The Best Skin Brightening Creams

On the quest for radiant and glowing skin, skin brightening creams have become a popular choice for many. Why? Whether you’re dealing with dark spots, uneven skin tone, or dullness, a good skin brightening cream can work wonders. In this article, Clarins guides you through the benefits of using a skin brightening cream, suggests the best skin brightening creams, plus what ingredients you should avoid when it comes to achieving glowing skin. 

The benefits of using skin brightening creams

Here are a few reasons why you should consider incorporating skin brightening cream into your skincare routine: 

Diminishes dark spots and discolouration 

Skin brightening creams can effectively fade dark spots and reduce discolouration caused by factors such as sun damage, acne, or hormonal changes. With consistent use, you can achieve a more even and radiant complexion. 

Enhances luminosity

By promoting skin cell turnover and improving skin texture, brightening creams help your skin better reflect light, revealing a smoother and more luminous complexion. 

Try: Clarins Super Restorative Rose Radiance Cream, which contains illuminating pearls for an instant hit of radiance. 

Boosts confidence

Dealing with skin concerns like dark spots or uneven skin tone can affect your confidence. Using the best skin brightening creams can help address these issues, allowing you to feel more comfortable and confident in your own skin.

The difference between skin whitening and skin brightening

It’s important to distinguish between skin whitening and skin brightening. While skin brightening focuses on achieving a more radiant and even complexion, skin whitening aims to lighten the skin tone. Skin whitening creams often raise ethical concerns and should only ever be used when prescribed by a reputable doctor. 

How to choose the best skin brightening cream

When it comes to choosing the best skin brightening cream, you should take the formula's key ingredients, your skin tone, and type into consideration. Ensuring your chosen glow-enhancing cream is well suited to you will make all the difference when it comes to evening out your skin tone and brightening your complexion. 

Brightening ingredients to look for 

To achieve a radiant complexion, look for skin brightening creams that contain the following key ingredients: 

Vitamin C

When it comes to brightening the skin vitamin C is a powerhouse ingredient. It helps to fade dark spots, even out skin tone, and boost collagen production for a more youthful appearance. Look for creams with stabilised forms of vitamin C for maximum efficacy. 

Try: ClarinsBright Plus Advanced Dark Spot Targeting Serum, which contains a potent vitamin C to instantly brighten skin and dark spots. Together with New Organic Sea Lily to fight dark spots, New Rose-Myrtle and Acerola Seeds to promote cell oxygenation, this is one of the best skin brightening products that helps reduce the look of dark spots and keep the skin bright and even, leaving it spotless, fairer and with a healthy glow from within. 

Niacinamide

Niacinamide, also known as vitamin B3, is another fantastic ingredient for brightening the skin. It helps to reduce hyperpigmentation, and oil production to minimise the appearance of pores, and improve overall skin tone. Niacinamide also has soothing and anti-inflammatory properties, making it suitable for sensitive and acne prone skin. 

Try: Clarins Multi-Active Night Cream All Skin Types. This is the best brightening cream for face with niacinamide, designed to renew the skin and smooth the complexion; with daily use, you will see the radiance, toning and smoothness on your face.

Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs)

AHAs, such as glycolic acid and lactic acid, are effective exfoliants that can help to reveal a brighter complexion. These acids work by gently sloughing off dead skin cells and promoting cell turnover, resulting in a smoother and more luminous skin surface. However, for those with black and brown skin, the overuse of high dose AHAs can trigger hyperpigmentation – so be sparing with your use.

Try: Clarins Beauty Flash Peel, an AHA and BHA-infused liquid peel that gets to work on sloughing away dead skin cells in just ten minutes. 

Natural Retinol

Retinol is a form of vitamin A used in skincare to help brighten dull skin, reduce wrinkles, unclog pores, even out skin tone, and improve texture. It gives the skin a youth boost and adds radiance by turbocharging collagen production and speeding up skin cell turnover. Try natural retinol for safe yet effective outcomes. Clarins' Super Restorative, formulated with Harungana helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

How to brighten skin instantly

Need a quick fix? Here’s our step-by-step guide to achieving bright skin super quickly…

Step 1: Cleanse

Start with a gentle cleanser to remove any impurities and prepare the skin for treatment. Clarins Soothing Gentle Foaming Cleanser, with Organic Chamomile and Shea butter, will gently wash away impurities, makeup, and pollution while leaving the skin soft and smooth. 

Step 2: Exfoliate

Use a mild exfoliant to slough off dead skin cells, promoting a brighter complexion. A refreshing cream scrub with natural beads like Clarins Fresh Scrub is perfect to exfoliate and smooth the skin in a fresh and supple way. 

Step 3: Hydrate

Apply a hydrating serum or moisturiser containing ingredients like vitamin C to boost radiance and even out skin tone. All the above products are the top best brightening face creams at Clarins that you can try out. 

Step 4: Sunscreen

Finish with a broad-spectrum sunscreen to protect your skin. Sunscreen prevents damage and helps maintain a bright and even skin tone. For extra protection, you can try our Youth-protecting Sunscreen Very High Protection SPF50+, which comes with a dry-touch matte finish, protects your face against UVA/UVB rays and prevents the appearance of dark spots.

Step 5: Highlight

Use an illuminating product or highlighter on strategic areas like cheekbones and the bridge of the nose to add a subtle glow. SOS Primer Gold Glow is also a good option to choose on the day you want to minimise your makeup steps but still like the radiant boost with subtle gold highlights.

Do skin brightening creams really work?

The answer is a resounding yes, skin brightening creams can help give you a lit from within glow, smooth out lines and wrinkles and even skin tone. Just be sure to pick a cream that has the right ingredients at the right concentrations to deliver noticeable results, and be sure to choose reputable brands like Clarins that prioritise efficacy and safety in their products. 

Try: Clarins Nutri-Lumière Revive, which contains kaki extract to boost skin brightness. This is also one brightening cream for the face that revives radiance whilst firming and plumping nutrient-depleted skin. If you have yellow hues on your face and want to eliminate that, this cream will work to diminish yellow tones in the skin, and the purple tone of the formula boosts this by optically correcting it even further. 

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