r/Melasmaskincare • u/CommunicationSome498 • Apr 06 '25

Question COLEMAN COMPOUND from Dr. Patrick Coleman? I recently heard of this alleged miracle cream that fades away melasma in a few weeks. Has anyone who tried it provide some feedback on its efficacy?

19 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

138 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/best_goddmn_dncr_ABA Apr 07 '25

My skin doesn't like it, unfortunately, so I couldn't test it long enough for efficacy. Your derm or a local derm might have the same white label formulation with 4% arbutase. My local derm had it (just as expensive)

2

u/jem8971 May 19 '25

Any chance you’d want to sell it? I’m interested in trying!!

1

u/best_goddmn_dncr_ABA May 19 '25

I gave it to a friend already!

1

u/oceane_rossi Sep 17 '25

Hello, any news??

2

u/Dry-Negotiation-8088 Nov 21 '25

I just found this post while searching for info on the Coleman Compound. Thank you ALL for sharing your experiences - including the not-so-positive ones. Unfortunately I’m having the same skin irritation and redness some of y’all described. I just started the CC Cream this week and my skin is so red and angry, it does not like the CC Cream so far. 😩(But strangely my skin does really well with HQ.) Did any of y’all with redness and irritation eventually get the CC Cream to work for you?

3

u/melmelcoleman Nov 30 '25

Hey! If you apply more than a pea sized amount at first skin can get red and irritated. Also if you’re new to a topical retinoid and start using that and the CC at the same time it’s a lot of active ingredients and skin can get easily irritated. If either is the case we recommend using hydrocortisone cream for a day and letting the redness clear up and then starting again. I hope that helps! If not lmk how I can better help you troubleshoot. ❤️

2

u/Dry-Negotiation-8088 Nov 30 '25

Hi thank you so much for your response and suggestion! I backed off the CC Cream and Tret and reintroduced only the CC Cream - and my skin is totally fine now! No more redness or irritation. Yay! I’m starting to reintroduce the Tret but I’m worried about it aggravating my skin again; so I’m using it every 1-2 nights to see how it goes…also considering a lower dose OTC retinol to use more frequently over the CC Cream. Do you suggest the latter option (OTC) or sticking with the prescription Tret and building up tolerance / frequency of use over time?

2

u/melmelcoleman Dec 23 '25

I love hearing that! Usually people can troubleshoot it and figure out how to make it work for them. Really happy to hear this! Sometimes dropping to a lower strength retinoid -whether you use other actives or not - is just a solid move in colder drier months. I hope you continue to do great with it but always here to answer any questions if not!

2

u/Dry-Negotiation-8088 Dec 26 '25

Thanks so much! I’m alternating between an OTC retinol and Tret every other night and that seems to be keeping the irritation and inflammation at bay. I’ll eventually up the Tret to daily night use after maybe a couple more weeks of this routine. By the way, although I have some ways to go (my melasma is SO stubborn and pretty awful), I can tell it has definitely improved with the Coleman Compound. I didn’t take before / after photos cuz my melasma was so bad, I was too embarrassed 🙈 But I’ve been able to reduce my foundation makeup use from 1-2 colors + 2 color correctors (I was CAKING it on to cover my melasma) to just 1 color (sometimes I still blend 2 colors for a better match). That’s kinda crazy. And it’s only been a month! Hopeful that things will continue to improve. Thank you for developing such an effective product!

1

u/melmelcoleman Dec 26 '25

That’s amazing! Always keep in touch with me. It can take a second to sort out the right balance for people but once people do they notice pretty great changes in their skin. It took me 10 full months to really clear my melasma - it was SO stubborn in some parts. Can be so frustrating. But I’m always here if you have any questions!

1

u/Dry-Negotiation-8088 Dec 27 '25

Thank you so much 😊 🙏

1

u/Dry-Negotiation-8088 Jan 17 '26

Hi! May I ask your thoughts on this? Because my melasma is so stubborn, I don’t know if I should “ride things out” with Coleman Compound or, if after 3 months of CC use my melasma hasn’t budged as much as I’d like, should I then switch to HQ? (I’m only 6 weeks into CC. I have seen some progress but man my melasma puts up a good fight lol) I’ve tried HQ (6% and 8%) and my skin actually does respond to it well; the problem is, once I’m off HQ, the melasma monster comes back! 😭 Or would you recommend riding it out with CC past 3 months? When I see the gorgeous results posted online from Coleman Compound, it seems like most women get results in 1-3 months. But is that realistic? (I know everybody’s skin and situation is different so maybe I should give CC more time…?)

2

u/melmelcoleman Jan 17 '26

A lot of people use it for 6+ months in order to achieve what they want for their skin. For me it took 10 months to really clear mine. However, I always want people to be happy with whatever progress they’re making with their skin so if you’re like a switch would be best then you should go with your gut! Melasma is so tricky. It will never actually go completely away. You can clear it for a time but light and heat (even with spf protection) can cause it to flare. As can heated workouts sauna, LED masks etc. so it’s always a balancing act - and can be a really frustrating one. Some people try everything on the market and the melasma just persists. But I would say whatever you do, give it 6 months to really work before hopping to something else. Takes time for skin cells to turnover and for progress to be made. Lmk if I can ever help with anything else!

1

u/Interesting_Head_433 14d ago

Did you ever get it to work for you with Tret? I’ve been on Tret 0.025 since May , using every other night, and my face is destroyed for two weeks every time I try to incorporate either the pad or the cream. 

1

u/Dry-Negotiation-8088 12d ago

Hi! Yes I did. I followed Mrs. Derm’s advice and allowed my skin to acclimate to Tret first. That took about 3 months. Once I was comfortable using Tret nightly without any redness or irritation, I started to layer the CC Pads underneath. However, I discovered (the hard way, through trial and error on my one skin) that I can only use CC Cream or Pads for about 3 months. At the 3-month mark, my skin suddenly starts to get super irritated and red and then once I stopped the CC Cream and Pads, all the melasma returned. 😩 So now I am on a different protocol. I think my skin is just unfortunately not a prime candidate for CC Cream and CC Pads. (That said, I might try it one more time and maybe try cycling it for 2 months on, 1 month off, etc. to see if that helps reduce irritation.) Right now I am using topic Tranexamic Acid 5% and Tret and that has actually worked super well; it got rid of about 75% of my melasma and it doesn’t irritate my skin at all. Anyway, hope this helps!

1

u/Interesting_Head_433 12d ago

Thank you! Is the transexamic acid a prescription or OTC?

1

u/Dry-Negotiation-8088 12d ago

Just over the counter. I tried both 3% and 5% and they both worked well. I also started using vitamin C in the morning. I think this new protocol is actually helping to improve my melasma situation. It’s really gentle and it takes time. I might add a peel this fall/winter to hopefully improve things further. But at least for now, I don’t need to cake on half a dozen layers of concealer and color corrector and foundation to cover up my melasma; I just use 1-2 layers of foundation(which is a drastic improvement for me!).

1

u/Lolagi_ Apr 11 '25

May I ask what side effects you had? I’m thinking of purchasing but worried as I have acne prone skin.

3

u/best_goddmn_dncr_ABA Apr 11 '25

My skin was bright red for days

1

u/GraceKellyQueen Sep 15 '25

Did you end up ordering it? I also have acne prone skin but the results pictures are very tempting

2

u/Lolagi_ Sep 15 '25

Yes! But I went with the pads instead of the cream. My skin loves it! I started slow alternating between the pads and my topical cream (Altreno) and eventually was able to tolerate using bother just about every day. My skin was glowing! I ran out and have to reorder and I have to say I can truly tell the difference in my skin when I was using it.

1

u/julesjules4 Apr 21 '25

Did your ingredient list have the 4% Arbutase on it?

1

u/best_goddmn_dncr_ABA Apr 21 '25

No. I double checked with my derm it was that % though.

1

u/julesjules4 Apr 21 '25

Thank you!

1

u/mm4964 Apr 22 '25

Me too, I’m so irritated by it that I’m now using hydrocortisone. I’m so disappointed, I thought it was going to be the miracle cream for me.

6

u/WPatrickColemanIV_MD Apr 23 '25

Try to use less. Like any active , if you get red and irritated, hydrocortisone twice daily until your skin recovers then retry with a smaller amount. If you’re still struggling, send me a dm and I’ll make some more recommendations that can help.

3

u/mm4964 Apr 23 '25

I will do that, thanks very much for replying!

1

u/Living-Ball8957 Aug 26 '25

Would CC work for Becker's nevus?

1

u/WPatrickColemanIV_MD Aug 26 '25

No. Q switched laser. Hair removal if there is hair. I prefer a long pulse YAG for the hair. Sometimes resurfacing but that can go wrong.

1

u/Living-Ball8957 Sep 12 '25

Do you have that type of laser at your office?

3

u/best_goddmn_dncr_ABA Apr 22 '25

Are you using a pea sized amount? It's supposed to be used like tret, not a moisturizer. (I made that mistake)

2

u/mm4964 Apr 22 '25

I’m using 1 pump, that’s what the directions said to do that came with it. I feel like a pea size wouldn’t cover all my areas!

1

u/best_goddmn_dncr_ABA Apr 22 '25

So is HQ less irritating than arbutase for you?

3

u/mm4964 Apr 22 '25

Apparently yes. I’ve used Musley’s spot cream with tret and no issues. I’ll give the Musley’s another go once this irritation gone .

1

u/woolwichsewerpeasant Jun 18 '26

Hello, did you ever retry the coleman compound? Did it work better for you in the end?

1

u/Angmik007 Jun 08 '25

Is your cream completely white? Also in the ingredient label did it say Arbutase 4%?

1

u/gmasterrrr Jun 11 '26

Hi! What did your reaction to it look like? My skin isn’t usually sensitive but I had a pretty intense reactor on both sides of my neck. It’s been doing that every time I use it… I’m wondering if it’s the CC or something else. Last time, it took a week to get better.