I go a little crazy about the wild claims of anti-aging devices and beauty products. I WANT to believe them all but I approach them all with suspicion. Most of the time, if you spend more time marketing the product with claims to me, I’ll zone out. If it works, it works. That’s my thinking.
Every once in a while though…I get a little FOMO. What if I pass up something really amazing that is one of those hidden secrets?! Hint: so far I’m pretty sure they don’t exist!
A few nights ago I stumbled on one of those infomercial ads. I can’t recall the name of the product (that’s my polite way of not throwing too much shade) but it claimed that it included a new revolutionary process to stop or reduce progerin in the skin.
Step 1. What Is It?
Learn the terms. The first point of being critical and cautious about claims – understand what they are saying. I had no idea what this “progerin” was. A quick google search tells us “Progerin is one of the biomarker proteins used in studies on natural aging.” Another quick perusal of a few scientific papers yields a few more facts to consider. People are “researching” the link between progerin and visible aging in the skin. Translation: this is interesting and has potential but is not yet well established fact.
People are often reluctant to admit
The focus on progerin centers around a genetic disorder where a mutation of this causes rapid aging and possibly aids in the development of atherosclerosis. This is certainly important research, but maybe it’s not yet to the point of buying the hype as it relates to skin care.
Certainly I’m always looking for that magic cream or pill, but with a simple google search, I’m growing ever more skeptical. Arterial hardening may be related to wrinkles on my face but that’s a pretty big jump and I’m not making it on my own.
Step 2. How Would It Work?
Analyze what you learn against what you know. The claim is that this special progeline cream, proprietary no doubt, slows down the creation of progerin and inhibit other proteins that cause aging. Layering what I know about skin care, skin as a protective barrier, and molecule size impacting absorption rates I’m definitely smelling snake oil. But I persevere. I am open to being wrong and to learning new things. I look at the contents of the cream – which are surprisingly challenging to find – further fueling my doubts.
The cream has glycerin and water. In fairness, most/many cosmetic products have this. Skin care gets loaded with humectants (remember step 1 – if you don’t know the term, don’t be embarrassed just take a moment to google it.) which means that when you use them, your skin feels hydrated and moisturized. Moisturized skin always looks younger than dry skin. Fact.
If you love the science nerdy stuff of skincare, having a deeper knowledge of humectants is a great place to start. You need to be able to separate out what benefits come with common humectants versus the broad and miraculous claims of the active ingredient. I’m forever googling active ingredients.
Step 3. Re-Read the Claims Carefully
Review the information you initially saw armed with a more critical eye. i’m not a fan of the legalese we seem to be surrounded with so much these days, but this is where I really applaud the lawyers. In skincare you will see the carefully worded claims and you have to learn how to interpret them. “Appears” means it’s subjective. This often comes up in contexts like “reduced appearance of fine lines and wrinkles”. Were they actually reduced? Was it lasting? When you say it’s “visible” what does this mean about actual underlying improvements to the skin structure. Language is a tricky thing and cosmetic claims walk right up to the edge but their legal teams keep them from diving into straight out lies. If you look for the areas where language gets a little “squidgy”, you’re probably hitting the edge of reasonable claims.
Once you start doing this, you can’t read a cosmetic ad or read the product claims the same. I’m not saying they are all bad – but they ARE all trying to get your money – so remember their motive.
Step 4. The Final Test
It’s always nice to have the end -all argument breaker in your back pocket. For this, I turn to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Each country has their own and their guidelines and standards can differ. If you are purchasing products intended for sale in other countries, it’s worth looking up their standards to find how they compare to your home country.
I should start by noting that I’m generally not a believer that government always looks out for our best interests nor do I believe they are terribly efficient or effective about it. But in the US, the FDA is the governing body that imposes standards across these industries.
In fact, what sparked this article for me was tripping into the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938. This act started the structure that defines what is acceptable in our food, drugs, and cosmetics. You saw that coming, didn’t you?
The interesting division here is a line between drugs and cosmetics. The FDA defines a cosmetic as “a product (excluding pure soap) intended to be applied to the human body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance”. The FDA defines a drug, in part, as “intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease” and “articles (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals.”
In layperson terms, something that makes you LOOK younger falls under cosmetics. Something that actually made you younger would fall under drugs. The key part is “intended to affect the structure or any function of the body”.
Here’s where my lightbulb went off. I can get retinol cream over the counter. But to get Retin A or tretinoin I need a prescription from my doctor. Why? Because tretinoin is a drug, because it affects the structure of my skin. So – tying this all together, if progerine cream really works like the claims say, it would be prescription and my dermatologist would have to prescribe it to me.
Now, there is certainly an argument that prolonged use of retinol creams may have some very mild benefits over time and perhaps the same is true of progerine cream. But it cannot inhibit specific enzymes and stop the production of “toxic proteins” in my skin as it claims, unless it comes with a prescription.
The Wrap Up
I don’t mean to come off as preachy about this at all. Some of this is my normal process, but the final test was brand new to me and too good not to share. We need to stay curious, critical, and informed so we can spend our time and money on things that support our anti-aging journeys.
Remember…
- Learn the terms.
- Analyze what you learn against what you already know.
- Re-read with a more critical eye.
- Run the final test.
And if you find the miracle cream or pill, let me know. I’ll be sure to run it through my tests first!
