May 10

May 10 PRODUCT REVIEW: TOPICALS FADED SERUM FOR DARK SPOTS & DISCOLORATION - BEST BRIGHTENING SERUM, BEST TRANEXAMIC ACID SERUM

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TOPICALS | FADED SERUM FOR DARK SPOTS & DISCOLORATION

I’m kinda blown away by this new brightening treatment from new-to-the-scene brand Topicals.

Like where did this even come from?

You know I have a nose for alien technology like the Skin Aqua UV Super Moisture Milk and One Skin’s OS-01 Topical Supplement. These kinds of products are so unique and innovative they seem like they’re from another planet.

So yeah, the Topicals Faded Serum for Dark Spots & Discoloration is out of this world.

I’m a huge fan of brightening and this stuff takes brightening up a notch. It keeps selling out at Sephora and I get why. The milky, silky, gooey serum is loaded with skin brighteners. And I mean every brightening active used in skin care — except Vitamin C. I bet it’s because Vitamin C is such pain to formulate with that they thought “we don’t even need it if we’ve got everything else.”

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No joke, the Faded Serum for Dark Spots & Discoloration is infused with Niacinamide, Tranexamic Acid, Azelaic Acid, Alpha-Arbutin, Glutathione, Kojic Acid, Licorice Root Extract, Melatonin and Turmeric Root Extract.

Both Niacinamide and Tranexamic Acid are featured quite prominently in the formula at what I’m guessing are 5% and 3% concentrations respectively. While Niacinamide has been quite popular as one of the most effective skin-brighting actives, Tranexamic Acid is only just now have its star moment.

What Is Tranexamic Acid and Is Tranexamic Acid Good for Skin?

Tranexamic Acid is a synthetic amino acid with legitimate brightening benefits when applied topically to the skin. Tranexamic Acid is so hot now, online beauty site Byrdie recently featured what they consider the best Tranexamic Acid serums for brightening the skin in a piece titled, Tranexamic Acid Is the Newest "It" Acid — Here's What You Should Know, available to read here.

But as I so often do, I turned to the experts on the Paula’s Choice Research Team for their insights on the brightening benefits of Tranexamic Acid in skin care. There’s a terrific (and lengthy!) piece on the site simply titled, Tranexamic Acid For Skin. Here’s what I found most intriguing:

Tranexamic acid is an exciting topical ingredient to fade the look of several types of skin discolorations. Research has shown the effectiveness of this ingredient rivals that of gold standard hydroquinone and is even suitable for stubborn issues like melasma. In fact, nearly 96% of study participants who used tranexamic acid saw noticeable improvement after 12 weeks of daily use when coupled with a broad-spectrum sunscreen, which is essential to prevent discoloration.
Tranexamic acid helps to visibly fade discolorations from sun exposure and it can also:

Fade the look of post-breakout marks of any color, and seems to be particularly effective for dark skin tones
Visibly reduce redness
Fade discolorations that can occur during pregnancy
Target several pathways in skin that trigger discolorations
Be used with any other brightening ingredient

What is Tranexamic Acid in Skin Care?
Tranexamic acid is a water-soluble synthetic ingredient derived from the amino acid lysine. It must be used with oil-soluble ingredients to have it be most bioavailable to skin. Its primary benefit for skin is improving surface discolorations that show up due to sun damage, but it can also help other types and causes of discolorations.
In order to be effective for visibly reducing skin discolorations, tranexamic acid skin care products should contain between 2-5% of this ingredient.. Because topical products targeting discoloration tend to do better with supporting ingredients, it’s best to look for tranexamic acid in skin care paired with other discoloration-improving ingredients, like niacinamide, various forms of vitamin C, and brightening plant extracts such as licorice root. Combining ingredients also ensures better results because each has unique ways of targeting discolorations.

I told you!

Naturally, with a complex of brightening actives that extensive, I was expecting to experience some irritation. But I did not.

Perhaps the Shea Butter, Glycerin, Centella Asiatica Leaf Extract, Allantoin, Squalane, and Bisabolol help to mitigate any sensitizing effects.

Funny, The only thing irritating about the formula is the off-putting smell. The Faded Serum For Dark Spots & Discoloration has that unpleasant sulfuric scent, the result of its Glutathione content. It dissipates after a few seconds. I appreciate the fact that the brand didn’t mask it with fragrance.

I’ve been using it now nightly (and sometimes in the AM) nearly every day for two weeks and my complexion is super glowy. Not that I was dull before starting the Faded Serum For Dark Spots & Discoloration. But even my facialist noticed my skin was lit.

SHOP THE BLOG: Purchase the Topicals Faded Serum For Dark Spots & Discoloration for $36 here.

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