New face creams aim to deliver ingredients normally found in healthy, happy skin. SkinNEWS Fresh Faced tesh/trunk archive Brighter skin. Tighter skin. Fewer lines. These beauty goals are perennial— but the ways to achieve them are new. By Judith Newman “Açai.” It’s an exciting word, isn’t it? Chances are you’ve heard of it, even if you’re not sure how to pronounce it. Açai! (Ah-sah-EE!) It sounds like something Zulu warriors scream before plunging into battle. Lately, products starring this South American palm-tree berry have become as ubiquitous in email sales pitches as Viagra, and almost as uplifting. “Flush pounds from your system with the Allure/December 2009 power of açai!” shouts a typical ad. “Experience increased energy! Look great, feel great, purify, detoxify!” This berry can apparently do everything short of walking your dog, so it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s now being slathered on skin to tighten and smooth it. Açai is just one of the dozens of new ingredients or technologies that are being touted as the Next! Big! Thing! for skin-care 119 SkinNEWS products. As always, manufacturers have a way of making everything sound science-y while not necessarily going into detail about the actual science. So what exactly are these innovations, and which are worth talking about? Allure took the buzzwords with the most buzz and asked leading dermatologists to evaluate the research behind them. Açai Berry The Claim: The extract contains 122 The latest approach to moisturizing skin is from the inside out. The sleep-regulating hormone melatonin is also an antioxidant. Expert Opinion: The Kiehl’s study involved subjective self-assessment—and people are naturally predisposed to see improvement in their own skin, says Ava Shamban, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at UCLA. Dermatologists at the Cosmetic Medicine and Research Institute in Miami recently noted in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology that açai should be further studied. Ellen Marmur, chief of dermatologic and cosmetic surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, calls the extract “promising,” but for her and other doctors to become true believers, she says, it will take peer-reviewed studies that assess açai’s ability to penetrate the skin and show how it performs against other topical antioxidants. Melatonin The Claims: Melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep cycles, is also an antioxidant and allegedly a collagen booster. When combined with other antioxidants, melatonin has a synergistic effect, helping them penetrate the skin better. So if your skin were a football field, melatonin would be a massive lineman clearing a path for the wiry running back. Allure/December 2009 victor demarchelier powerful antioxidants; these may help eliminate free radicals that break down collagen and elastin and contribute to premature aging of the skin. The Products: Borba Age Defying Concentrate; DDF Mesojection Healthy Cell Serum; Fresh Sugar Açai Age-Delay Body Cream; Jergens Naturals Total Nourishment Daily Moisturizer; Kiehl’s Açai Damage-Repairing line The Science: Think of free radicals as a stereotypical Jewish mother. She’s not so bad in small doses, but after a lifetime, the cumulative effect of all those tiny insults is enough to send you running to the doctor. And so it is with free radicals, the molecules produced by sun, pollution, and smoking that eat away at the integrity of your soul— skin, I mean skin. Antioxidants like açai berry, on the other hand, are the therapist, undoing this damage. In lab testing on human blood cells, orally ingested açai-berry extract has adeptly mopped up free radicals—in one measure, its antioxidant capacity was “by far the highest of any fruit or vegetable tested to date,” according to a 2006 study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. “It’s been claimed that the essential fatty acids in the berry may help moisturize the skin and smooth fine lines and wrinkles” when consumed, notes Steven Pearlman, a former president of the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. “However, there is no consistent scientific evidence.” In a Kiehl’s study of açai’s topical benefits, 50 women, ages 30 to 65, who rubbed on the company’s serum daily reported looking four years younger, on average, after four weeks, because of their skin’s smoother texture. SkinNEWS Skin’s suppleness depends on collagen growth. The Products: Goldfaden Sleep Enhancement Cream; Youth Corridor Antioxidant Boost Skin Serum; Murad Sleep Reform Serum The Science: Many studies have proven