Hydroquinone
Hydroquinone 4% is a skin-lightening tube applied to dark patches such as melasma, age spots and the marks left after acne, sold here in packs of one to five.
- Category
- Skin Care
- Active ingredient
- Hydroquinone
- Route
- Topical
- Form
- Cream
- Strengths
- 4%
You will receive a quality generic, depending on stock.
Shipped in a discreet, unmarked envelope.
Details
- Conditions
- Hyperpigmentation · Age spots · Melasma
- Brands with the same ingredient
- Eldoquin
- Therapeutic Class
- Skin bleaching agent
- Pharmacological Class
- Depigmenting agent
- Minor Side Effects
- Redness, Dryness
- Moderate Side Effects
- Itching, Burning
- Dosage Forms
- Cream
- Administration Route
- Topical
- Originator
- Stiefel
- Onset Time
- Weeks
- Duration
- Constant
- Storage Instructions
- Store in a cool place, avoid light exposure.
- Age Restrictions
- Adults only.
What you will receive
Hydroquinone is a generic medicine sold under the name of its active ingredient, Hydroquinone.
- The manufacturer depends on what is in stock when your order ships.
- It contains the same active ingredient, at the same strength, as the brand-name versions.
FAQ
What pack sizes does Hydroquinone come in?
It is a 4% tube, sold singly or in packs of 2, 3, 4 or 5, and each tube costs less in the bigger packs.
How does Hydroquinone arrive in Hong Kong?
Hydroquinone tubes arrive in plain, unbranded packaging with nothing outside about the contents. Standard airmail takes 14 to 21 business days, up to 30, and is untracked. If a parcel goes missing, it is sent again free or refunded.
What are the other names for hydroquinone?
A brand name for hydroquinone is Eldoquin. Hydroquinone tubes are a pure generic hydroquinone product and are not that brand.
Can I use hydroquinone on my whole face?
Not the whole face. Hydroquinone lightens normal skin too, so a wide layer leaves a pale halo round the patch and an uneven tone. Dab it on the marks only, and keep to the same spots each time.
Does hydroquinone work for dark marks left by acne?
Yes, this is one of its best uses. Post-inflammatory marks, the brown spots left once a pimple has healed, fade well with hydroquinone, and they are less likely to return if the acne behind them is under control.
Will hydroquinone results last?
Only while sun exposure and the original trigger stay in check. Without daily sunscreen the pigment comes back. Many people who have faded their patches keep the improvement by cutting back to a couple of applications a week.
Can I use hydroquinone on age spots on my hands?
Yes. Age spots, or solar lentigines, on the hands are one of its listed uses. Dab the tube on each spot and not the skin between them, and use sunscreen on the backs of your hands every day, since that is where the sun hits hardest.
About Hydroquinone
If dark patches came back after summer, or a pimple left a brown mark that will not fade, this is the tube for it. Hydroquinone 4% is for patches, not for lightening all your skin. Melasma on the cheeks and forehead, sun spots, age spots and post-acne marks are what it is aimed at.
Hydroquinone works on tyrosinase, the enzyme skin cells use to make melanin, the brown pigment. With less new pigment being made, dark patches fade as the surface cells shed. It is slow: little to see for several weeks, a clear change after a few months. Pigment that sits deep in the skin fades less, which is why some melasma only lightens partly.
How to use the tube
Before you commit a whole patch, try a spot about 1cm across and leave it for a day. Redness or stinging in that time means stop. If it stays calm, put a thin film on the dark patch only: once a day for the first week, then twice. Eyes and mouth stay clear. Sunscreen or make-up goes on after about ten minutes.
Sunscreen every day matters more than any other habit here, because sunlight brings the pigment straight back. Do not use benzoyl peroxide on the same skin, since the two together can stain it temporarily dark. If three months of regular use have changed nothing, stop.
On the skin
Some dryness, a little redness and stinging are normal early on. A patch that turns very red, scaly, itchy or weepy is not, and the tube stops there. Sunburnt or broken skin is off limits too. Ochronosis, a blue-black darkening, is a real risk, but it belongs to years of heavy use at high strength, several times a day, not to a few months of a thin film.
Storing it
Hydroquinone breaks down when air and light reach it, so close the cap firmly after each use and keep the tube somewhere cool and dark. The hydroquinone page covers the ingredient in more depth, and the skin care category has the rest of the range.
Sources
- Abnormally dark or light skin: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia — National Library of Medicine
- Postinflammatory hyperpigmentation - DermNet — DermNet