Combining Whitening Ingredients

You asked about combining Activated Resorcinol, Tranexamic Acid, and 4MSK, and whether their functions overlap.

These three ingredients work through different mechanisms to achieve skin brightening:

• Activated Resorcinol: Primarily works by inhibiting the enzyme Tyrosinase, which is crucial for melanin production, and also helps prevent the transfer of pigment to skin cells.
• Tranexamic Acid: Helps reduce melanin formation, particularly effective for sun-induced pigmentation and melasma. Its mechanism involves inhibiting the plasmin pathway, which influences melanogenesis.
• 4MSK (Potassium Methoxysalicylate): Developed by Shiseido, it works by targeting and helping to eliminate accumulated melanin in the skin.

Since they target different steps in the pigmentation process, combining them can offer a more comprehensive approach to skin whitening and addressing dark spots or melasma. Their functions are complementary rather than identically overlapping. The product description for 4MSK notes that it is often used together with Tranexamic Acid in formulations by brands like Shiseido.

Regarding the patent status of 4MSK, it was developed by Shiseido. However, information on its current patent status is not available from the product details.