melatonin’s power as a topical antioxidant, keeping free radicals from running amok after UV exposure, which causes skin inflammation, collagen breakdown, and wrinkles. A 1998 study in the British Journal of Dermatology showed that melatonin’s presence made vitamins C and E even more effective in reducing the inflammation that leads to aging. “That’s really what I was interested in,” says Gerald Imber, the creator of Youth Corridor and a plastic surgeon in New York City. “Vitamins C and E are fantastic antioxidants but big molecules— it’s been difficult to get enough absorption into the skin. That’s where melatonin is great. It increases absorption.” Expert Opinion: Melatonin is definitely a powerful antioxidant that can be absorbed by the skin. But some dermatologists are still a bit dubious. 124 Because of its role in sleep regulation, will rubbing it on the skin cause drowsiness? (“We’ve done numerous assays to deal with this very issue, and there is not enough melatonin absorbed to have that effect,” Imber says.) And, notes Jeanine Downie, assistant attending physician at Moutainside and Overlook Hospitals in Montclair, New Jersey, “In my experience melatonin can be irritating in people with dry or sensitive skin.” Activin The Claim: When skin is injured, this protein cues collagen growth to promote wound healing. And because aging skin is also damaged, the protein can do similar repair, thereby reducing wrinkles. The Products: Avon’s Anew Reversalist line The Science: In independent studies, mice that were genetically altered to be deficient in activin could not adequately heal when injured, whereas mice bred to produce activin freely could handily lay down new collagen on injury sites. Avon saw an opportunity to reduce wrinkles in people, rather than wounds in mice, but simply putting activin in a cream wasn’t an option—it’s far too large a molecule to penetrate the skin. So “we screened hundreds of compounds and tested them on the cellular level to find ingredients that would stimulate the body’s natural production of activin within skin cells,” says Anthony Gonzalez, senior manager of global research and development at Avon. The winning ingredient, activinol, isn’t activin per se, but so-called purified fractions (read: the good bits) from several Asian plants—it’s the cosmetic equivalent of a stage mother, shooing activin into the limelight and helping it perfect its tap dance. With twice-daily use, fine wrinkles improved up to 25 percent, according to an Avon study. Expert Opinion: Pearlman and Shamban feel good about this. “It’s an interesting idea, and activin is an exciting molecule,” says Shamban. “If it helps boost collagen production, which is so Allure/December 2009 john akehurst/trunk archive “I really think they’ve got something here,” a dermatologist says of the skin-firming products. crucial to the skin’s structure, it could help” skin look firmer and smoother. Serpin b3 Inhibitor The Claim: One effect of UV exposure is production of a protein in skin cells called serpin B3, which causes dryness and roughness. But Shiseido has patented a synthetic amino acid dubbed Skingenecell 1P that suppresses this production, leading to more moisturized skin. The ProductS: Shiseido’s Future Solution LX line The Science: Serpin B3 has been found in large quantities in people with dry and sun-damaged skin—and when skin cells are exposed to UV rays in the lab, the inflamed cells that die off contain a lot of this protein. Researchers have also discovered a correlation between the amount of serpin B3 in the body and the skin’s sensitivity to stresses—so they believe serpin B3 does something to weaken the skin barrier. If the outer layer of skin is fragile and rough, it can’t hold in moisture well, and the result is lizard skin. But! Reduce the levels of this pesky protein, and skin becomes more moist and smooth. Expert Opinion: “This is a very interesting approach,” says Shamban. “Most companies are adding proteins or lipids that our bodies produce already, to supplement our natural moisture content. This is a new compound Shiseido has created that fights a damaging substance in our body so that it addresses the decrease in moisture from the inside out. It’s able to restore normal moisture levels.” Snap-8 The Claim: This ingredient is a milder, injection-free alternative to Botox, according to Snap-8’s manufacturer, Lipotec. It prevents muscle contraction, and hence helps prevent fine lines and wrinkles, particularly around the eyes. The Products: Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Plump Perfect Cream; Kinerase C8 Peptide Intensive