First topic message reminder :

Hi guys,
Been lurking for a while and would like to share with you my mequinol experience with you, albeit its just been day! I got my MQ from Goldpharma and it arrived within 2 wks of purchase. I use RA .1% along with the entire tube of MQ mixed with 4 oz of cocoa butter (fruits of the earth one). I mixed everything in a jar making sure that it is closed tightly. Last night I applied to wet skin. My skin felt cool like for 5 minutes. I applied this all over my body. This morning I re-applied to wet skin and got the same cooling/tingling experience. I am not sure if this will work but will update in a few days.

Oh I did also move to the 4% hydro after the 2% and then he moved me to the 8%.

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allure wrote:
Hahahahaaha...no really don't want more babies, my two kids are enough! Plus my 2 yo is a trip! Sometimes I think about having another one but I don't think it is wise! LOL. Hubby gets close and personal too often ...gotta find a way to keep him off me! LOL. He told me yesterday to go wash my p!$$y self. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

LOL! What brand of vitamin C creme are you using and what concentration? sounds good.

luanhair wrote:Oh I did also move to the 4% hydro after the 2% and then he moved me to the 8%.

You mean your dermatologist moved it up to 8% hq? You can dilute it down to 4% hq and use a similar regimen as Maharani with the hq in the morning and the mq/ra in the evening, which less risky and can still reap great results.

Quick question: vitamin C helps with the hq correct? If so, would pills be affctive? I can buy those at savemart or cvs/pharmacy

luanhair,

have you tried spot treating the marks with the RA. annd what percentage RA are you currently using ?

What sort of peels have you tried dso far ? And have you been doing a series of them ?

Alizee love,

A good quality time released vitamin c supplement taken 3 times a day should help with some brightening and overall skin condition.
I also use a vitamin c serum, which is based in glycerine, for when my skin is dry.
I bought mine from ebay after a recommendation. Might not be great for those with spot prone skin, but as my skin tends to be normal/dry, it suits me perfectly.

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luanhair,

Just thought that it may also be helpful to incorporate a vitamin C product to help with the marks.


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Thanks maharani.
I probably will just take some vitamins, call me lazy but I don't want to have to remember to put so many creams on lol

MAHARANI wrote:luanhair,

have you tried spot treating the marks with the RA. annd what percentage RA are you currently using ?

What sort of peels have you tried dso far ? And have you been doing a series of them ?

Yes I have tried did somewhat of a spot treatment with the retin a. I tried it two ways at first i was putting the RA on and letting in aborb into my skin for about 20min then i would come bak and spot treat with the 4% hydro. Then when the dr gave the RX for the 8% i did it the same way with that. Then when that wasnt lighten as well as well as I wanted I tried mixing a small amount of RA with my 8% hydro and only spot treating with that mix. both ways it would get REAL dark way darker than it was at first and then I would peel a little and it seem to lighten a little but within a couple of weeks it would go back dark again. In the past when I was just using the 8% hydro i would spot treat with no retin a because the dr. had yet to give it to me, I would put the 8% hydro on and I could see that it gradually broke up the dark spot until they eventually faded away. It no longer seems to be working that way for me. I know that i seem to be using the right products and I've tested out different ways of using them to get the best results but it just doesnt seem to be responding to my skin like it use to. With the retin a I can say that the overall appearance of my skin has improved but its still not clear of the dark spots which is what I'm trying to achieve, which is why I thought maybe spot treating with the RA/MQ might be what I need to finally knock out these spots, even though I really plan on using for my body lightening to get my body the color of my face.Which outside of my spots I'm totally please with. As I stated before I do think that the RA did wondering for my lightening of the face overall but just hasn't worked on these stubborn spots. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

MAHARANI wrote:luanhair,

have you tried spot treating the marks with the RA. annd what percentage RA are you currently using ?

What sort of peels have you tried dso far ? And have you been doing a series of them ?

I have tried all the the peels pretty much i think. At least all the ones that were recommend for my skin. I started out doing the microderm and I did the series of them. Then I did a series of at home glycloic peels that the dr prescibed. I went through 2 bottles of that. I think the name was glytone but it was prescribed by dr. I would say I've done at least 15 of those over the course of a year or so as per dr directions. I think I was to told to do 1 to 2 of those a week. Then I got sick of spending out the money for that and skin didnt seem to be improving. So I think around that time I discovered skin care forum and started reading about what other were using, and found that I could order peels and such on my on and do them myself. So from there I did the TCA peels. Started at the lower and made my way up to 20% was the last strength I did with that. And I must say that I did notice an improvement with that. But didnt get rid of the dark spots. I even tried spot treatments with those. Ive also tried cooper peptide, I've tried salaylic peels, glycloic peels all strengths. The last one of those I did was 50%. Then I got a 70% glycloic peel but I didnt use that on my face I used that for my body... knees,elbows etc.The last peel I tried was a peel by Cosmedix called a deep sea peel. But at $175 a peel at the spa I go to get that I've only had 2. So as you can see I've tried alot of different things. Oh yeah did I also mention that I use the whole Obagi line as well, which all of the products have 4% hydro in them. And i have the WHOLE line including the sunscreen which i don't much care for because its oily and only 30 spf. And eventhough I'm hardly in the sun I like wear something higher.

