What is Topicals Faded Brightening Serum?

A brightening serum formulated with tranexamic acid, azelaic acid, niacinamide, alpha arbutin, and other antioxidants to target dark spots, hyperpigmentation, and post-inflammatory marks.

Is Topicals Faded Brightening Serum worth it?

Mostly yes. 8 of the 9 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 87%.

What is Topicals Faded Brightening Serum's Guru Score?

Topicals Faded Brightening Serum holds a Guru Score of 87%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 9 independent expert reviewers we have collected. It is also Guru Certified, our mark for products that hold broad approval across many expert reviewers.

Who is Topicals Faded Brightening Serum best for?

Topicals Faded Brightening Serum is generally suited to sensitive skin and acne-prone skin.

Topicals Faded Brightening Serum: a Guru Score of 87%

Every take, in full

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

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Dr. Vanita Rattan

1.22M subs

✓Approved

"This formula contains niacinamide in the low to mid 3% range, tranexamic acid around 2 to 3%, alpha arbutin, kojic acid dipalmitate, and a solid glycerin base, plus additional ingredients like glutathione, azelaic acid, licorice extract, and melatonin at token levels. Kojic acid dipalmitate is a more stable but less potent derivative, which is a defensible choice. This is a multi-path pigmentation formula: niacinamide blocks pigment transfer, tranexamic acid interrupts the inflammation pathway, alpha arbutin suppresses melanin production, and kojic dipalmitate does something similar. It passes the naife safe check, with no fragrance, essential oils, or denatured alcohol. The packaging is a tube, adequate though an airless pump would have been preferred. At $38 it is on the more expensive side, but it's worth it. This is a well-formulated product with a well-chosen active stack and it works."

All 2 takes from Dr. Vanita Rattan

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"The fourth ingredient is tranexamic acid, this seems to be a very popular combination. The 13th ingredient is Alpha arbutin, so very very low at maybe 0.5%. The downside of this product is they put in cactus oil and cocoa butter oils, that's four out of five on the comedogenic scale. If you're using this to try and treat your oily acne prone hyperpigmentation, it might make it worse. I do like it as a first or second line treatment if you don't have oily acne prone skin, but if you do then this might be one that you would sidestep."

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No BS Beauty

89k subs

✓Approved

"The faded topicals, unscented. It's 28 bucks. It's got tranexamic acid, salicylic acid, niacinamide, kojic acid, oxidized glutathione. It's got chromanol palmitate, which is a brightening photoprotective ingredient, arbutin, licorice fruit, and melatonin. It's a good multi-purpose brightening serum that works well in your routine morning or evening or certainly even both if you want to do that."

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All 12 takes from No BS Beauty

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"This is the one I recommend is the unscented version. It's 28 bucks. This one's got some great brightening ingredients. It's got tranexamic acid, and then we've got azelaic acid. And that for me, I got my melasma so much under control, and then it was kind of stagnant for a while. And then I added in azelaic acid, and that really helped brighten it up to the next level. Azelaic acid is great for brightening up skin, hyperpigmentation. It's also great for rosacea, acne-prone skin. It's an amazing ingredient. In addition to that, we've got niacinamide, kojic acid, oxidized glutathione, dimethylmethoxy chromanyl palmitate, which is a brightening ingredient as well as a photoprotective ingredient. We've also got arbutin, licorice root, and melatonin, which has antioxidant benefits as well as brightening benefits for skin. For a long time I was looking for a product that had melatonin in it. There really wasn't much. So, with topicals now it's great to have that option."

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"I am going to put on Topicals Faded, which has a fragrance-free version, but it's in a tiny bottle. I have so much melasma, so I try to use a brightening product in an evening routine every night. I like to mix in as many different brightening products during the week as I can because melasma is a tough one to tackle."

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"The Topicals Faded, which I used to love till they added fragrance."

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"The Topicals Faded, which I loved before they added the fragrance in it and now I don't love it so much."

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"Topicals Faded is also a good one as lactic acid. Also I found very effective for helping with hyperpigmentation. Something like this or topicals Faded are both wonderful."

