Monthly Archives: October 2010

When I was a child, I had a face full of freckles. They’ve faded as I’ve gotten older, to the point where, even without makeup on, they’re no longer visible (unless, of course, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the sun, which makes them darker, or if I take a close-up photo with the flash on), but as a young teenager, those freckles were a source of constant angst to me. I absolutely hated them, to the point where I once tried to go to school with the contents of an entire tub of talcum powder on my face (this was in the days before I was allowed to wear makeup, obviously) in a bid to hide them, and they were one of the main causes of my subsequent obsession with cosmetics, because as soon as I soon as I was old enough to be allowed to spend my pocket money at the Cover Girl stand every week, I began a quest to hide the freckles at all costs.

Naturally, all of this is laughable to me now: not just because the freckles faded through time anyway, but because I actually think they can look very cute on some people. I obviously didn’t feel that way when I was younger, though, so I gradually worked my way through every product I could think of that was designed to hide or fade them, and one of those products was Fade Out.

For those who’ve never heard of it, Fade Out is a face cream which is designed, to “fade pigmentation marks, age spots and freckles” and to “help prevent the signs of ageing”. In other words, with regular use, it should help even out your complexion, getting rid of – or at least reducing – any areas of hyperpigmentation. The original version came in a heavy glass jar, smelt absolutely horrible (the scent always reminded me of Veet hair removal cream, actually), and came in a “one size fits all” formula, i.e. there was just one version of it, which you could use morning, noon and night, if you so desired. It’s a very long time since I’ve actually bought it, but I remember that while it didn’t get rid of my freckles completely, it did fade them, and it prevented them darkening up again when I spent time in the sun.

Of course, in those days it didn’t even occur to me to think about what was actually in the products I put on my skin. It subsequently turned out that the original version of Fade Out contained Hydroquinone, which was banned in the EU in 2001, amidst fears that it had carcinogenic properties. Fade Out stopped using it, and the new, re-launched version of the cream now uses Niacinamide (otherwise known as Vitamin B3) along with much more natural ingredients like mulberry and liquorice to even out skin tone by correcting areas of hyperpigmentation, and also to help nourish and hydrate the skin.  

The new line also contains various different variations of the cream: as well as the re-vamped version of the original, there’s also a night cream, a day cream (containing SPF15), an anti-ageing version and an eye cream, which is of particular interest to me as it claims to bring it’s “fading” action to those dark circles I’m constantly waging war on.

Fade Out have been kind enough to send me some sample of the new line, which I’m going to be trying out over the next few weeks. For now, though, if you’d like to try them for yourself, the range is available at Boots, priced at £7.99 for the original cream, and £8.99 for the other products in the range.