Hadalabo Arbutin Whitening Lotion Review

*Creeps back in*
Oh herro! Fancy seeing you here! *fidgets*
...
So I'm back from my month long hiatus from blogging, why the hiatus you ask? partly (mostly) because I'm too lazy and also partly because it's now Winter here in the Northern Hemisphere which makes it almost impossible to take photos.
In the span on this month I've managed to:
1. Become someone's spouse;
2. Gained enough wisdom to grow ONE wisdom toof;
3. Had to remove said wisdom toof;
4. Picked up a new obsession; and
5. Finally buy dining chairs.
All this makes for great blogging material so you SHOULD be hearing from me quite regularly from now. Anyway, onwards to today's product review!

What they say:
"HadaLabo SHIROJYUN Arbutin Whitening Essence contains the effective whitening & anti-ageing ingredient －arbutin－ which penetrates deep into skin and effectively inhibits the formation of melanin, dark spots, and freckles, leaving you a bright skin tone with high translucency. The vitamin C derivatives help improve uneven skin tone, and effectively improve the skin dullness. Essence and lotion are more easier to be absorbed. Weak acid, no fragrance, no alcohol and no oil."

What I say:
I'd previously used Hadalabo's Super Hyaluronic Acid Moisturising Lotion (click to read my review) and was really impressed with its ability to hydrate my under eye area, so come winter I gave Hadalabo's whitening lotion a try.
Being a Somalian pirate, I hate being pale and usually avoiding whitening products like the plague, but since it's already Winter and I can't possibly get any paler, I thought I might as well, but this means I can't really speak to this product's whitening claims xD
This whitening lotion is more watery in texture compared to the moisturising lotion which was more viscous. On application, this lotion is much less sticky than the moisturising lotion and doesn't take as much patting to be absorbed.

Before:

After:

Again for the past few weeks I've been slapping myself silly day and night with this lotion, and as you can see, it did hydrate the area under my eyes and the lines under my eyes are less visible. However, I feel that it's not as hydrating as the moisturising lotion from the same product line. My skin also feels less "bouncy" and less "plump" compared to when I was using the moisturising lotion.

As to its whitening properties, I really can't say I've noticed any whitening per se, but then again I'm currently a ghostly NC15-20 and probably can't tell if my skin is any whiter.

Damage:

$11 for 170ml from Sasa.com

Verdict:

If you're looking for hydration, you're better off with the moisturising lotion. If you're looking to whiten, you can give this lotion a try, it still does a pretty fair job of hydrating. This is especially worthy of a try for those who found the moisturising lotion too sticky as this lotion absorbs very quickly with very little work.

Bonus pic: