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The Cream That Stops Aging in its Tracks
Cost: $90 for 1.7 ounces
Why: If you're skin-care-obsessed like us, you've probably heard of a little thing called telomeres. If not: Telomeres are the caps at the end of our chromosomes that protect them from unraveling -- like the plastic cap at the end of a shoelace. Each time cells divide, telomeres shorten. Once they get too short, our cells stop being able to divide and may even die. In layman's terms? "It's the aging process," says cardiologist Adam Splaver. The rate at which your telomeres shorten predict how quickly you'll age -- a.k.a. fine lines, wrinkles, sagging skin, you get the picture.
The Age Arrest line is based on Nobel Prize-winning telomere research that found that a certain enzyme, named telomerase, assists in preserving those DNA end-caps. In other words: with telomerase, your cells can continue to go about their business of dividing and remaining healthy, keeping your skin from degrading and growing old.
This cream boasts "Telo-5," which, while rather ambiguous-sounding, is a lab-created version of telomerase. Does it work? An independent clinical study suggests it does. In the study, 90 percent of women showed significant improvement in firmness and elasticity and 93 percent showed improvement in discoloration, skin tone, hydration and crow's feet and fine lines after just four to six weeks.
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The Detoxifying Serum for the Pollution-Plagued
Cost: $125 for 1.7 ounces
Why: Don't believe the hype behind detoxification? Consider this: Nobel Prize-winning scientists have discovered that proteasome, a naturally occurring enzyme, can detoxify, or clean out, cells by breaking down the unneeded or damaged proteins that occur in aged skin. Dior One Essential works to stimulate the proteasome with a patented longoza extract, from a flower found in Madagascar. Removing the toxins that accumulate in the skin allow the skin to better absorb top-notch skin-care ingredients and restore skin's youthful glow. This serum claims to boost your other skin-care products' effectiveness by 400 percent. Targeted at individuals who live in polluted environments, Dior claims that this serum helps to remove some 7 billion toxins that accumulate in the skin. Consider it a hazardous waste disposal system for your skin.
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The Serum That Uses Sugar to Keep Skin Dewy
Cost: $205 for 1.7 ounces
Why: To understand how this product works, you need a little background on glycans, the sugar molecules that are found naturally in the body. You've heard that sugar is practically the devil in regards to skin health -- but these molecules don't come from cake, and they have nothing to do with raising your blood sugar. Glycans help skin cells communicate -- they sit on the surface of cells and act like antennae for skin cells. As we age, glycans (which also keep cells plump by attracting water) diminish, halting the skin's regeneration process. Enter: Glycanactif, a lab-formulated, patented complex created by L'Oréal (YSL's parent company), intended to replace some of the common glycans lost during the aging process.
Glycobiology research has been recognized by seven Nobel Prizes -- it's clearly regarded as an important issue when it comes to skin health. Glycanactif not only replaces glycans, it also encourages glycan production from the cell itself. Does it work? Clinical studies say that participants experienced a ten percent increase in epidermal thickness and skin was visibly less lined and plumper after one month.
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The Plumping Product That Rebuilds Skin
Cost: $214 for 1.69 ounces
Why: Like the Kate Somerville line, the Rose Infinity products work under the theory that the shortening of telomeres is the cause behind skin aging. This serum relies on hydrolyzed soy and yeast proteins, which help protect and rebuild telomeres. The soy isoflavones in this serum have been shown to significantly increase skin thickness -- a study of 20 postmenopausal women showed that skin volume increased by 11.2 percent over three months. Hydrolyzed yeast proteins, one of the active ingredients, delay the shortening of telomeres, as proved by three researchers (two of whom are women, natch) awarded the Nobel Prize in 2009.
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The Skin-Healing Serum Inspired by Burn Victims
Cost: $600 for 1 ounce
Why: Creator Gregory Bays Brown, MD, is a Harvard-educated plastic surgeon who started the RéVive line because he noticed that his patients, more than anything, wanted smooth, youthful skin -- the kind of skin that can't be achieved with surgery. The RéVive line is formulated with Renewal Epidermal Science (RES) technology, inspired by the Nobel Prize-winning Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) technology, a molecule used to create healthy skin in burn victims.
According to Ronald Moy, MD, senior vice president of the Skin Cancer Foundation and founder of DNAEGF Renewal, ingredients based on EGF skincare technology can actually reverse UV-related damage. "There is good scientific evidence that DNA Repair enzymes are the best ingredients to prevent skin aging and skin cancer development," says Moy.
The RES technology found in the RéVive line works to turns skin cells over eight times faster, while keeping them healthier by halting DNA fragmentation. EGF technology has an almost cult-like following for its Benjamin Button effect, so almost any skincare product that includes it is going to cost some big bank. Considering the science behind it, we recommend stopping by a Nordstrom counter to snag a free sample at the very least.
