Skin Care Ingredients to Look out for - ARBUTIN

ARBUTIN is a very common name in skin care and most consumers would have come across it at many times while searching for the right product to buy. But what is it Arbutin? And what does it actually do for the skin? Well, to answer these and other questions lets look at a few of the most important things we need to know about Arbutin. This will help us make better choices in selecting our skin care products.

Arbutin is naturally derived from Bearberry plant,Wheat and Pear skin. This natural form of Arbutin is called beta Arbutin. Arbutin can also be manufactured from chemicals to form another type of Arbutin called alpha Arbutin. Alpha Arbutin is much more powerful in skin lightening than the natural beta Arbutin (almost 10 times more powerful!). Most products don't distinguish between beta and alpha Arbutin but alpha Arbutin is now preferred because of its greater effectiveness.

Surprisingly Arbutin is actually described as another source of Hydroquinone and works by breaking down into Hydroquinone in the skin. It is a tyrosinase inhibitor and operates in the same way as pure Hydroquinone. If want to know exactly how Hydroquinone works you can read about it here.
Many consumers are not aware that Arbutin is just another form of Hydroquinone but there are major differences. First Arbutin is much more expensive than Hydroquinone but it is faster and much more more effective in skin lightening than Hydroquinone or even Kojic. In addition Arbutin unlike pure Hydroquinone  is less likely to cause light sensitivity that can often lead to issues like sun burn, skin sensitivity and skin reactions. In fact some experts claim that it can actually protect the skin from sun damage. This is part of the reason it is considered to be more gentle in the way it works on the skin than pure Hydroquinone.

So lets summarize the benefits of Arbutin. The main advantages of Arbutin include;

1) It is more effective, gives faster skin lightening and is safer than Hydroquinone. 
2) Arbutin is excellent for acne scars and for people with very sensitive skin.
3) It is the best replacement for Hydroquinone compared to other skin lightening agents.
4) It protects against sun damage unlike Hydroquinone which makes the skin more sensitive to light

No ingredients is perfect and that includes Arbutin. The main disadvantage of Arbutin is that it is much more expensive than Hydroquinone. Hydroquinone maintains its place as the number one solution for skin lightening because it is cheap and effective.



Resources - lighterskin.com; wikipedia.org; healcure.com; webmd.com; thedermreview.com; byrdie.com; truthinaging.com; paulaschoice.com