I am always trying to even out my skin tone. While concealer and foundation will do the trick, it would be more ideal to resolve the problem from within so that I could go without make-up and still feel like I can face the world. I bought two products to try to resolve two very different problems: RoC Correxion Eye Cream for my undereyes and Porcelana for some other areas, particularly an area of darker skin on my upper lip.

RoC's Correxion Eye Cream is "specially formulated for the delicate eye area, it visibly reduces wrinkles around the eyes and crow's feet in 12 weeks. In addition, it evens out dark circles and reduces puffiness in 4 weeks." I've probably had dark eye circles my whole life, but I first noticed them when I was in college. While they really come out when I haven't gotten enough rest or am dehydrated, they're probably inherited and therefore the best I can hope for is improvement, not perfection.

According to Allure magazine, the best help for improvement for undereye circles is retinol, which will help thicken the skin, and hopefully hide the broken blood vessels that cause the dark circles. Most retinol products are not for use around the eyes and will cause major irritation and drying, but this product was designed particularly for the undereye area.

I've seen some pretty good results with this cream wearing it both morning and night for about six weeks. It doesn't provide the results that I saw with Shiseido's Super Eye Contour Cream, but the results are pretty impressive for its $17.99 price tag. My only complaint is that it doesn't wear well under make-up. Perhaps wearing an eye cream that is specifically designed to be worn under makeup would be better for daytime, but this would be at the expense of having the benefit of the retinol twice a day.

Darker skin areas can occur for several reasons: age spots, freckles from sun exposure, or hormonal changes. This product claims to help fade dark spots for all of these reasons. "Porcelana® Fade Dark Spots Nighttime Treatment uses an innovative combination of the active ingredient, Hydroquinone, antioxidants, and botanical extracts to fade dark spots and other skin discolorations while moisturizing and firming your skin."

I bought this Porcelana cream specifically to help fade some darker skin on my upper lip, but I also put it on some freckles on my forehead that are the result of too much sun exposure. My results have not been at all what I was hoping for. After 3 months of use, I've seen very little to no improvement on the freckles on my forehead. From time to time, I've thought there has been some improvement on my upper lip, but since the discoloration seems to be hormone related, the darker color always comes back in full effect.

So do these drugstore skin lightening products work? I wish I could report some miraculous effects, but so far, I'm not impressed. For now, it looks like make-up is the way to go for hiding flaws with skin tone.