Concern

Dark patches that keep coming back.

Melasma, sun induced and hormonal pigmentation. What is actually happening in the skin, why the last products did not hold, and what to do instead.

Last updated October 2026 · 6 min read

Recognition

Does this sound like your skin?

It came back after summer

Or after a pregnancy, or after starting the pill.

It sits on the cheeks and forehead

Symmetrical, blurred edges, not a single round spot.

Serums stopped working

Vitamin C, niacinamide, hydroquinone. Some progress, then a plateau.

You stopped and it returned

Within weeks, sometimes darker than before.

If three of these are true, the rest of this page is written for you.

Mechanism

What is happening in the skin

Hyperpigmentation starts with a trigger: UV, a hormonal change or inflammation. It tells melanocytes, the pigment cells, to produce more melanin than the skin can clear, and that melanin moves up to the surface. Once switched on, the process keeps running after the trigger has gone, which is why patches persist and return.

1 · Trigger

UV, hormonal change or inflammation sends the signal.

2 · Overproduction

Melanocytes make melanin faster than the skin can clear it.

3 · Persistence

The process keeps running after the trigger has gone.

Why nothing held

Why the last products did not hold

Vitamin C, niacinamide

One pathway, slow, and mostly a maintenance tool rather than a correction one.

Hydroquinone courses

Works, then has to be stopped, and pigmentation often returns on the pause.

Peels and lasers alone

Removes what is visible, does not change what produced it. Without a routine, it tends to come back.

Stopping when it looked better

The most common one. Correction is a sixteen week job, then maintenance.

Focus product

Where to start: Cyspera Intensive

CYSPERA INTENSIVE™
7% CysteamineIn the Intensive complex
4 wk First visible changeWith daily use
15 min Then rinsedShort contact, built for tolerance

Correction · patented cysteamine complex

CYSPERA INTENSIVE™

€180,00

If vitamin C, niacinamide or a hydroquinone course have already stalled for you, the issue is rarely the brand. Most brightening actives work on one step of pigment production. Intensive is built around a cysteamine complex that acts on several steps of the process.

It is applied once a day, left on for a short contact time, then rinsed. That is what makes a strong correction step tolerable over sixteen weeks.

See the full protocol

The honest limit: Intensive corrects, it does not protect. It needs the full sixteen weeks, then maintenance, with daily sun protection throughout.

Proof

Results on this concern

Melasma on the face, before and after five weeks of Cyspera Total Skin
BeforeAfter
Melasma · Total Skin · 5 weeksUnretouched, standard lighting. Individual results vary.
Melasma, before and after thirteen weeks of Cyspera Total Skin
BeforeAfter
Melasma · Total Skin · 13 weeksUnretouched, standard lighting. Individual results vary.
Senile lentigo, before and after twelve weeks of Cyspera Intensive
BeforeAfter
Senile lentigo · Intensive · 12 weeksUnretouched, standard lighting. Individual results vary.

Multi step routines do not work, and it is not because the products are bad. Any time you deliver multiple active ingredients at once you can damage the skin barrier, and then you are not seeing the results you are looking for.

Dr Rawn Bosley, MD, board certified dermatologist · from the Cyspera education series
Questions

What people ask before starting

How long before I see anything?

With daily use, most people see the tone start to even around week four, before the patches themselves lighten. The full correction phase is sixteen weeks. Photograph your skin in the same light every two weeks: it is easier to judge than the mirror.

What happens if I stop?

If you stop when it looks better, pigmentation often returns, because the process behind it is still switched on. After the correction phase, the routine moves to maintenance, with daily sun protection. That step is what keeps the result.

Does it sting?

A slight tingling in the first weeks is expected while you build contact time. Burning is not: rinse, and start again with a shorter contact time. If your skin is very reactive, start with Cyspera Sensitive instead.

Is it safe on deeper skin tones?

Cyspera is formulated for all skin tones. Deeper skin is more prone to marks left by irritation, so build the contact time slowly and keep other actives out of the same evening.

Can I use it with a retinoid?

Not in the same step. The correction product is applied on its own, left on for its contact time, then rinsed. Anything else in your routine comes after that, and not on the same evening while you are still building tolerance.

Can I use it while pregnant?

Speak to a professional before starting any active correction while pregnant or breastfeeding. Find a provider near you.

Not sure this is your concern?

Nine questions, two minutes, and you leave with your products in the order to use them.

Education

Read next

Informations /

How Does Cysteamine Work? The Science, the Studies, and How It Compares to Hydroquinone

Inside the Melanocyte · Chapter 3 of 4 By the Cyspera Science TeamScientific review: Camilla Massironi, Product Development, Scientis8 min...
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What Wakes Up Your Melanocytes? The Hidden Triggers Behind Stubborn Dark Spots

Inside the Melanocyte · Chapter 2 of 4 By the Cyspera Science Team Scientific review: Camilla Massironi, Product Development, Scie...
Informations /

What is the difference between melanin and melanocytes?

Inside the Melanocyte · Chapter 1 of 4 By the Cyspera Science Team Scientific review: Camilla Massironi, Product Development, Sci...