First topic message reminder :

lightening progress my bumblebees........... please share?
hows your lightening coming along and what r you using please share?

Hi Kandi,

Yes, the Burts Bees Tomato astringent is a toner.

In the Oxy face wash the active ingredient is Benzoyl Peroxide 10 %. This product is used for the treatment of acne and breakouts.

For ayurvedic skin care check out these sites. They also offer ideas on natural skin care.
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Eating Choices & skin care
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Tumeric Skin lightening Pack Recipe
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Indigo,
Some really great info !! I 100% agree that detoxing and being aware of what we put in our body is very important. I am improving on my intake on water and "good" foods. And I do believe that I am seeing an improvement in my general skin condition, although I generally do not have any problems. But it defintely feels better and more hydrated.

Just curious to know how long you have been using your HQ for and do you have any problems with being in a warm climate ?


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Let me start from the beginning. I have been following a regime for about 2 months. Initially I was using Bio-Claire Cream for about a week and a half. Then I started to get little black spots. Threw it out and got Neoprosonse Gel used that for about a week. I didn't experience any bad skin reactions but within this 2 week period my skin had significantly lightened. I attribute my quick results to having prior prepped my skin.

Then a friend told me about HQ.I am new to HQ and have not finished my first tube yet. Since it is so heavy a little goes a long way! It is to heavy to use during the day in the blazing California sun so I use it at night.

I am going to look into HQ gel or a serum maybe. Have any of you seen something like that?. Since I have oily skin the cream makes me more prone to blemishes.

I remember my experiences with bio claire...lol. I have used hq creme 4%, right now using 3% nadinola on my neck, ears and spots. There aare some hydroquinone gels available, although they seemed to be more on the pricier side:

Neostrata HQ Plus Gel 2% or 4% Hydroquinone
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Generic Solaquin Forte Gel 4%
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DDF Fade Gel 4 Hydroquinone 2% Skin Lightening Gel
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Stratus Pharmaceuticals 4%
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I have also used the St. Ives Naturally Clear Apricot Scrub and it really kept my skin nice and clear, and is a good exfoliator I used before in conjunction with skin lighteners. Indigo thanks for the links, they have a wealth of information. I'll be studying more about ayurveda regimens and raw food diets, I hear can really help with the skin lightening process and the elimination of toxins from the body. Speaking of ayurvedic, I heard that turmeric is a good natural lightener. Has anyone tried turmeric before for skin lightening orVicco Turmeric, and what were your experiences with them?

I usually mix fresh lemon or lime juice in my water, but it never occured to me to drink heated water and lemon juice. Does this help to detoxify further?

Thank you!!

Can B3 Niacinmide lighten skin if taken by mouth or do you get better results from mixing it in a lightening cream? Also what are the ingredients in the Burts Bees Tomato astringent?

From my understanding of what I have read online, if your want to use it as part of a lightening regime the concentration needs to be around 5 %. If you are looking for help with breakout then a percentage of 2 or 3 percent can be useful. It's a water soluble vitamin so it gets flushed out of the body and will need to be replaced. I would say use a topical treatment like a cream along with raising your body's natural naicin levels by eating whole gains, fish, poultry, liver, and peanuts.

Also I found an Do It Yourself B-3 lightening mask.
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Hope this helps.

P.S. Let me know if you need help looking for a B-3 cream and I found a few that contain other ingrediants like Kojic acid which I think sounds like a good plan. It looks like B-3 works will in conjunction with other natural lighteners.

As for the toner. It is called Garden Tomato Toner made by Burt's Bees. It is 99.42 % natural.

From the company web site:
Ingredients:


water, alcohol denat., glycerin, cucumis sativus (cucumber) fruit
extract, camellia sinensis (green tea) leaf extract, carum petroselinum
(parsley) extract, solanum lycopersicum (tomato) fruit extract,
vaccinium myrtillus (bilberry) extract,

saccharum officinarum (sugar cane) extract, acer saccharum (sugar
maple) extract, citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) peel oil, citrus medica
limonum (lemon) peel oil, fragrance

Golden Girl wrote:I Speaking of ayurvedic, I heard that turmeric is a good natural lightener. Has anyone tried turmeric before for skin lightening orVicco Turmeric, and what were your experiences with them?

I usually mix fresh lemon or lime juice in my water, but it never occured to me to drink heated water and lemon juice. Does this help to detoxify further?

I did a tumeric mask and think I used too much turmeric, as it left me with a yellow tinge that lasted for nearly all of the day. I tried washing it off and trying to scrub at it gently, but this tinge would not budge. I got really scared thinking how long would I be yellow for (LOL), but fortuntately it did fade by the end of the day. I have been told that only a tiny pinch is needed. I know I only used a small amount as well, but it definitely easily stains in my experience.


Apparently the warm water with lemon in the morning is thought to be very cleansing. I did try this for a while, but I have so many things going on in the mornings, sometimes, it is easy to forget.

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Hello all.
I was reading through this and I must say to sonny, I would stop using anything related to mono as I have heard more horror stories then happy endings.
I myself am new here and new to whitening. As I've said I just started with f&w but only for my face and neck; a friend gave ne the rest of her bottle. Once I finish this I am unsure of what to use and how.
I want to get 4 to 5 shades lighter and I plan on using kojicsoap with it.
What is suggested to lighten four to rive shades?
Makari
Hq 5% with ret a
Mq 10%
Which of these will lighten the best?
I should add I will be using it on my whole body. Also I would like a step by step guide of which to put on first, should I wash with kojic soap then put the lightening cream on after my shower?