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"It's great for brightening skin. It's one of the best brightening serums in my opinion for hyperpigmentation, melasma. It's got glycolic acid, kojic acid, tranexamic acid, niacinamide, and chromoily ingredient. It's pretty affordable at 28 bucks regularly, and when you take 20% off that it starts to add up. A little bit goes a long way. I typically don't apply this all over my face. I'll just apply it to the areas where I have my melasma, which is my forehead and cheeks. You can certainly apply it everywhere if you want or if you have dark spots. Really nice product. I prefer the unscented version, but some people like the fragrance and nothing wrong with that."

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"Topicals Faded, their original formula smelled sulfurous and people didn't like it, so they added fragrance. If you can handle the fragrance in it, it's well worth it. It's got a lot of great ingredients. It's still pretty affordable."

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"This is a brightening serum with tranexamic acid, niacinamide, AIC acid, KIC acid, oxidized glutathione, and [arbutin]. Really nice. I've repurchased this probably my third or fourth tube now. And it's the unscented version. They have a scented version. If you don't like the smell of it, it has kind of an earthy scent to it, I would say, sulfurish almost. Some people didn't like the scented version, so they brought back the unscented version later, thankfully, because I did not like the scented version. Typically with most things, I'd rather just smell a bad ingredient than have something that's kind of covering it up."

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"Topicals Faded, it does contain fragrance. I finished a tube up and I didn't repurchase it because I didn't like the scent to it, but if you tolerate fragrance in it, it's worth trying because it also contains tranexamic acid, niacinamide, alpha arbutin, and azelaic acid. So if you tolerate the scent to it, it's definitely worth using."

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"Topicals Faded, if you can stand fragrance, topicals Faded, I wish they would have left the fragrance out but it's still really good serum."

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"It's got salicylic acid, arbutin, kojic acid, glutathione, turmeric, licorice root. It is wonderful. In terms of brightening skin, this is going to be in my holy grails. If I had to pick 10 best brightening products, this is definitely going to be one of them. There's a lot of great brightening products and this is certainly worth checking out if you haven't tried it before."

Hyram

4.35M subs

✓Approved

"Whenever I'm struggling with dark spots or hyperpigmentation and no other product is working, I always pull this bad boy out at the end because I know that it will always work. I actually prefer using the mini size because I don't need to use very much because of how power-packed the formulation is and how well it works at being able to erase dark spots and hyperpigmentation in my skin. And that is due to the absolutely incredible ingredient list that it has. It has tranexamic acid, alpha arbutin, one of the most powerful ingredients out there for brightening dark spots, glutathione, an ingredient for correcting hyperpigmentation that's really viral in Korea, turmeric extract, azelaic acid, licorice root extract. I remember the very first time I ever looked at this ingredient list, and I truly did not know how they're able to compile so many power-packed ingredients into one formula. This is definitely the most power-packed formula for dark spots that I have ever used. For anyone out there who has more sensitive skin, please tread lightly because this is a very powerful formula."

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All 3 takes from Hyram

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"The Topicals Faded serum is one of the most powerful formulas I've ever used to the point that I have to use it very inconsistently because it works really well but it's really really strong. I use this product to spot treat any areas where I am struggling with scarring. The ingredient list is jam-packed it has tranexamic acid, alpha arbutin which is a really powerful bleaching agent to help get rid of that excess pigment where you experience the breakout, AHC acid, licorice fruit extract. When I've had a consistent scar that won't go away, whenever I use this product it can zap it so quickly and works really really well. One turnoff of this product for me is that it's kind of expensive, but because I spot treat using this product I use barely any so one of the big bottles literally lasts forever. They recently released a mini version which I think is a perfect way of getting this product for a more affordable price point, getting that treatment without wasting any product. It is a really really good one."

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"The Topicals Faded serum is definitely the most powerful serum I've used for brightening dark spots. It features ingredients like niacinamide, alpha arbutin, and AIC acid, but the nice thing about this one is that rather than a serum consistency, this one is basically like a moisturizer and a serum in one. It has a bunch of really rich nourishing ingredients to give you that nice moisturizer feel. I enjoy using this one before I go to bed and I'll just slather it all over my face and it's always done a great job of lifting those pesky marks that won't go away. The thing I will say about this one is that when I say it's powerful, that is not to be understated. This product is intense, and the maximum frequency I think I've ever experimented with this product is two times in one week. Honestly, one time a week was like enough for me because while it works very well, it definitely leaves my skin a little bit more sensitive to the touch, a little bit red and irritated afterwards. It's not anything that's bad or a super big red flag, but it's just indicative of how strong this formula is. So I would say if you are getting this one, don't mess around."

