Is Meladerm A Good Skin Lightener

Islida and several others have asked if Civant’s Meladerm is really an effective skin lightener.

The Right Brain responds:

Meladerm claims to lighten skin by inhibiting the formation of melanin, the natural pigment that gives skin its color. It contains several active ingredients; the two most noteworthy are kojic acid and alpha-arbutin.

Does it really work? We couldn’t find any independent test data to confirm the product’s skin lightening functionality but we did find data on the active ingredients. Kojic acid, according to the American Academy of Dermatologists, is a proven skin lightening ingredient.

And Alpha-arbutin, according to several studies like this one, works by blocking epidermal melanin genesis by inhibiting enzymatic oxidation of tyrosine and Dopa.

However, these tests were done in vitro, meaning they were done in the laboratory and not on real skin. In vitro tests are good for screening ingredients, but they can’t take the place of actually testing the finished product on real people.

So what does this all mean? It looks like Meladerm is making what The Beauty Brains call a “B” level claim: the formula contains ingredients that have been proven to be effective; however, the formula itself was not tested. Compare that to an “A” level claim where the actual product is tested. Then of course there are “C” level claims where neither the product nor the ingredients have any proven efficacy.

The Brains Bottom Line:

At $50 it’s not cheap but, based on what we’ve seen, Meladerm might just be worth a try. If anyone out there in the Beauty Brains community have tried this product, please let us know what you think.

And by the way, if you’re interested, here’s an excellent article on hydroquinone, another popular whitening ingredient.