I have used the tumeric mask several times, mix it with my clay and it gave my skin a glowing and yellowish tint (which didnt last long because the yellow was washed off after I rinsed my face with warm soapy water). I haven't used it in a while though. Bottom line is that I really liked the results I got from using it.
Lemon water is great. Back in college a woman I met told me that warm lemon water is good for cleansing and for fat deposits. It also aids in weight loss if anyone is interested. She said that she drinks it 3 times daily ( a cup each time). For a woman her age, she looked super good! Also drinking apple cider vinegar is good with warm water or cold water. The taste you will get accustomed to but it takes care of detoxing and cleansing the body. It also aids in weight loss. When I first started drinking it, my acne flaired up but I stayed with it because I was told that it is one of the detoxing benefit. Sure enough I was clear in a matter of days. Amazing and natural products if you ask me and I am a health freak!

My Regimen:
RA .1% every other night. Face and Body
HQ 2 times a day, everyday. face and body
Lighting cream with Kojic acid, Alpha Arbutin and Vit C.
Likas Papaya Soap.
Latic Acid Peel 50% MiX With Glycolic Azid 25% (I've done this peel once, but I'm Planning to apply it every month)
Queen helene shea butter Cream, A few times a day
I would keep everyone posted about my progress....

Nice regimen.
Do you apply the hq and ret after showeirng first?
What percentage is the hq and what lightening crem are you using; fair and flawless?

You look good by the way

im using the HQ 4%/RA from alldaychemist, and i wanna get something for my body but i dont know what to get? because i was using vit-fee cream with some other stuff there which i dont remember the names, but that made my skin darke in less than a month, and i was using sunblock so is not that i got burned, oh god and the first day i put it on my whole face an body developed a rash like all this little red bumps, i had to stop using it for a week and then i started using it again and then got darker and then i stoped using it.
do you know any good whithning lotion for the body because the Hq from all day chemist are too small and i just order six to try? I was planning to get the fair and white exclusive body lotion.
ohhh and thaks for the compliment....

allure wrote:I have used the tumeric mask several times, mix it with my clay and it gave my skin a glowing and yellowish tint (which didnt last long because the yellow was washed off after I rinsed my face with warm soapy water). I haven't used it in a while though. Bottom line is that I really liked the results I got from using it.
Lemon water is great. Back in college a woman I met told me that warm lemon water is good for cleansing and for fat deposits. It also aids in weight loss if anyone is interested. She said that she drinks it 3 times daily ( a cup each time). For a woman her age, she looked super good! Also drinking apple cider vinegar is good with warm water or cold water. The taste you will get accustomed to but it takes care of detoxing and cleansing the body. It also aids in weight loss. When I first started drinking it, my acne flaired up but I stayed with it because I was told that it is one of the detoxing benefit. Sure enough I was clear in a matter of days. Amazing and natural products if you ask me and I am a health freak!

Do you make your tumeric mask or purchase it pre-made? Also, how often do you use these?

Alizee
sorry i didnt answer you question. I applied everything after the i take a shower.

Well my advice with alldaychemist is to buy in bulk;more then six. Its the 25 dollar shipping that costs. From what I know of f&w is it lightens well but once you stop you darken just as fast. You could try nadiola I believe golden girl has had good results with it, you could ask her more about it. Then there is fair and flawless but it's really expensive

Alizee i know i was so dumb, I purchased 6 cause i wasnt sure about so i wanted to try it, but i defenetly try to get this from another country, because i had a tube of RA like 2 years ago that a co-worker recomended to me for Acne, and i bought it in peru and the tube was a lot larget than this one 3 time the size i most say, too bad i dont go to that country anymore, but im gonna try to see if they have it in my country also with the HQ and i would purchase it from there.

In peru huh? Well what country are you in now if I may be so bold?
You might be able to find some hq on ebay but I would be cautious of it

Golden Girl wrote:

allure wrote:I have used the tumeric mask several times, mix it with my clay and it gave my skin a glowing and yellowish tint (which didnt last long because the yellow was washed off after I rinsed my face with warm soapy water). I haven't used it in a while though. Bottom line is that I really liked the results I got from using it.
Lemon water is great. Back in college a woman I met told me that warm lemon water is good for cleansing and for fat deposits. It also aids in weight loss if anyone is interested. She said that she drinks it 3 times daily ( a cup each time). For a woman her age, she looked super good! Also drinking apple cider vinegar is good with warm water or cold water. The taste you will get accustomed to but it takes care of detoxing and cleansing the body. It also aids in weight loss. When I first started drinking it, my acne flaired up but I stayed with it because I was told that it is one of the detoxing benefit. Sure enough I was clear in a matter of days. Amazing and natural products if you ask me and I am a health freak!

Do you make your tumeric mask or purchase it pre-made? Also, how often do you use these?

GG, I make it myself. I have tumeric at home so I normally add some milk to it along with a little lemon juice. At times I just use it with a regular mask, mix it in and I am ready to go. I have been using clay masks for a while now and have incorporated tumeric in it.

Hey guys, I would like to start a skin lightening treatment to lighten my skin by two skin tones. I have read your conversation and you seem to be pretty clued up. Please help, I'm new here..

Welcome porcelian.
I would suggest going t the thread that lists various different lighteners, read the ingredients and see what sounds appealing. Many of our members use hq( hydroquinone), mq( mequinol), and some percentage of ret a( retanoil)

Welcome porcelian.
I would suggest going t the thread that lists various different lighteners, read the ingredients and see what sounds appealing. Many of our members use hq( hydroquinone), mq( mequinol), and some percentage of ret a( retanoil)

PorcelainSkin,
it's a big list but hope this helps

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