When it comes to flawless skin, cosmetics giants are rolling out some bright ideas.

Forget cream you slap on your face. The latest whitening products target specific problems.

The new white stuff includes spot erasers to zap dark spots, clay-based face masks to draw out skin-dulling impurities and multi-day whitening programmes for intensive skin lightening.

Increasingly, brands are rolling out more targeted potions in response to customers who say they have specific needs, say brands' spokesmen.

'For example, customers have told us our spot corrector is effective in lightening their blemishes after a breakout,' says Jo Yong, Estee Lauder Cosmetics Singapore's brand general manager.

Estee Lauder has just launched four specific whitening products in its Cyber White EX line, including a spot corrector and an exfoliator to scrub away tiny surface spots.

At least six other brands, including SK-II, Kiehl's and Olay, have put out their versions of spot erasers since January.

For those wanting a quicker fix, brands such as Clarins and Chanel have unveiled intensive 21- and 28-day systems respectively, which promise to improve your overall skin tone and clarity within the time stated.

So why are innovative whitening products so red hot?

For one, growing sales of other lines, especially anti-ageing products, are starting to put whitening products in the shade.

According to Singapore's Association of Perfumes & Cosmetics Distributors (APCD), sales of anti-ageing products grew by 21 per cent from 2007 to 2008, compared to just 2 per cent for whitening products.

Grace Ban, president of APCD and managing director of Estee Lauder Singapore, attributes this to the greying population: 'Women in Singapore have reached an age where their anti-ageing concerns are more predominant.'

A survey of 500 women on their skincare and make-up usage commissioned by L'Oreal Singapore also showed that they are concerned about ageing skin last year.

Twenty six per cent of those polled fretted about ageing skin while 21 per cent expressed concerns about spots and freckles.

So, the next wave of skincare products will likely combine both anti-ageing and whitening powers.

Already, Shiseido has relaunched its Revital White range for women over 40 with a new technology said to suppress melanin production - coloured pigments which result in spots and uneven skin colour - while speeding up the elimination of melanin already present.

Next month, Kose, another Japanese brand, is launching a new whitening range called Sekkisei Supreme for women in their 30s with dry skin - one of the effects of ageing skin.

If you are keen to try the new whitening products, do note: You have to use them for about three months for best results, say cosmetic houses.

'In general, whitening products will give you results but you have to be patient because the concentrations of these whitening agents in over-the-counter products are lower than the prescribed ones,' says Dr David Tan, a dermatologist who runs David Tan Medical Aesthetics in Ngee Ann City.

Too impatient? You can always visit a dermatologist for a laser treatment to zap away blotches.

Prices start from $300 for a laser session to disperse pigments in the deeper layers of the skin.

Or, as Dr Tan advises: 'Always use sunblock of at least SPF25 to prevent further ultraviolet ray exposure which is a main cause of pigment cell stimulation, which in turn produces melanin.'

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.