MAHARANI wrote:luanhair,

Just thought that it may also be helpful to incorporate a vitamin C product to help with the marks.


.

In the day time I do use vitamin C powder that i purchased from garden of wisdom. I mixed a little of that daily with either my Obagi clear, or some other moisterizer like emu oil. I let that soak in my skin while I get dressed then I apply my sunscreen. At night I wash with the Obagi cleaner, then let my skin dry well and the do the RA/Hydro treatment and go to bed. Is that a good routine? I've been using the vitamin C for about 2 months now. And I love it!!! I have no breakout, no oily skin, and my pores look smaller, and skin seems to be firmer.

allure wrote:LOL @ Alizee and Maharani. Maharani, yes eucerin contains urea which basically smells like ammonia or pee. Most plant fertilizers contains urea and many people have complained about their plants smelling like p!$$ ... so basically anything that contains urea will have that ammonia smell. Yikes yes I do really smelly p!$$ the last few days. What I now do is use the vitamin c cream and mix my MQ. What a difference! I'm still itching but not as bad. The cream I bought contains urea and different forms of alcohol(cosmetic) so it is really good. Maharani, tell me when you mix your batch of mq and eucerin...you need to stay away from people then. MQ smell is not that bad now, smells to me like some bad form of gas.
All I can say is that I am very happy with the results I am getting especially with the little flaws that I have been battling with for so long!
Luanhair, 8% coupled with MQ is overkill. Don't do that. What you can do is use one product in the mornings (without ra) and use one at nights with ra. Good luck!

As if these spots arent driving me crazy enough you guys are telling that I'm gonna be smelling like urine as well!!!!! Geez will this ever end [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] . Allure I wasn't gonna use the 8% hydro and MQ together. I only have a little hydro left in my tube and by the time my MQ arrives that will be gone. So I thought I'd give the MQ a go. Eventhough these spots feel like they are here to stay I'm to chicken to even think about doing that . But how are u using your Vitamin C and MQ together? Is this better than MQ and RA together or are you mixing them all together? I know I ask a ton of questions but u all seem to really give good advice of these things. Alot of times if your new to forum people want even respond to your questions. So if u could please tell me how your using your MQ, as far as mixing it etc, I would be so greatful since the will be my first time ever using this product. I hope I have as good results as you have.Like I said in earlier post I really just want to use this product to lighten my body to the shade of my face, and get rid of the dark spots. I'm so tried of fighting these spots u have NO idea. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Golden Girl wrote:

luanhair wrote:Oh I did also move to the 4% hydro after the 2% and then he moved me to the 8%.

You mean your dermatologist moved it up to 8% hq? You can dilute it down to 4% hq and use a similar regimen as Maharani with the hq in the morning and the mq/ra in the evening, which less risky and can still reap great results.

Yep that what he did. I started out on this long journey with 2% hydro that I would get in various over the counter products. Then when I went to the derm he started me out with 4% hydro and when that didn't seem to do much for me he put me on the 8% hydro compound that a pharm mixes for me. And at first that did great for me but over time it just seems that its no longer working. I bought the Hydroquinone crystal to compound my own hydro at 10% but i decided not to mess with that. I'm not so great with mixing stuff and hydro goes bad sooo quickly I just decided to not to even fool with it. Just seemed way to hard.

I did use obaji and I believe I still have coupons. It di work but I did not care for the excessive peeling and irritation in the first few weeks. It did leave my skin lovely looking but but I'll just stick to my St. Ives and occasional proactive or neutrogena .

P.s. it did lighten my face and neck to a near olive/tan color

luanhair,

I can see that you have really tried a lot of ways of treating the marks. Do you think that you have seen some sort of improvement though? It may be that your process is going to be longer than some, as your skin seems resistant to any of the topical products applied. I would not give up on the peels and if your skin can tolerate it, doing them weekly. I think the vitamin C will gradually also help. Unfortunately it does not happen overnight. I am really interested to know how this all works out and how long it takes to get the kind of improvement you are really looking for.