Treatment; Peter Thomas Roth Un-Wrinkle Cream; Skin 2 Skin Forehead & Crow’s-Feet Cream The Science: Whether they’re control126 ling a leg or an eyebrow, muscles move this way: An electrical impulse is sent down a motor neuron via a neurochemical called acetylcholine, which signals the muscle to contract. No acetylcholine, no contraction. What Botox does, in fact, is interrupt the release of acetylcholine. This is also the role of argireline, the active ingredient in many skin creams that claim to work like Botox. Snap-8 is chemically similar to argireline but about 30 percent more effective, according to Lipotec. The company tested a 10 percent Snap-8 solution, applied twice daily, around the eyes of 17 women, and after 28 days there was a reduction in wrinkle depth of about 35 percent on average, and as much as 63 percent in some cases. Expert Opinion: Snap-8 creams won’t give you all the beneficial smoothing of Botox, says Shamban, who would like to see more studies on the ingredient. But the products do seem to have a gradual relaxing effect. Bonus: They don’t cost thousands of dollars or involve needles. Tensin The Claim: This protein in skin helps connect and anchor cells, but its production drops as we age. If a product can restore the body’s tensin, skin will appear firmer and more youthful. The ProductS: Chanel’s Précision Ultra Correction Lift line The Science: Researchers at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute have demonstrated the role of tensin in holding cell structures together—kind of like cellular Legos. Consulting with Harvard, Chanel researchers theorized that tensin is important in keeping skin firm. Their study found that genetically altered cells that were unable to recognize tensin did not cohere well. Fibroblasts—the cells that make collagen, which is vital to skin firmness as well as smoothness—went limp and gooey. The scientists eventually identified a plant compound, Elemi PFA, that they say stimulates our stores of tensin, and put it in their products. Expert Opinion: Chanel’s “cool little experiment” could contribute to skin firmness, though it’s too early to tell whether “in a very small or very sig- Outside the Bottle Some new treatments that go beyond creams but not as far as surgery have been attracting doctors’ notice. 1. Home Laser Machine The first personal laser approved by the FDA to smooth fine lines around the eyes is being launched by Palomar Medical Technologies. The yet-to-be-named device— a smaller, less powerful version of a professional fractional laser—emits light that stimulates the growth of new skin cells. Each daily treatment takes about three minutes and is said to feel like light pinpricks on the skin. Results generally start to appear in two weeks and last as long as you continue using the laser. 2. Collagen Booster A series of Sculptra injections gradually plumps facial skin for up to two years. Approved for cosmetic use last July, Sculptra contains tiny particles of poly-L-lactic acid (which is used in absorbable sutures) suspended in crushed cellulose. It’s intended not to fill wrinkles but to add tissue in the temples and cheeks where bone and fat are depleted with age. Besides bruising and redness from the injection, it can cause lumps in some patients, which some argue are allergic reactions, says Arnold Klein, professor of dermatology at UCLA. Sometimes these lumps resolve on their own, but there’s a growing chorus of doctors and patients citing nodules that must be surgically removed. 3. More Wrinkle Relaxers Like Botox, the newer botulinum-toxin formulation Dysport smooths frown lines for three to four months— but Dysport takes effect in just one to three days, versus three to five for Botox. Even more exciting is the rub-on wrinkle relaxer Revance, a botulinumtoxin gel that is proving to work safely in trials and could be available within a couple of years. —JOAN KRON Allure/December 2009 opposite page: tesh/trunk archive SkinNEWS gutter credit After 28 days of use of one cream, lines around the eyes decreased by as much as 63 percent. Strengthening the skin barrier may result in softer texture. Allure/Month 2009 5 SkinNEWS Genomic Technology The Claim: Besides activin, serpin B3, and tensin, there are countless other influential skin proteins—and genomic technology is the name of a new technique used to identify and deploy them. Here’s the idea: Youthful skin contains various proteins whose levels decrease over time. By identifying the genes responsible for creating these proteins and figuring out how the proteins work, scientists can formulate ingredients to influence