TriLuma, Cosmelan MD or Celibre Medical?

Are you dealing with Melasma, the difficult and frustrating condition often referred to as the pregnancy mask?  Or are you struggling with brown scars from acne breakouts? Having clear, healthy-looking skin is what most of us want, regardless of the condition we are struggling with.

At Celibre Medical, we’re experts at dealing with difficult pigmentation problems like Melasma and acne scars. Many patients who’ve come to us struggling with Melasma or hyperpigmentation have tried (and failed) several different products or treatments.

One of the most common is TriLuma. It is a prescription cream that is very common in our industry and has 4% hydroquine as well as Retin A to exfoliate the skin and a steroid to combat irritation.  Its formulation is based on the premise that inflammation is part of the process that stimulates pigmentation (in melasma and acne, etc.).

Melasma before and after pictures

Cosmelan MD is a bit different.  Cosmelan MD is a very aggressive Retin A and hydroquinone based peel that usually involves 3-4 days of recovery time.  And that’s the main complaint among patients.  They don’t want to take time off of work.  Although we have found Cosmelan to be useful in situations where a patient has very little time to prepare for a big event (wedding, birthday, etc.), it is also a very expensive product, with the peel and take home product often running at $600 or more (2018) and it has 3-4 days of recovery.

Over the past 15 years, we’ve used both Cosmelan and Triluma for our patients.  Triluma is a bit more expensive than we would like, but there are three issues that prevent us from recommending it.  First is the ongoing use of a steroid, which can thin the skin.  Second is  the 4% hydroquinone, it’s not enough for many patients.  Finally, the cream formulation is good for shelf life, but not for deep penetration.  We prefer a gel based solution for better penetration.

We’ve settled on the Celibre Medical depigmentation program for several reasons.  First it’s affordable.  Celibre Medical depigmentation pads are significantly less than Triluma and about 20% of the cost of Cosmelan.  We want patients to have convenience when managing their Melasma.  Celibre Medical depigmentation pads can be used at home, do not require any downtime and can be shipped directly to your address.  This is convenience at its best.   Finally, and most importantly, we want the product to work well.  Our 8% gel based pads work better than any other Melasma product we have used over the past 15 years.  The higher strength hydroquinone combined with the increased absorption associated with the gel formulation mean better results for you.

While there’s no one regimen that works for everyone, we believe the Celibre Medical depigmentation program is superior to Triluma and Cosmelan MD because of the superior results, ease of use and affordable cost.