Around the world, women of all ethnicities are increasingly concerned with evening out their skin tone--including the two of us!  Women who are darker complected or who have sensitive skin have to be careful with products that can be too harsh.  Clinique's new Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector is designed to reduce the signs of acne scars, brown spots and other dark pigment in four weeks for any woman with any skin type.  Clinique tested it against prescription strength brighteners and their studies show that their Dark Spot Corrector worked as good or better.

Like with all whitening products, you are advised to avoid the sun while using it--so hold off on trying this if you have any spring break plans.

Here's what Hope says: I've used it for only a week even though I don't have many dark spots or scars that concern me.   I wanted to test it for gentleness and see if I'd see a general evening out and brightening of my complexion.  So far, I haven't seen dramatic changes; but I'll keep you posted.

Here's what Annie says: I've tried everything to get rid of the brown spots--some that I've had for close to ten years. I've had laser procedures, tried IPL and used a La Roche-Posay product two years ago and the suckers haven't budged. Though I'm fair, I'm always diligent with sunblock. I've been using the Clinique Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector  for two weeks and haven't noticed any lightening. Check back in April for an update!

Annie's update:  It has been close to six weeks now and my brown spots haven't lightened a bit. To be fair, I recently met with Dr. Linda K. Franks of Gramercy Park Dermatology in New York, who says that mine are particularly tough to treat because they're not that dark. She gave me another IPL treatment and...nada. Dr. Franks' advice: Try a retinol cream and/or let them darken up over the summer and try IPL again in the fall. The good news: my broken capillaries, along with the ensuing redness they caused, disappeared and my skin looks clearer than it has in years!

Available at department stores and on Clinique.com.

This review is based on free samples.