Skintone Correctors

By Elizabeth Arden

Price: £100

Stockist: Boots

Product claim: According to Prevage you should see your dark spots begin to fade in just 14 days.

Smell/texture: The product comes in a soft, light serum form and smells pleasant and neutral.
 
Pros: This product, unlike some pigmentation products I’ve used in the past, is easy to use with no scrubbing or mess required. The serum felt silky against the skin and caused no irritation.
 
Cons: I have developed under-the-skin spots, which could be because the ingredients are so active that my skin reacted.
 
Results: While my skin tone is definitely more even and brighter, some darker patches haven’t changed much. This product, used with a factor 50 SPF (to prevent further damage), avoiding the sun and maybe a course of facial treatments would probably do the trick. A work in progress - but a very good start.

Tested by: Kat Webster, ELLEuk.com Picture Editor

By Darphin

Price: £57

Stockist: Space NK

Product Claim: After 4 weeks, dark spots are visibly reduced in size and intensity.  After 8 weeks, dark spots are visibly reduced by up to 50%.

Smell/texture: this treatment had a consistency that was a lotion and serum hybrid. The scent was a barely-there fresh, floral.

Pros: being so lightweight meant it was easily and quickly absorbed so it was of no inconvenience to add this extra step into my skincare routine. A little went a long way too.

Cons: Results, as with any cream, are slow coming. I’ve had laser before for my pigmentation which suited my impatient nature far better.

Results: After six weeks my pigmentation is reduced and my skin looks brighter, but I can still see a faint reminder of the sun spots.

Tested by: Amy Lawrenson, ELLEuk.com Beauty Writer

By Lancome

Price: £57

Stockist: Lancome

Product claim: Lancome claim that over half the women who used this cream chose not to book in for lasers, fillers or peels.

Smell/texture: The product has a slight pearlescence - intended, I’m sure, to imply futuristic skin-finishing powers, but instead it leaves a shimmery finish over the skin. It smells clean and feels frictionless to apply.

Pros:  Silky, dewy skin and a more even tone, meaning I could get away with wearing less makeup.

Cons:  An odd, plasticky shimmer took some getting used to. The product also means there’s an extra step between cleansing and moisturising.

Results: Breakouts reduced and my skin felt plumper to the touch and looked more dewy - at least to me. Still, I didn’t realise the extent of the product’s effectiveness until London Fashion Week, when one designer touched my face at a party and told me, ‘You have incredible skin’. Other friends and colleagues told me I had ‘a glow’. I’m rationing the final drops of my tester bottle - long may they last.

Tested by: Emily Cronin, ELLEuk.com News Editor

By Skinceuticals

Price: £75

Stockist: Skinceuticals

Product claim: To lighten skin with a high-dose patented combination of active ingredients like Kojic Acid and Emblica in an exfoliating formulation to improve uneven skintone. The technology works to prevent melanin (darker pigment forming cells) from travelling to the skin’s surface and causing discolouration.
 
Smell/texture: It’s a rather serious brown cream that doesn’t smell particularly attractive but you get the feeling it means business. The texture is fine and a little goes a long way.
 
Pros: You don’t need to use a great deal.

Cons: It leaves your face feeling a little sticky at night.

Results: It definitely faded my darker patches of sun damage in just one month.

Tested by: Emma Smith, ELLE and ELLEuk.com Beauty Director

By Clarins

Price: £56

Stockist: Clarins

Product claim: A super intensive serum, that claims to fade out dark spots, brighten age-related dull skin tone and it helps smooth and repair lines.

Smell/texture: This lightweight formula is odourless which is great as I don’t like anything too fragrant on my face.

Pros:  The serum is an extra step in my routine, so I was pleased that it absorbed quickly. The pump dispensed just the right amount for my face, neck and décolleté.

Cons:  I have oily / combination skin and I found two weeks in my skin had broken out in areas.  That said, I can't be sure it was this product that contributed to the breakouts.
Results: My skin looks and feels more hydrated. It’s also much brighter in appearance. ¬I’m finding I need far less foundation than before. I had discolouration on my cheeks and lip from the sun and these are all noticeably lighter. I’m really pleased with the results.

Tested by: Natalie Barrow, Ad Ops Executive