this dark Whoopie shade because of the hormones that produce the milk. I wouldn't wish it on anyone! People are cruel out there, making horrible comments about my shade. And this is coming from friends and family! And I can just tell some of them think there SO much better than me right now. I'm hearing things like "you've been spending to much time in the sun", "look how light I am to you", "you look like a native African" Which is a dumb comment cos there are many brown native Africans. It's funny because I can remember a few yrs ago after returning from living in Egypt, I was real light because of the water out there and my family were making lovely comments and made me feel real good. Just goes to show I'm not imagining the stigma of being a dark female. I'm like the darkest in my family now.
I'm happy to hear many people use hydroquinone for yrs and find it OK. I'm not sure if my Pigmentasa has steroids in it cos the writing is all in Spanish?! I never want to go through this again I'm hoping to find a product that will help me for life.

I may post the following question to the help desk, but I'd like to ask you first if you don't mind. Would you recommend Mequinol over hydroquinone? Do you know anything about it?

Thanks again.


Mequinol is just a higher strength of hQ, it works great in removing dark pigmentation, but if you got dark during pregnancy most likely your colour will return in time. COngrats on your baby.

Yeah congrats on your new baby, I can't wait when my turn comes. But the darkening of skin and nothing to use is one of my concerns, but I still can't wait. That's really sad that your fam and friends are being insensitive like that and after you gave birth. For me, I think I would move far from them as I could just to avoid their hurtful comments. Did you tell them how it make you feel? Are you from Egypt? I used to live in Cairo years ago, as well as Khartoum, Sudan. I'm half Ethiopian from my father so I used to live in Ethiopia 2 years back, I'm now in the States.

The field of dermatology seems to favor mequinol/tretinoin (Solage) over hydroquinone, although I have never used mequinol and am currently using 4% hydroquinone/tretinoin. So, the decision is yours, I hear that mequinol has a tendency to sting. But for me hq/ra also stings sometimes. I agree with Lighterrr that it is good for removing dark pigmentation. Although it is a hydroquinone derivative, it isn't a higher strength hydroquinone.

Here are a few of hydroquinone derivatives:
-Mequinol is the monomethyl ether of hydroquinone.
-Arbutin (bearberry and mulberry leaf extract) and the synthetic alpha-arbutin are derivatives of hydroquinone.
-Monobenzone is the monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone. Is a special topical phenolic... Arbutin, which is the b-D-glucopyranoside derivative of hydroquinone

Hydroquinone derivatives also each have different chemical structures and there own IUPAC names.

hydroquinone: http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/v157eh01.gif
mequinol: 27095
arbutin:27094
monobenzone: 27093

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15605971
"A significantly higher proportion (P < or = .05) of subjects achieved clinical success with mequinol 2%/tretinoin 0.01% compared with HQ 3% as measured by both the lesional pigmentation on the forearm and the physician global assessment at the end of treatment. The proportion of subjects achieving clinical success on the face in the mequinol 2%/tretinoin 0.01% group was consistently higher than that in the HQ 3% group."

"In all treatment groups, skin-related adverse events were mild or moderate and transient. In conclusion, the mequinol 2%/tretinoin 0.01% solution is a highly effective and well-tolerated treatment for solar lentigines and related hyperpigmented lesions ("age spots" or "liver spots"), being superior to HQ 3% for lesions on the forearm and of similar efficacy for lesions on the face."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15551721
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mequinol
http://d.wanfangdata.com.cn/NSTLQK_NSTL_QK8406721.aspx
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15551721
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroquinone
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbutin

Mary I can sympathize with you because the same thing happened to me and it can take a real toll on your confidence.

Mary I can sympathize with you because the same thing happened to me and it can take a real toll on your confidence.

How did your people treat and say to you? How did you deal with the treatment?

Golden I used a skin whitener.

Welcome Mary Bright. About the hydroquinone, it is true to avoid any skin lighteners during pregnancy and breast feeding as there is possibility of it being passed to the child. I have read about how some woman can darken during pregnancy and I have my fingers crossed that it wont happen to me, but who knows since its quite natural for me to have blemishes and hyperpigmentation.

Yes, it is recommended that hydroquinone should be used no more than 6 months, but there are many people who have used it for several years without any problems. Hydroquinone used along with retin-a (tretinoin) will not and can not cause thinned skin or stretch marks. Steroid-based products definitely will thin the skin and cause stretch marks with continued use.

Sorry for my late reply. I was away and so busy! Thanks yep my babe is a blessing to me. Thanks for your reply.

Yeah congrats on your new baby, I can't wait whn my turn comes. But the darkening of skin and nothing to use is one of my concerns, but I still can't wait. That's really sad that your fam and friends are being insensitive like that and after you gave birth. For me, I think I would move far from them as I could just to avoid their hurtful comments. Did you tell them how it make you feel? Are you from Egypt? I used to live in Cairo years ago, as well as Khartoum, Sudan. I'm half Ethiopian from my father so I used to live in Ethiopia 2 years back, I'm now in the States.

