The cure for winter’s dreariest months may just be a brighter complexion, one without pigmentation, age spots or dullness: nasty little things that appear worse in the winter. Whatever your reason for seeking a more radiant complexion, the recent “brightening” sensation—referred to as “whitening” in some Asian markets—means there’s a product for you.
Beauty Bite: Products labelled “brightening” use targeted ingredients to brighten dull skin, even skin tone and, in stronger formulations, fade pigmentation.
Here are FLARE‘s picks for brightening your skin, from slightly dull to too-dark and damaged:
1. Burt’s Bees Brightening Even-Tone Moisturizing Cream, $29.99, burtsbees.ca
Burt’s Bees uses sustainably sourced white daisy blossom as a natural brightening agent and promises to help diminish the look of dark spots while evening out skin tone. It’s also a great moisturizer featuring botanical extracts to help with fine lines and wrinkles.
2. Korres Wild Rose Daily Brightening & Refining Buff Cleanser, $24, korres.ca
This refreshing cleanser gently buffs to reveal naturally brighter skin beneath those dull top layers while Wild Rose Oil goes to work evening skin tone and texture. Rice grain, cherry stone and sugar extracts act as gentle exfoliants.
3. Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector, $93, clinique.ca
Clinique’s dark spot targeting serum promises prescription-strength results with testers seeing a 58 per cent improvement over 12 weeks. It’s meant for age spots and acne scars on the face but can be used on the hands and chest, too.