A wide variety of skin lightening products contains hydroquinone (HQ) and mercury as active ingredients. The combination of the two is said to slow down the creation of melanin, which causes age spots, freckles, melasma and other types of skin discoloration.
On the downside, these two ingredients are known to have severe side effects. Mercurcy is especially dangerous, and almost universally outlawed in skin care products because of serious health risks associated with it. Hydroquinone is a little more controversial, with many countries allowing its use at various concentration levels, but others banning it outright.
Even if you aren’t concerned about the health risks, you will probably find that these ingredients often result in the infamous "rebound effect"—if you stop using the product, your melanin production may actually start progressing much faster and result in more skin pigmentation.
Genuine Diana Stalder Whitening and Lightening Products do NOT use Hydroquinone or Mercurcy
The Diana Stalder Surely White Whitening Regimen Kit and the Diana Stalder Surely White Body Bleaching Kit contain products that use arbutin, which is a more modern skin de-pigmentation and whitening agent.
Arbutin is believed by many experts to be much safer than traditional old-fashioned hydroquinone. Arbutin is a glycosylated derivative of HQ, and it naturally occurs in the bearberry plant, wheat and pear skins. The experts believe it is less prone to side effects than traditional HQ because it is more gradually released through hydrolysis.
Arbutin naturally whitens or lightens the skin, infiltrating without affecting the process of cell multiplication. Arbutin works by effectively inhibiting tyrosinase, which is an enzyme that catalyzes the biosynthesis of melanin, which is the main cause of skin darkening. Arbutin also protects the skin against damage caused by free radicals.
