Do anti aging patches really work?
Julia asks…Can microneedling patches really work to deliver anti-aging ingredients like hyaluronic acid?
Coincidentally, I recently read a study about a new technology to lighten age spots that involves, get this, Microneedling. This study was published by a Korean team in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology and here is what they did…
They developed a patch containing 4-n-butylresorcinol an active ingredient that can prevent melanocytes from producing melanin (pigment in hair and skin.) They had 45 panels use the patch for 8 weeks and then measured the amount of melanin in the skin.
Best of all, this study was done properly… a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. That means the active ingredient was tested against a control and the subjects and researchers didn’t know who was getting the treatment. The results showed that the patch with 4-n-butylresorcinol was twice as effective as the control. (I wonder why the control was successful at all?)
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about DMN – we talked about a similar technology made with collagen injections in a previous show. But this is the first study I know of that shows these injections can improve performance. When this technology is combined with other anti-aging ingredients it can open up many possibilities for improved product performance.
Julia asked specifically about HA I haven’t seen any data that these needles will work with that substance. It will never deliver to the same extent as an injection would deliver but it may deliver enough to increase moisture.
Does Crepe Erase skin cream really work?
Chloe asks…What do you think of the “Crepe Erase” cream. I was hoping to get your opinion on the ingredient list. Do you think it can really reduce crepey skin?
Crepey skin gets its name because it looks like tissue paper or crepe paper – the skin is loose and saggy and may have small bumps or ridges. It is thought to be caused by a reduction in the amount of collagen present in the dermis. Loss of collagen occurs through the natural aging process but crepey skin can be caused by severe weight loss or topical steroid use that thins the skin. There is no cure for this condition although improving collagen production can help.
If you review the copy on their website you will see the usual “weasel words” that companies use to avoid making specific claims. For example…
“Crepe Erase™ is designed to improve the appearance of dry, wrinkled, crepey skin”
“proven to produce firmer, younger-looking skin.”
What does the skin look like? It is not the same as saying that it makes the skin firmer.
They include before and after photos that look impressive but I think they include a disclaimer that says “Results will vary” which gives them a lot of wiggle room.
How do these things work? They tell us it’s “powered by a triple blend of skin-rejuvenating botanicals.” Based on the ingredient list, it mainly contains moisturizing agents like shea butter and coconut oil. The only “active” ingredients I see are humic acids and ursolic acid. Humic acids such as coal tar extract can treat dandruff and related conditions but I know of no evidence that they can increase collagen production.
Ursolic acid comes from the natural waxy coating that we find in fruit. It is said to increase collagen production but the only evidence I could find was from so-called “natural remedy” websites and from the supplier. I couldn’t find any peer-reviewed scientific literature that said these things actually work. (Ref: Ursolic acid Humid acids)
The process of ordering these items seems a little drawn out – here’s what the website says:
“Approximately 12 weeks after your first order is shipped, and approximately every 12 weeks after that, you will be sent a full-size supply… Each shipment will be charged to the card you provide today, in three installments, approximately every 4 weeks at a guaranteed low price of $59.95 per installment, unless you call to cancel.”
So it looks like you’re on the hook for $60 every month unless you remember to call them.
This could be a great product but it scares me because it has all the warning signs of a possible reversal:
- Products are only sold online.
- It does not contain any ingredients that have been proven to provide any special benefit.
- Also, you have to sign up for a “pay every month” plan that may catch you if you forget to cancel.
Crepe Clear the ingredients
Water (Aqua), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, PEG-6, Dimethicone, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Beeswax 6, Beeswax 0), Tocopheryl Acetate, BHT, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Extract, Peucedanum Graveolens (Dill) Extract, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Maltooligosyl Glucoside, Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate, Humic Acid, Ursolic Acid, Ethyldroxyproxy20, Ethyldroxyproxy20 Guar, Disodium EDTA, Xanthan Gum, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin, Fragrance (Parfum), *Citral, *Geraniol, *Hexyl Cinnamal, *Limonene, *Linalool.
Can I really scrub the conditioner residue off my hair?