those genes—preventing or reversing sun damage, minimizing wrinkles...essentially, time-traveling back to the dewiness of youth. The Products: Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex; Lancôme Génifique Youth Activating Concentrate; Olay’s Professional Pro-X line The Science: The mapping of the human genome is hugely exciting, but that just tells us where genes are located on DNA strands. The next step is figuring 128 Modit adio commy nim am digniamet lamcore dunt lute facilissi. Antioxidant Arsenal “Antioxidants have different properties, and some are more effective for certain skin problems than others,” says dermatologist David H. McDaniel. • Wrinkles McDaniel cites vitamin C, vitamin E, coenzyme Q10, idebenone, and retinol for their smoothing abilities. These ingredients either help build collagen (such as the retinol in Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Cream) or boost energy in damaged skin cells that helps revitalize them (the coenzyme Q10 in Nivea Visage Q10 Plus Wrinkle Control Lotion SPF 15). • Dryness and roughness Highly emollient compounds include kinetin (in Kinerase Cream) and vitamin E (in The Body Shop Vitamin E Facial Oil). • Sensitive skin and acne Both conditions derive anti-inflammatory benefits from green tea (in Topix’s Replenix CF Serum) and CoffeeBerry extract (in RevaléSkin Night Cream). • Dark spots Botanical skin lighteners include vitamin C, licorice root, mulberry, and bearberry (all in NeoCeuticals Skin Brightening Gel). Instead of destroying pigment cells, as hydroquinone does, they inhibit enzyme activity involved in pigment formation. • Sun damage Phloretin, ferulic acid, and CoffeeBerry extract help prevent photoaging and “have been shown to reduce the DNA damage that produces some skin cancers,” McDaniel says. SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF contains phloretin and ferulic acid. out what they do and how to manipulate them. It’s the difference between reading all the notes in Beethoven’s Fifth and actually playing them. Companies like Procter & Gamble, which makes Olay, are starting to do gene chip testing, an ingenious method of laying out genes on tiny ceramic chips to search for genetic patterns. Research into age-related variations in the skin’s moisture barrier, for example, led to the development of the Pro-X line, which Olay’s clinical study found was as effective in reducing wrinkles as a prescription retinoid cream after eight weeks of use. (Longer-term comparisons may differ, since retinoids take full effect over several months.) Estée Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair claims to synchronize socalled clock genes, which help the skin repair itself at night. And Lancôme’s Génifique is designed to stimulate the synthesis of two proteins that are plentiful in young skin, but not in aging skin; Lancôme’s analysis showed desirable changes in these proteins in just under two months of twice-daily application. Expert Opinion: We’re still in the beginning stages of utilizing genomic technology, but dermatologists agree: It is the future of skin care. “Genomics will make us able to design better products to counteract aging,” says Zoe Draelos, consulting professor of dermatology at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, who tests ingredients for cosmetics companies. Franks says this avenue of research is “fascinating. Of course, companies can’t make any claims about changing anything but the very outermost layer of the epidermis—if a product changes the dermis, and thus truly plays with the mechanism of the cells, then it’s a drug” and can be sold only by prescription. “Yet it’s possible there really are changes being made. The company just can’t say so.” u Allure/December 2009 funky food london/paul williams/alamy nificant way,” notes David H. McDaniel, assistant pro fessor of clinical dermatology and plastic surgery at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk. Whether the compound will have the same effect on the skin that it does on cells in a lab “is always the $64,000 question,” says Linda K. Franks, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at New York University School of Medicine. Still, she says, “I really think they’ve got something here.” She cites a 2007 study, published in Archives of Dermatology, “that proved Restylane injections stimulated collagen, because the Restylane stretched the fibroblasts, giving them more structure. If tensin turns out to help fibroblasts stay structured, it seems it will also help produce new collagen.” Açai-berry extract is being added to products as a skin smoother.