Kojic Acid - The Natural Skin Whitener

Kojic Acid was discovered way back in 1989 in Japan. It is a natural product derived from mushroom and has been successfully used to lighten pigment spots and skin discoloration. It can produce excellent effects in toning the skin, fighting age spots, pregnancy marks, freckles, and lightening general skin pigmentation disorders.

So how does it work? Well, it all starts with an enzyme called tyrosinase. This enzyme converts an amino acid called tyrosine which produces melanin. Melanin is what we need to inhibit to whiten the skin. Now, what Kojic Acid does is it prevents the enzyme tyrosinase's activity through synthesizing reaction with its antioxidant properties after penetrating the upper skin layers. It inhibits the formation of pigment at the deep cells of the skin. Amazing!

There is another skin whitener which you may be familiar with already. It's called hydroquinone. So let's take a moment now to compare Kojic Acid with Hydroquinone. Hydroquinone has been used for the longest time as the quickest and best solution for bleaching brown spots. However, since it is synthetic, it may cause skin irritations. In certain countries, its concentration is limited to 2% for safety reasons. On the other hand, Kojic Acid is absolutely safe since it is natural. In addition, Kojic Acid has better inhibitory effect on tyrosinase than any other skin whitening agents.

Kojic Acid is the active ingredient of Chris & Chat's Whitening Soap.

So now you know why Kojic Acid is the natural skin whitener.