The field of dermatology seems to favor mequinol/tretinoin (Solage) over hydroquinone, although I have never used mequinol and am currently using 4% hydroquinone/tretinoin. So, the decision is yours, I hear that mequinol has a tendency to sting. But for me hq/ra also stings sometimes. I agree with Lighterrr that it is good for removing dark pigmentation. Although it is a hydroquinone derivative, it isn't a higher strength hydroquinone.

Here are a few of hydroquinone derivatives:
-Mequinol is the monomethyl ether of hydroquinone.
-Arbutin (bearberry and mulberry leaf extract) and the synthetic alpha-arbutin are derivatives of hydroquinone.
-Monobenzone is the monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone. is a special topical phenolic ... Arbutin, which is the b-D-glucopyranoside derivative of hydroquinone

Hydroquinone derivatives also each have different chemical structures and there own IUPAC names.

hydroquinone: http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/v157eh01.gif
mequinol: 27095
arbutin:27094
monobenzone: 27093

Mequinol 2%/tretinoin 0.01% solution: an effective... [Cutis. 2004] - PubMed result (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15605971)
"A significantly higher proportion (P < or = .05) of subjects achieved clinical success with mequinol 2%/tretinoin 0.01% compared with HQ 3% as measured by both the lesional pigmentation on the forearm and the physician global assessment at the end of treatment. The proportion of subjects achieving clinical success on the face in the mequinol 2%/tretinoin 0.01% group was consistently higher than that in the HQ 3% group."

"In all treatment groups, skin-related adverse events were mild or moderate and transient. In conclusion, the mequinol 2%/tretinoin 0.01% solution is a highly effective and well-tolerated treatment for solar lentigines and related hyperpigmented lesions ("age spots" or "liver spots"), being superior to HQ 3% for lesions on the forearm and of similar efficacy for lesions on the face."

Safety and efficacy of combined use of 4-hydroxyan... [Cutis. 2004] - PubMed result (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15551721)
Mequinol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mequinol)
Mequinol 2%/tretinoin 0.01% solution: an effective and safe alternative to hydroquinone 3% in the treatment of solar lentigines. (http://d.wanfangdata.com.cn/NSTLQK_NSTL_QK8406721.aspx)
Safety and efficacy of combined use of 4-hydroxyan... [Cutis. 2004] - PubMed result (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15551721)
Hydroquinone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroquinone)
Arbutin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbutin)

Sorry for the very late reply, I was away and very busy. No I'm not Egyptian, although my baby is half Egyptian. I am from the Caribbean although I was born in the UK. Thank you for your informed reply to my question, I'm thinking to buy Mequinol and use it in the area's only I can see and am not to worried about, just to test it out. You must be very pretty being hslf Ethiopian, those people are beautiful.

Hi Guys.

My Pigmentasa Hydroquinone cream came but I've decided not to use it until I've stopped breastfeeding, as it seems real unclear if it enters the breast milk or not. Which is a shame cos I really wanted to lighten up! I'm sick of being so bloody dark. When I got pregnant I really darkened up!
Anyway I was told by one of the experts to only use it for a short period of time, like 6 months cos after that it can cause stretch marks and black skin etc. So I'm thinking, like what's the point:confused:?! I'll be light for 6 months or so then I'll return to my dark colour again? SO PLEASE can anyone advise me what I can use to maintain the results of the Hydroquinone once the 6 months period is over? I wanna get stocked up now so I'm ready once I've stopped nursing.

hun... i would advise to stay away from HQ.. try BIO or some kojic acid based products. I learnt my lesson early with HQ. it just makes me black and soo much dead skin!!! goodluck

hun... i would advise to stay away from HQ.. try BIO or some kojic acid based products. I learnt my lesson early with HQ. it just makes me black and soo much dead skin!!! goodluck

Really? Oh goodness how long did it take for you to notice it was making you daker? And if you don't mind what are you using now? Thanks

Really?! Oh goodness how long did it take for you to notice it was making you daker? And if you don't mind what are you using now? Thanks

hun I personally try to stay away from HQ... it just doesn't work for me!!!! plus when you stop it makes you super dark:eek:, for me i just went black.... with extra skin... it was a pain reviving myself. Now my complexion

all i would advice is use something plant extract base (it works for me very well), all other causes temp result wit new problems) please, esp. when if you decide to get preggie again...its safer at least.

i cannot advise you on a specific brand as i wouldn't want you thinking i am endorsing any products.

i have tried and test tooooo many products out there... and only very few things used in the right MIX work... each and everyone 1of us reacts differently.

kindly do your research and get back looking hot! goooodluck:o

Sorry for the very late reply, I was away and very busy. No I'm not Egyptian, although my baby is half Egyptian. I am from the carribean although I was born in the UK. Thank you for your informed reply to my question, I'm thinking to buy Mequinol and use it in the area's only I can see and am not to worried about, just to test it out. You must be very pretty being hslf Ethiopian, those people are beautiful.

please becareful with Mequinol... i read too many scary stuff..... keep us posted please