Hello. Thanks for writing to us at healthcaremagic Sunscreen is an essential part of treatment of any facial hyperpigmentation. A sunscreen should be broad spectrum to be effective i.e should protect against both UV B as well as UV A part of the spectrum A sunscreen with a minimum spf of 30 or more is usually considered to be broad spectrum. You should reapply it in adequate quantity (approx 3 ml or 1/2 a teaspoon for face and neck), every 2-3 hours. The cream which has been suggested by your friend is a prescription product. It is a combination of hydroquinone, tretinoin, mometasone and is a gold standard treatment for facial pigmentation. The mechanism of action of these ingredients is inhibition of synthesis of new melanin and exfoliation of pre-existing melanin. This cream can cause certain side effects like skin irritation and on long term regular use it can cause side effects like acne, sun-sensitivity, skin thinning, hirsutism etc Therefore, this cream should always be used under the supervision of a dermatologist and never over the whole face. It should just be used once daily at night, only over the dark spots. The duration of treatment with this cream should not exceed more than 6 weeks in any case. I suggest you to visit a dermatologist in your vicinity. Your dermatologist will assess your skin condition and advice accordingly. Regards