This lightening agent is naturally found in fruit extracts such as cranberry. It’s called “natural hydroquinone” because it has similar dark spot-fading properties—and is actually a natural derivative of the ingredient.

“Arbutin inhibits tyrosinase, an enzyme present in melanocytes, the pigment-producing skin cells,” board-certified dermatologist Tiffany Jo Libby says of the ingredient. “This results in reduced pigmentation, dark spots and skin lightening.”

However, in the case of arbutin, hydroquinone is slowly released in small doses, so sensitivity side effects are not a concern.

Always worth noting: it also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.