Desired skin colour is a major unmet consumer need in Asia. Consumers particularly desire even skin colour absence of age spots (solar lentigines) and lighter overall skin tone. One solution is to use biological actives that reduce the activity of melanocytes in skin. These cells present in the basal layer of the epidermis make the darkly coloured pigment melanin and export it in small export vesicles called melanosomes to the neighbouring keratinocytes. It is well described in the literature that compounds which reduce melanin synthesis when topically applied to the skin will reduce skin darkness over time. This invention relates to a composition comprising a synergistic combination of ketoconazole and sulforaphane for use in skin lightening. This invention is based on the fact that a combination of ketoconazole and sulforaphane has been found tosynergistically inhibit pigment production in B16 monolayer cultures. Thus the composition when applied topically or imbibed over an appropriate length of time in vivo would be expected to cause skin lightening or to reduce blemishes and/or hyperpigmented spots and/or solar lentigines leading to an improvement in skin tone and evenness.
