I tried the one by Mary Kay for a short time. It did reduce the darker spots but not all of them. I didn't lose my tan. I've never used anything "over the counter" for this problem. I have recently switched to Estee Lauder cosmetics simply because I like the way my face feels when I use them. They have a product called Perfectionist that is supposed to do the same thing as far as lighten skin discolorations like age spots, etc. I just started using it....I'll let you know how it works!