Sherry says…I have a dear friend who is a stylist. She showed me the remnants of a knife from scrubbing the Pantene buildup off some hair. I have used Pantene for years and love it. Yes I scratched my hair and found the same white flakey thing…so I thought I would stop for a moment…I will check my husbands hair. She doesn’t use any conditioner at all…never…and I got the same white flaky residue when I scratched her freshly washed and dried hair with a knife. I don’t know what the white flakey residue from scrubbing hair is…maybe the outer part of the hair shaft. If there is any more damage, I will not scratch my hair anymore!
Well done Sherry! You’ve met the truth with an old stylist’s trick. When I started in this field many years ago, I remember that one of my managers who developed the products of the salon brand, explained to me how stylists can show “build” by scraping the hair with a knife. In case you haven’t seen this, it’s as Sherry explains – it’s a white residue that looks like it might be left on top of conditioner that hasn’t been washed out of the hair.
But, as you point out, you can produce the same flaky white stuff on hair that has never been treated with conditioner. So what’s going on? The clue is that you get a LOT of this residue when you pull the hair back from the tip to the root. That’s important because the hair cuticle (the outer layer that looks like the shingles fall over) grows so that the edges of the scales point to the ends of the hair. So when you “braid the hair back like that you remove the cuticles and scrub them. AND, if you didn’t know, the cuticles are clear. When you scrub them like this they look white. (All the color is inside the hair shaft.)
I say this is a stylist “trick” but I don’t know how many stylists are aware of what’s going on and are cheating or how many have been told this myth and actually believe it. In any case this is NOT an indication of the formulation of the conditioner and it IS a habit that can damage your hair.
Can coconut oil burn in my microwave?
Lindsay Girl asks…I have used extra virgin coconut oil on my hair as a deep conditioning treatment once a week for a few years now. I melt the oil in the microwave. This morning I was reading an article on the naturallycurly.com website where the author of the article “heard” that you shouldn’t heat coconut oil in the microwave because that will “change the bonds” in the oil. What do the Brains say? Can I safely put coconut oil in the microwave to melt it? Or is there a better way?
Remember that coconut oil penetrates the hair because of its thickness and carbon chain configuration. But some brands of coconut oil are solid at room temperature so you need to heat them before using them. Unless you heat it above the point where it will go rancid, microwaving coconut oil shouldn’t cause problems. In other words, “melting” is just fine. BUT you need to be very careful when using this method. Here’s why:
Microwave ovens work by exciting the bonds between atoms, causing them to vibrate. The movement of molecules moving and bouncing around produces heat. Different materials will absorb microwave radiation differently depending on what is called the dielectric constant. Water molecules have a high dielectric constant; they move a lot and will jump a lot. Oil molecules are large and stable. Their dielectric constant is low so it will take longer to heat up. HOWEVER, the specific heat capacity of oil is lower than water which means that oil will hold twice as much heat as water. And that means it’s easy to burn fat to the point where it can burn.
(If you really want to go beyond dielectric constants and specific heat capacities we’ll include a link in the show notes to the article about microwave absorption by oil in the Physics Forum.)
So the bottom line is that melting coconut oil in the microwave probably won’t harm the oil but you can accidentally burn it and give yourself a nasty burn. To be safe you may want to melt the oil in a bowl of hot water instead.
Scary leather stuff
Link 1 Link 2
Let’s take a moment to talk about skin allergies and infections. I have not one but two stories that scare the hell out of me. The first involves a Florida woman who is allergic to her sweat.
It’s a condition known as cholinergic urticaria that causes him to break out in sweats. I don’t know if this is all over his body or if he just sweats like underarms. I had never heard of this and given that these amazing sounds I thought were rare. However, a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (“Prevalence of cholinergic urticaria in young people”) said it is as high as 20% of the population depending on the age group. That just blew my mind. Most people who experience this have mild symptoms and do not need to seek medical attention. But for a Florida woman it’s a MUCH bigger problem.
The second case of itchy skin is even more frightening because it can happen to any of us. An Australian woman was paralyzed and almost killed just because she was using her friends make up brush. Unfortunately her friend had a staph virus on her face and it was passed on through a make up brush so the woman got a drug resistant type of staph called MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). The infection damaged his spine and he may never walk again. He’s lucky he’s not dead. So when we say be careful about sharing makeup, we’re not kidding. Now back to you Perry for some light news.
Beer makes you beautiful
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