Friday, August 31, 2012

The Science of Anti Aging and We the Consumers:


Does any cosmetic company truly have the Fountain of Youth in  a bottle? Apparently, not. As each and every day a new "wonder ingredient" is promoted with or without a shred of evidence of efficacy. The latest essential ingredient to bombard can be any thing from a rare botanical milk to magical drops, mystical water or fermented eye of newt. In truth, were the eyes of newt fermented in Sake, you may actually benefit. That being said, the newt eyes wouldn't be the reason. Does anything actually erase wrinkles? Are homemade recipes / formulas as effective as the $300.00 US / 30 ml advertised to rid us of our wrinkles and age spots or money back? Can age spots be removed? Can  age spots be bleached? Can they really be made to fade? What are they really? Sagging SKIN!! Now what?

Like becoming middle aged wasn't hard enough! Do any of these products really work? Or are they just another hyped moisturizer? Is  night cream more important than day cream? What is the best time to apply  lotions for maximum effect? Which ingredients are essential? How to know the difference? Which lotions are safe, which ones aren't. What does 'safe' mean? Will it cause an allergic reaction? There are many methods and ideas about what consititutes a solid skin care regime,

Which one is the best?

Are low cost beauty products of any value? Some are, some aren't.
Natural vs. Chemical? Which one is better? Or does it matter? Which one gives the best results? Perhaps both.Why are natural products so much more expensive? What does Ecocert really mean, and what is the difference between organic vs a not organic natural product? Why when I look at a product touted as 'natural organic', does the ingredients list have a '*' with "certified organic", what about the other ingredients? Does it really make a difference? 

When did "The Science of Anti Aging and the Consumer" become a cosmetics company's marketers money making dream child? It's easy to press the emotional buttons. You are middle aged, the fatal 40 has just passed by and an 18 year old model in full makeup, advertising the latest new lotion / potion with the magical ingredient is informing us of that fact. This product will make you look just like her! No, it won't. But many will spend thousands of dollars chasing that pipe dream.

Wading through the marketing morass of false promises, email anti aging SPAM  is a daily exericise in
hilarity. Every once in a while a gem arrives, but it's usually an old ingredient dolled up with a new  trade
name and host of claims to go with it. Dragosine for example, L carnosine. Excellent active, but didn't require a name change to make it any more effective. Another one, Effineo, coffeeberry extract, but an unknown amount of the active component chlorogenic acid and it was kindly diluted for me in propylene glycol. Really not necessary to do that.

All sorts of treatments are being dreamed up. Some even have scientific basis, most others, not so much. But they have a great deal in the way of "secret" data. "Secret Data" ingredients  or treatments are round file worthy.

This is a "secret": Vast majority of the cosmetic preparations available on the market are next to useless. Why is that? Multiple reasons. Regulations for one, the other, the end product wasn't designed with cell physiology in mind. It was designed with "what ever sells" in mind.

DIY SEA style, is a very different species of 'cosmetic'.  The focus is beyond 'cosmetic'. That's just the visible end result and can not be washed off. Unfortunately, such treatments as those made by DIY'ers are rarely available, and if they are on the market, they are well over $150.00 / 30 ml. Some, are just simply ludicrous. 




Deep Hydration Serum (1fl oz.)
by Bakel
Price: $140.00
Ingredients:Aqua/Water, Sodium Hyaluronate.

To DIY that, is $0.71 and 5 minutes. That is a very expensive bottle.

This particular post should more correctly be titled:
The Science of Ripping Off the Aging Consumer. 

But who really wants to read that?