By the way, I forgot to ask whether you have sorted out the cause of the marks and it is not a continuing problem that you are trying to fix.

Lunahair,

I would give it a few more months and if by then there is no significant difference, you may want to try lazer removal; if they can do that with acne scars

MAHARANI wrote:By the way, I forgot to ask whether you have sorted out the cause of the marks and it is not a continuing prcblem that you are trying to fix.

Thanks Maharani for all your responses as well as all the others. Yes I have gotten the issues causing the spot under control. I used to have acne,which caused the spots.Actually all those products have really helped my overall skin but just hasnt helped get rid of these dark marks left behind. I think what I'm gonna do is try a little of the MQ when it arrives and see if it can break up these spots. I only have about 20 on my face but eventhough the rest of my skin looks wonderful u cannot tell cause the spots make it look brokeout still,VERY uneven.

Alizee love wrote:I did use obaji and I believe I still have coupons. It di work but I did not care for the excessive peeling and irritation in the first few weeks. It did leave my skin lovely looking but but I'll just stick to my St. Ives and occasional proactive or neutrogena .

P.s. it did lighten my face an neck to a near olive/tan color

You know I never got any irration he from the obagi. I will say that it isnt worth the price tag attached to it though. The best product was the clear,but the refine plus 30 times more for my skin in 1month than obagi did in 6months of faithful use. The refine plus by cosemdix is what I used to mix my vitamin C with but I've run out.

Yes the price is unreal. I did achieve a nice lightenin but it was during winter in france so that probably helpd. Now I did get a better affect using f&w but it redarkens rather quickly after you stop usage and I think I'm slightly darker

Alizee love,

This is the same experience that GG encountered when she stopped using it. I hope that you have something else in mind to use to help maintain the lightening you have seen. I know that in general, any sort of lightening, especially if you have achieved a much lighter colour, requires maintenance, be it that you cut back on the application or you alternate to something else. A definite commitment is required if you enter a lightening regime.

luanhair,

the good thing is that you have the problem now under control. So with continued regular peels and your application of lightening products, RA, vitamin c etc, I am hoping that there will be some sort of improvement soon. To be honest, with all that I have read, MQ does seem to be a slow process, so I am not sure if you are going to se anytthing rapid from it, but only time will tell.

I look forward to your updates with much interest. I can imagine how fustrating the marks are when you have appeared to have lightened so well but cannot really appreciate it, as a result. The very best of luck !!!

good luck everyone, still waiting for my mequinol. starting to get impatient

watching the jerry springer show, a girl said she got her surgery outside the country... in Arizona

luanhair wrote:

allure wrote:LOL @ Alizee and Maharani. Maharani, yes eucerin contains urea which basically smells like ammonia or pee. Most plant fertilizers contains urea and many people have complained about their plants smelling like p!$$ ... so basically anything that contains urea will have that ammonia smell. Yikes yes I do really smelly p!$$ the last few days. What I now do is use the vitamin c cream and mix my MQ. What a difference! I'm still itching but not as bad. The cream I bought contains urea and different forms of alcohol(cosmetic) so it is really good. Maharani, tell me when you mix your batch of mq and eucerin...you need to stay away from people then. MQ smell is not that bad now, smells to me like some bad form of gas.
All I can say is that I am very happy with the results I am getting especially with the little flaws that I have been battling with for so long!
Luanhair, 8% coupled with MQ is overkill. Don't do that. What you can do is use one product in the mornings (without ra) and use one at nights with ra. Good luck!

As if these spots arent driving me crazy enough you guys are telling that I'm gonna be smelling like urine as well!!!!! Geez will this ever end [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] . Allure I wasn't gonna use the 8% hydro and MQ together. I only have a little hydro left in my tube and by the time my MQ arrives that will be gone. So I thought I'd give the MQ a go. Eventhough these spots feel like they are here to stay I'm to chicken to even think about doing that [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]. But how are u using your Vitamin C and MQ together? Is this better than MQ and RA together or are you mixing them all together? I know I ask a ton of questions but u all seem to really give good advice of these things. Alot of times if your new to forum people want even respond to your questions. So if u could please tell me how your using your MQ, as far as mixing it etc, I would be so greatful since the will be my first time ever using this product. I hope I have as good results as you have.Like I said in earlier post I really just want to use this product to lighten my body to the shade of my face, and get rid of the dark spots. I'm so tried of fighting these spots u have NO idea. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Sorry about my late response but I was away on a business trip. I mix the MQ and cream together then get a tiny squirt of RA mix that with the cream/mq. It still smell like pee though