Mela B3 Dark Spot Corrector Serum.

"This is what drew me to La Roche-Posay's Mela B3 double dose. It's formulated with Melasyl, which works upstream, grabbing excess pigment before it's fully formed rather than exfoliating pigment that's already visible, and it's also formulated with Pro-Xylane, which supports the extracellular matrix around the collagen that fibroblasts depend on to keep the skin firm and resilient. So one ingredient is calming the signal to the melanocyte and the other is supporting the structural framework. I love an aging treatment and a pigment treatment in the same bottle, because the great majority of us are dealing with both things."

"I am also a big fan of the La Roche-Posay Mela B3 serum, which has 10% niacinamide. That texture is a little bit richer. It almost feels like a lightweight lotion rather than a true serum. So, I like it for more mature or dry skin. And because it not only contains niacinamide, but also mel, which is a patented pigment fighting ingredient from L'Oreal, it's particularly good if people are trying to fight pigmentation by incorporating niacinamide in a higher concentration within their routine."

"There's a newer ingredient from La Roche-Posay called Melasyl that works on pigmentation. It doesn't work directly on the tyrosinase enzyme, but instead it takes away the amino acids that would go into making pigment. It's very well tolerated, very safe, and highly effective. Studies show it's more effective than 4% hydroquinone. You can get it in the Mela B3 serum. This is one of my favorites, and I've recommended it and given samples to many of my patients."

"There's another one called Melisil that's in La Roche-Posay's Mela B3 serum and that works by kind of quenching the melanin precursors. In clinical studies it works really well. It's been shown to be equivalent to hydroquinone. Melisil is another new ingredient that I use a lot in my practice. Works great. Doesn't lighten the surrounding normal skin. One of the biggest challenges with hydroquinone, if you're treating a dark spot, is that you can get a halo around it. I call it the hydroquinone halo. So these products don't do that."

"This is probably by far my favorite one in the category. [...] I've used this since they switched in and added the melisil and I've really liked it. It really [...] targets the dark spots, the melasma, the post acne marks, but it was still gentle enough for my rosacea skin. The niacinamide in here is going to help strengthen the barrier and calm the irritation which is going to make it suitable for daily use even for somebody with rosacea like me. What's really cool about it is that it has this patented melisil technology that's going to help prevent new pigment from forming. So you're combining the melisil with the niacinamide. It's really like a perfect match made in heaven. If you suffer from sensitive, acne prone, and pigment skin, this one's really a good one to try. It's suitable for daily use even on sensitive skin, and it's going to go really well underneath the sunscreen. The serums are a little bit thicker, but they layer really nicely even underneath the lightest sunscreen. [...] The key ingredients here are niacinamide 10%, the melonic acid, and of course the La Roche-Posay Thermal Spring Water."

"I recently gave up on the Mela B3 serum. It's actually decent. It does have fragrance, which is not as strong as some of the other La Roche-Posay serums. It's a 10% niacinamide serum with their new Micéal ingredient that is supposed to disrupt some of the early processes that lead to pigment production. It also has niacinamide, which we know is good for dark spots. 10% is unnecessary, more likely to be irritating. 5% is kind of within the zone of what has been studied."

"La Roche-Posay's Mela B3 Dark Spot Corrector Serum is one I recommend frequently. It's a really good one because I love the formula and the other ingredients, and it can really be helpful for addressing uneven skin texture and skin tone that we commonly see with aging skin. The serum is alcohol-free, fragrance-free, and non-comedogenic, so it's suitable for those with more sensitive skin as well as dry skin. It contains 10% glycolic acid, and I would say 10% is a pretty good strength in over-the-counter skincare products. Professionally, when we do peels using glycolic acid, we start off with 25% or higher, going up to 70%, but in skincare products meant to be used as leave-on treatments, 10% is a great concentration when you're looking for that effect of helping improve skin turnover and target fine lines and wrinkles. Aside from the 10% glycolic acid, it also contains tranexamic acid that can help improve hyperpigmentation and has been shown to be helpful for treating post-acne marks. It also contains vitamin B5 that is soothing and calming, and kojic acid that's more gentle."