Here’s the 411 on arbutin, the plant-derived dark spot corrector making waves in the skincare world. Image: Imaxtree
Whether you?ve got scar-prone skin that documents every zit, blackhead, bug bite and scratch in the form of hyperpigmentation or you made the fatal mistake of forgoing sunscreen in your 20s, allow us to introduce you to arbutin.
For a time, the go-to ingredient for skin lightening, and the one many dermatologists swore by, was hydroquinone. However, controversies surrounding its safety (it can?t be used on darker skin tones; it?s been known to cause ochronosis; it?s been declared a carcinogenic by the FDA; it?s currently banned in Europe, Australia and Japan) have sent specialists in search of alternative ingredients. Enter arbutin, the dermatological world’s new skin-brightening wunderkind. Like licorice root, mulberry, soy extracts, kojic acid, azelaic acid, vitamin C and niacinamide, arbutin is a plant-derived dark-spot-fading ingredient. Per the Paula?s Choice ingredient directory: ?Arbutin may be made synthetically or derived from bearberry plant or other plants and exhibits antioxidant activity. Most notably, arbutin has an increasing amount of research attesting to its effectiveness for brightening an uneven skin tone.?
Scientifically speaking, the aforementioned botanical skin brighteners work in much the same way. “[Arbutin] interferes with activity of an enzyme called tyrosinase, which is needed to produce melanin or pigment in the...