Big-haired Bitch/Personality Hire
Sounds interesting.
The problem with these things is that harmful effects take time to manifest (sometimes a decade or more). So there seems to be nothing wrong with it now, but in the future, who knows?
America has a policy where you have to prove something IS harmful before it's made available to the public in an official capacity, while most other developed countries are the exact opposite (you have to prove something ISN'T harmful before it's made available to the public).
Kind of like the whole BPA thing. At first it was fine, then years later there was overwhelming evidence that it was toxic. And now products claiming to be BPA-free have just been replaced with some other chemical that may be just as harmful (if not more) than BPA...it's just gonna take a few years before we know either way.
Damn I've digressed. Hydroquinone, right?
Yeah, those aromatic hydrocarbons are a force to be reckoned with. I'm not trying to use scare tactics, but some risks aren't worth taking. Especially when there are equally-effective and virtually risk-free alternatives readily available.
Hydroquinone is banned in some countries in certain concentrations, so hopefully the kind you ordered was of the FDA-approved concentration. I've never tried any, and I don't know anyone who has. I'm interested in knowing how it works out.
"What is the quality of your intent?" - Thurgood Marshall
I haven't used it myself, but my mom has - in a dermatological formula - to even out skin tone/sun-damage. It was prescription quality/strength. I asked her about it and she didn't have any issues with it, other than some dryness and temporary redness. Oh - and you absolutely *must* use a high level SPF and avoid the sun since your skin is super sensitive with use.
Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about it if it's short term use and you're monitoring your skin's reaction to it. I think that article talked about some woman getting it off the black market or the internet and things 'went wrong'. Other people they have mentioned were using it off-label, in aggressive combination therapy or in the wrong way. It doesn't seem all that surprising that they had issues with it.
If you follow the directions and use as prescribed, it should be relatively safe. You need a lot of evidentiary support to get FDA approval. A lot of the scary cases occur when it was not used as directed - but since it still technically falls under an 'adverse event' for that medication, it has to get reported and/or ends up making the rounds with wary consumers.
You can always try it and then if you aren't getting results or you don't like the way your skin feels after use, just discontinue it. Personally, that's what I'd do.
Thanks for the advices girls.
To be honest, I think that the chances of contracting a major disease from it are fairly low. Rats literally had to be fed with Hydroquinone in large amounts to develop cancer, and even then many scientists believe that the link with cancer might be due to trace amounts of mercury contained in Hydroquinone that was manufactured in sub-standard facilities (ie. Africa).
It seems that just about everything is linked with cancer nowadays anyway, from cell phones, to bras, to alcohol. Even Omega-3 have been linked with prostate cancer recently. If I put things in perspective a little, the amount of cigarettes I used to smoke in only one day most probably contained more carcinogens than the whole Hydroquinone tube I just ordered.
And Ochronosis is a very rare condition that mostly affects dark-skinned people who use the product in large quantities for a long period of time (some people use Hydroquinone to bleach their entire bodies).
The tube I ordered is a 4% concentration, which would be considered prescription-grade. I would have ordered a 2% tube but it wasn't available. I'll follow all the guidelines dermatologists usually provide to their patients, that is, using it sparingly for no more than 4 months consecutively.
I only have about 4-5 small spots on the left side of my face I'd like to lighten, so the amount that I'll use each day will be around the size of a drop or two. Technically some of these spots don't look that bad as they form a star pattern on my cheek, but they're a bit too noticeable to my liking. I also have 2 other spots near my nose I want to get rid of.
By the way, Hydroquinone is by far the gold standard to fade these hyper-pigmented marks. Alternatives really aren't that effective (eg. Kojic Acid, Glycolic peels, etc.).
