A review of Vitix and Viticolor

Last Updated on 2nd December 2022 by Caroline Haye

3 of the best vitiligo products available without prescription

I am usually wary of products that claim to treat vitiligo. That is because there are too many so-called  “guaranteed cures” out there on the internet… Many of which have little to do with helping people and everything to do with parting them from their money. So, I have found it generally pays to err very much on the side of scepticism. I also dislike the typical product reviews you see on blogs… The kind that tease you and make you wait until the very end to tell you what they are promoting. So I will say right in this first paragraph that attempting a review of Vitix and Viticolor convinced me that the 3 products in this range are among the best, and most affordable, vitiligo solutions available without a prescription.

These products, made by a French pharmaceutical and dermatological company Laboratoire Dermatologique ACM, are in my opinion, genuinely well-conceived. And they are surprisingly inexpensive. They aim to solve three important vitiligo needs, namely to…

1. add colour to the de-pigmented vitiligo patches (Viticolor Gel),
2. help recover lost pigment by providing external antioxidant protection to the skin (Vitix Gel topical treatment), and
3. provide equivalent nutritional antioxidant protection internally (Vitix Tablets).

Viticolor Gel

Viticolor is not a therapy, but a purely cosmetic item. However, as anyone whose vitiligo causes them distress will know, anything that can help a person feel comfortable in their own skin and forget about their white patches is a godsend.  Not only that, but this corrective colour gel can be used during treatment, including during phototherapy. So it offers a way to deal with the increased contrast between vitiligo and normal skin during UV treatment. 

The first time I tried this product I made the beginner’s error of applying too much in one go. This resulted in my white patches turning a deeper colour than the surrounding normal skin. So, my tip on using Viticolor would be to use it very sparingly the first time… Especially as it only comes in one shade that has to work for everyone. So the idea is to build it up gradually over several days to your ideal depth of colour. And then you should be able to just top it up once a week. The guide colour makes it simple to use and there is no unpleasant smell.

Vitix Gel

Vitix Gel is based on sound research and makes no unrealistic claims. Quite the reverse, in fact. The product literature clearly states that “There is, at present, no 100% cure” and that “there are no treatments that can prevent vitiligo developing again.” (In my experience, the only way of achieving that is through permanent changes to diet and nutrition: see Why Vitiligo Sufferers Need More Veg Than The Average Person.) The boldest claim the manufacturers make is that Vitx Gel “increases the probability of achieving satisfactory repigmentation by 50%”… A reassuringly modest claim compared to many that are bandied about online.

How Vitix works

Most topical treatments I know of are either designed to calm inflammation (e.g. steroid hormones like corticosteroids)… Or else purposely irritate the skin by increasing its sensitivity to UV light (like psoralen). So it’s refreshing to find that Vitix has been formulated to take a different approach. Instead, it reduces the excess hydrogen peroxide typically found in vitiligo skin by increasing antioxidant (especially catalase) levels.  This principle makes a lot of sense, given that oxidative stress is a well known aspect of the vitiligo process.

So, instead of trying to restore colour by soothing inflammation or by irritating the skin into producing pigment, Vitix helps regulate melanocyte activity. It acts locally on the skin to help create an environment in which the pigment producing cells can function normally. The powerful antioxidant properties of this gel are responsible for creating this healthy environment. The concept behind Vitix Gel fits with everything I have learned about the antioxidant status of vitiligo skin. And it strikes me as a logical extension of the nutritional approach that I used to regain my lost pigment. 

Incidentally, Vitix Gel is easy and pleasant enough to apply and does not smell or stain. And it can be used alongside UV treatment (whether medical or sunshine), including PUVA, and under camouflage or make-up.

My own experience

Personally, I had never used a topical vitiligo treatment before. (Except for one disastrous encounter with a Chinese herbal concoction which left me badly burned.) So I was curious as to whether it could help even out the remaining mottled areas I still have on my hands and feet. These are the places where my repigmentation – though virtually complete everywhere else – is still quite uneven. After using the gel for several weeks, I found that I had recovered a fair amount of pigment… Though not all of it. But, given how notoriously hard it is to fully re-pigment hands and feet, I was pleased with the results.

Since first publishing this post, I had an opportunity to try Vitix Gel on a larger area where a sunburn had caused one of my vitiligo patches to start reterning. You can read about the results in The Only Topical Vitiligo Treatment I Recommend.

Vitix Tablets

Vitix Tablets provide equivalent antioxidant protection to Vitix Gel but from the inside instead of at the skin’s surface. The formulation of this food supplement combines a patented Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) antioxidant-rich melon extract (EXTRAMEL ©) with some of the vitamins and minerals that play a role in the creation of healthy skin pigment. These are selenium, copper, zinc and vitamins C, E B9 and B12.

The dosage is just one tablet per day. So it’s easy to remember to take it and it can be safely taken alongside other vitiligo therapies. In fact, like Vitix Gel it appears to work even better when used in conjunction with phototherapy. Used together with Vitix Gel, the tablets offer a safe and drug-free way of combating, both internally and externally, the oxidative stress that is part of the de-pigmentation process in vitiligo.

[Update: Research published in 2021 supports the use of SOD in combination with narrowband UVB phototherapy as an effective treatment for vitiligo. NB: This trial used pills containing Superoxide Dismutase with a protective coating that – unlike Vitix Tablets – contains gluten.]

My verdict

Having looked closely at the science and track record behind these products and tried them for myself, my verdict is an enthusiastically positive one. Viticolor Gel, Vitix Gel and Vitix Tablets are safe to use individually, together, or even in combination with other vitiligo treatments. And, although there is no guarantee that they will prove 100% successful for everyone with vitiligo, I would sum up the main benefits of all 3 products as follows. They are:

• based on well-documented scientific knowledge of the vitiligo disease process
• safe, drug-free options, backed by clinical data and manufactured to EU standards
• non-prescription
• suited to use alongside other vitiligo treatments
• a 3-tier vitiligo solution. (When used together, they add colour to white skin, while supporting re-pigmentation both from the inside as well as the outside).

---