What does brightening lotion do?

You may have come across brightening lotions and but are wondering what role they fulfil.

According to Health.com, the term “brightening” is used pretty loosely, and until you read the ingredients you can’t be sure what each product is doing. “‘Brightening’ might mean ‘lightening’, ‘fading’ or ‘bleaching’,” but not always. Brightening products contain ingredients that act to block the production of pigment, or can actually help lift pigment out of the skin.

Let’s start from the beginning. When someone has dark spots on their skin, it’s most commonly due to two reasons. One is post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation that’s darkening caused by some sort of irritation or injury, such as acne or picking at your skin. It’s a result of the cells releasing pigment and staining the skin. The second most common cause of dark spots on the skin is the sun radiation causes darkening, leaving sun spots and freckles. Dark spots can also be caused by air pollution and even hormones because they can increase the production of melanin, leading to the pigment in the skin. Depending on the type of skin you have, you may have a tendency to react more dramatically and release more pigment than others.