Cost-wise skincare: even out your skin tone

What causes pigmentation?

Photo-ageing is the major culprit. Freckles are more common in childhood, and tend to occur as an immediate reaction to sunlight, whereas age spots are larger clumps of melanin that develop after a long-term build-up of sun damage.

Tom Mamone explains the Clinique approach: ‘Pigmentation is now understood to be a form of inflammation caused by sun exposure, allergies or acne, so we use calming, anti-inflammatory ingredients such as liquorice.'

What to do

‘Look for ingredients such as AHAs, retinoid and retinyl palmitate that exfoliate the top layer and speed up the turnover of skin. Tackle melanin production with vitamins C and E,' says Boots No7's Stewart Long. ‘Arbutin and kojic acid are effective skin whiteners, but we don't use them at Boots because we feel there are ingredients that are just as effective but kinder to skin.'

However, kojic acid can be found in Peter Thomas Roth Potent Botanical Skin Brightening Gel Complex, £26; skinstore.co.uk. Whichever product you choose, bear in mind it takes time for age spots to fade - give it four to six weeks.

What to try

Clinique Derma White Moisture Cream, £26
(0870 034 2566), is a best-selling whitening product in Japan, where pigmentation is a key concern.

Boots No7 Lighten & Brighten Age Spot Corrector, £13.25 (boots.com), contains algae, kiwi extract and saphora to even out skin tone. In consumer trials, testers saw more even results after four weeks.

L'Oréal Paris Age Re-Perfect Pro-Calcium Radiance Restoring Day Cream, £15.99, contains vitamin CG to help lift brown spots on over-50 skin.

Dr Nick Lowe Brightening Radiance Cream, £16.95 (boots.com), has a complex to break down hyperpigmentation, plus anti-inflammatory liquorice.

bT Ceuticals Bio-Therapeutic Accelerate Brightening, £55 for 15ml (01788 550440), contains liquorice extracts, arbutin and ascorbyl glucoside (vitamin C) to help brighten skin and reduce pigmentation.

Find the perfect cream for you to:

Smooth out lines

Firm up your skin