Ingredient Beauty BenefitsAntioxidant · Pinus Pinaster Bark Extract
Pycnogenol: the placebo group fell 34% too — this trial measured what was added on top of a cream
This is swallowed. In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 44 women with melasma, mMASI fell 49% (placebo: 34%). The difference was significant. But both arms also used a triple combination cream and a sunscreen. So what the trial shows is not what pycnogenol does on its own, but what it adds on top of a treatment that already works.
Last checked Sep 28, 2026
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- What it is
An extract from the bark of a pine that grows on the south-west coast of France. Taken as capsules.
- What it is used for
Sold as an oral supplement for melasma.
- How it is said to work
It is said to contain several antioxidants that act on how pigment is made.
There are no numbers and no citations in this box. What has been established, and how far, is below.
At a glance
- In pregnancy
- Not established
- Irritation
- Minimal
- Daytime use
- ✓ Fine
- How well established
- Early research
- Concentration studied
- Not disclosed
- Length of the studies
- 9 weeks
Not a measurement — reported irritation grouped into five steps. It varies between people.
“Concentration studied” and “Length of the studies” are taken straight from the research on this page. They are not a recommended dose, and the figure for each finding is written out in the text.
This is not how large the effect is but how well confirmed it is. It shows the highest grade among the findings on this page.
Pycnogenol is an extract from the bark of the maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) of south-west France. It is swallowed as capsules.
The trial on this page has a clean design. Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, and all 44 participants completed it. That is not a common set of conditions among the ingredient pages here.
But something has to be read alongside it.
Both arms applied a triple combination cream at night and used a sunscreen by day. The triple combination is a prescription regimen for melasma with an effect of its own.
Which is why the placebo-capsule arm also had its mMASI fall by 34%. The pycnogenol arm fell 49%.
What this trial measured is the 15 points in between. What happens with pycnogenol alone is not something this design can say.
Keeping that distinction is the whole of this page. On pigmentation, the items with thicker evidence on this site are tranexamic acid, thiamidol and azelaic acid. Among things you swallow, polypodium sits next door.
What is established
The same ingredient at a different strength, in a different formula, is a different product. These are the conditions the studies used.
It added 15 points on top of a cream — this is not a trial of it on its own
A 2021 single-centre trial in Botucatu, Brazil. Randomised, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled.
44 women with facial melasma took part, and all of them completed it. Mean age 39, and 91% were phototypes III–IV.
Here is how it was divided.
- one arm took 75 mg pycnogenol twice daily for 60 days
- the other took a placebo capsule the same way
- both arms used a tinted sunscreen by day (SPF 50, PPD 17) and a topical triple combination at night
The primary outcome was the change in mMASI (modified Melasma Area and Severity Index).
The results.
- mMASI reduction — pycnogenol 49% (95% CI 36–61%), placebo 34% (16–47%)
- both arms saw falls in mMASI, quality-of-life score and colour contrast (P < 0.01)
- the reductions were greater with pycnogenol (P < 0.05)
- on global aesthetic improvement, 86% (68–96%) versus 55% (32–73%)
- there were no adverse effects related to the oral treatment
Now how to read those numbers.
First, the placebo arm fell 34%. That figure is the most important one on this page, because both arms had the triple combination and the sunscreen. Most of the melasma that improved did not improve because of pycnogenol.
Second, this is therefore an add-on trial. The paper's own conclusion says as much — that it increases the effectiveness of broad-spectrum sunscreen and the triple combination. Not 'pycnogenol reduces melasma'. That distinction is not word-play: it means nobody measured what pycnogenol does alone.
Third, mMASI is a score assigned by eye. A person looks at area and darkness and grades it. Instrument-measured colour contrast was also reported and also fell. So this entry's endpoint is marked 'graded'.
Fourth, 44 people, one trial, one centre. And 60 days. Melasma commonly relapses, and this trial did not look past that point.
Fifth, the abstract does not name a funder. We cannot check it, so it stays 'unclear'.
So it sits at 'early evidence'. The design is good and everyone completed it, but there is one trial, and what it measured is not a solo effect.
- Randomised controlled trial in people · 44 participants · 9 weeks · Compared with vehicle (same formula minus the active) · Funding not declared · Endpoint scores from blinded assessors PMID 32841433
How to use it
- The dose in the trial was 75 mg twice daily for 60 days. This site does not write down doses it has not read.
- This is swallowed. No trial of a topical form is on this page.
- Both arms in the trial used sunscreen. In melasma, sunscreen is not background but a condition. See the sunscreen page alongside this one.
- The triple combination is a prescription regimen. This site does not guide its use; it records only that it was the background treatment in this trial.
- For thicker evidence on pigmentation, tranexamic acid, thiamidol and azelaic acid come first here.
Cautions
- This is swallowed. If you take other medicines, check in a clinic. Effects on blood have been reported for this extract, so this applies especially with anticoagulants or antiplatelet drugs.
- The trial reported no adverse effects related to the oral treatment. But that is 44 people over 60 days.
- We found no data on use in pregnancy or breastfeeding.
- Melasma is something to have the cause of established in a clinic. Hormones, medicines and sun exposure are tangled together in it, and it is not a problem one supplement settles.
With a new ingredient, apply a small amount somewhere inconspicuous, such as the inner arm, for two days first. Stop if it reddens or stings.
Related skin concerns
What this article relies on
- PubMed — 미국 국립의학도서관 문헌 데이터베이스National Library of Medicine · Checked on 2026-09-16