Hi, I'd like to share what solved my struggles with hyperpigmentation, brown spots, and red spots that resulted from acne, the sun, scrapes, peeling skin, etc. I'm a 20yr old female of medium-light skin tone, of mexican and white ethnicity. I had marks on my face for about 3yrs that wouldn't fade alone and I didn't want to use damaging fade/bleach creams. A derm prescribed me azelex (azeliac acid) 20% cream and adapalene 0.1% gel. These products also help with acne. I initially had a worse acne flare up once I started using these products, but that's common & known as a purge effect, so I stuck with them (But if the purge effect doesn't subside within a month, you should probably visit your derm again). It took about 6 months before I started noticing a major change in my hyperpigmentation and acne, but as I continued using it I noticed improvement in the hyperpifmentation fading more and more each month and it even improved my occurance of acne & texture of my face. I've been using them for 18 months now and have had no complications or side efffects. You may experience stinging/burning sensations at first, but they subside. I also find that moisturizing with an unscented moisturizer after application helps if it burns. I haven't read or heard that long term use of these products should cause problems, the azelex is even safe to use during pregnancy. I'm not sure if one product is helping more than the other because I started them at the same time. I also recommend a vitamin c serum called Citrix once a day, that also helped with overall brightening and smoothing.