Dr. Shereene Idriss

1.71M subs

✓Approved

"Topicals Faded Brightening Serum is another one that you guys can try, but for consistency you have to use it twice a day and that is essential and key if you want to see results."

Sincerely Miss Ash

195k subs

✓Approved

"The Topicals Faded serum contains tranexamic acid but it also contains AIC acid which is great for redness, great for acne-prone skin, and it also contains niacinamide as well. I do find that the Topicals Faded works a little bit better because of those additional ingredients. Tranexamic acid really is underrated. You might hear the odd person talking about tranexamic acid but I don't hear it enough and I feel like it deserves more hype because it really is beneficial for those that are struggling with dark spots and discoloration. This can be used on a daily basis, especially depending on skin tolerance, but the more consistent you are with this ingredient specifically you will see results. The next ingredient is mandelic acid so this will help to exfoliate your skin. If you're someone that can't use glycolic, lactic, or even salicylic acid for that matter because maybe they're just too harsh and irritating for your skin, then I would say look into mandelic acid because mandelic acid is still a part of the alpha hydroxy acid family, also known as AHAs, but this acid contains a larger molecule which means it's going to take a lot longer to penetrate into the skin."

Doctorly

3.57M subs

✓Approved

"Faded by Topicals is another good option for dark spots or discoloration. It's going to have your retinol, it's going to have your [kojic] acid, your nicomide, your glutathione, your tranexamic acid all in one product."

All 3 takes from Doctorly

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"If you're looking for a product without retinol, I would either get the topicals or the Anua one because those are both without retinol in them."

Skin QnA

"Faded, I feel like it's the OG consolidated dark spot serum, the OG remedy for dark spots. Just still stinks. It has been improved upon. Most dark spot ingredients, just like acne ingredients, can be irritating. So if you're dealing with post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation from acne or any other insult and if this is too irritating for you, use it less frequently or don't use it at all, because if you keep irritating your skin it's going to make it worse, it's going to make the hyperpigmentation worse. So if it's too irritating with the stacked ingredient list, just try something else."

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Tea with MD

107k subs

✓Approved

"The Topicals Faded serum is marketed as a serum that can be helpful for dark spots, whether it's post-acne marks or dark spots from the sun, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, or even something to use in your underarms. This contains a whole host of anti-dark mark ingredients that are really great. It obviously contains niacinamide. It also contains tranexamic acid, which is an ingredient that I like to use for melasma. Topical tranexamic acid can work in conjunction with other brighteners to help lighten up dark spots. This product also contains azelaic acid, which is another multitasking favorite of mine. Azelaic acid is a great option for treating redness and inflammation, and it actually is a really great ingredient for treating acne in pregnant women because it is one of those that are safe to use. In addition to treating redness and inflammation, azelaic acid can also help with hyperpigmentation, which is why it is in this formulation."

Darnell Cox | 50+ Healthy Aging Expert

54k subs

✓Approved

"Faded by Topicals is great for dark spots. You can do a spot treatment with Faded, and it works well with niacinamide, retinoids at night, and vitamin C in the morning to brighten the area."

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All 2 takes from Darnell Cox | 50+ Healthy Aging Expert

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"Faded by Topicals is great for dark spots. You can do a spot treatment with Faded, and it works well with niacinamide, retinoids at night, and vitamin C in the morning to brighten the area."

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"Faded by Topicals is the one that I found is the closest in terms of lightening spots in a topical form that's non-prescription. It's almost equivalent to hydroquinone, which you can only use for four months at a time under a doctor's care to help lighten all the sun spots and hyperpigmentation."

Cassandra Bankson

2.45M subs

✓Mixed

"I have used things like this from Topicals. This is great because it has niacinamide and zinc PCA to actually help with oil control and with brightness. However, this does have glycolic and lactic acids, so while this is great for ingrown hairs and I do use it on my legs and I have put it in my armpits, this isn't something that I would recommend if you have pigmentation in the underarm area."