As a licensed esthetician I always get asked "Pierce what wrinkle creams really work?" My answer.... lasers, injectables and some good SPF! Interesting enough our beauty industry is becoming more and more jaded and the smart brands are no longer marketing anti-aging wrinkle creams. Though this is a 1 billion dollar category in the USA - intelligent companies are pushing the envelope with more lifestyle products.
But for those of us that do fall victim to the trend of a anti-wrinkle potions Consumer Reports Magazine in their January 2007 reveals that it really is just a bunch of b.s. I love this magazine largely because they don’t take PR pitches, mass consumer advertising or even let you submit products for testing. It’s 100% objective.
On page 12 is the Consumer Reports review of wrinkle creams. They review a ton and basically say that NONE of them work. Consumer Reports tells readers that the results were far from conclusive after scientifically monitoring and examining the women testers, who were between the ages of 30 and 70. The testing was done by Consumers Union's French counterpart, l'Union Federale des Consommateurs-Que Choisir, and the female testers were recruited by a European laboratory specializing in cosmetic evaluation.
After 12 weeks of testing "a sample of top-selling mass market lines (Olay, L'Oreal, RoC, La Prairie, StriVectin)'' what the researchers found was "only slight improvements.''
Only two brands of wrinkle creams show any signs of working after their clinical trial. And they only show by a low margin of 10% but hey – 10% is better than nothing.
So… what are the two ‘must have items for wrinkle busting’
Olay Regenerist (enhancing lotion, perfecting cream and daily resurfacing cream)
Lanc�me Paris Renergie day and night cream
What’s funny is they both have very similar names.
The worst brand that they said did absolutely nothing was La Prairie (very sad). And I feel horrible for the PR team at Paul Wilmont who works the La Prairie account, they are going to have to do some serious damage control considering anti-aging is what La Pairie was founded on. Other brands that were a bust; RoC, Neutrogena, Avon, L’Oreal, Stri-Vectin and ROC.
Get the article – they also review the best SUV’s, laptops, home computers, cell phones and laundry detergents for 2007 as well.
I love Consumer Reports! But I think I will still keep wearing my Prevage MD in the day and my Renova at night.
