Skin Care Review: Paula's Choice Remarkable Skin Lightening Lotion

I purchased this to see if I could reverse some of the signs of photoaging on my face. (I've been pretty good about wearing sunblock for the last 20 years, but I'm a fair redhead who's lived at sunny high altitude for 18 years and some of that sun exposure is starting to make itself known.)

Skin type: fair with freckles, relatively dry. I've had fine-line crow's feet virtually forever, but am now also developing frown/squint lines between my eyebrows. My skin looks kind of thin, if that makes any sense.

More about the product: this is supposed to fade hyperpigmentation (freckles, age spots) caused by sun exposure and to help brighten skin tone. The active ingredients are 2% hydroquinone and 7.4% glycolic acid. The latter means that you may not need or want to use an AHA product in addition to this.

Results: This cream definitely fades spots; I've had a small brown perma-freckle on the end of my nose that has vanished as a result of using it. The freckle comes back if I discontinue use for an extended period, but then fades again once I start using the cream again. So, it definitely works in that respect.

I'm not sure whether my skin texture is any better. I wouldn't say it's worse, though, either. As far as wrinkles go, mine all look about the same.

Also: I might be imagining this, but my skin seems to have taken on more of a gold/"warm" tone, as opposed to its normal blue/pink tone.

The cream is definitely stingy. Some of this can be ameliorated by not using it every day. In fact, if you do use it every day, do *not* put it around your eyes! I know you're not supposed to do that, but that's where my wrinkles are and so I tried it anyway. Do that every day and you'll end up with irritated eye skin. So don't, or at least not often.

Texture: You may find this cream thick enough to use as a stand-alone moisturizer; I've used it that way often.

The 4-oz tube costs $13.95 and lasts a long time. BTW: the tube is blessedly easy to pack should you travel a lot.

So, overall, my experience has been pretty good. It fades spots, and most of the time, I get to use one product to handle exfoliation (via the glycolic acid), spot-fading and moisturizing. I'm already on my second tube, and will probably continue to use it unless I come up with a better skin-care scheme.