Anti-ageing and skincare technology

Thanks to scientific research, products that deliver ageless-looking skin may soon be a reality.

It’s easy to be cynical about miracles in a jar. Who hasn’t shelled out for an expensive face cream that promised to smooth away lines and lift sagging skin, only to find the supposed wonder product was just a good moisturiser? It’s fair to say that most of us searching for a way to turn back the clock have been disappointed by what skincare products actually do for our drooping, pigmenting and wrinkling complexions. Until now, that is. We’re on the cusp of a revolution in skincare technology: cosmetics may soon be able to prevent skin ageing by zeroing in on the very building blocks of life – your DNA and genes.

New frontier

Dr Daniel Maes, vice president of global research and development for Estée Lauder, oversees biological research and testing for all the Lauder brands. His job is not just to create products that compete with those of other brands, but also to develop cosmetics that push science to its limits. “I work with the top geneticists, cancer specialists, chemists and doctors,” he says. “My job is to go where others cannot, or will not, tread.”

Dr Maes’ most recent creation for Estée Lauder is Advanced Night Repair Concentrate – a booster product that’s used over a 21-day cycle to help reduce the ageing effects of trauma to the skin. The product was extensively tested and, during this process, Dr Maes and his team made some fascinating discoveries about the biology of the skin that will revolutionise the way the Estée Lauder Group (and perhaps others) approach skin treatment in the future.

“What we did not know until now is that whenever the skin is exposed to a trauma or stress – such as sunburn, a wound, or a radical cosmetic procedure like a peel or laser – it triggers a ‘state-of-emergency’ response in the cells,” explains Dr Maes. “This crisis condition, which is also an inflammatory response, helps heal the wound, but also leaves a memory in the cell that damages the DNA and eventually leads to ageing.”

This finding is both radical and controversial. It reveals that many current methods of countering the effects of ageing, such as chemical peels, laser resurfacing, cosmetic surgery and even the use of substances such as Retin-A (one of the most widely used ingredients in anti-ageing creams), may rejuvenate the appearance of the skin in the short term, but can also cause damage that leads to premature ageing.

“Anything that causes the skin to become inflamed or swell can damage the DNA,” adds Dr Maes. “From now on we’ll be taking a completely different tact with the way we treat the skin. We’ll still search for ingredients that plump, exfoliate, moisturise and protect, but we’ll have to be especially careful not to irritate the skin in any way,” he says.

Save your skin

After reviewing developmental research for Advanced Night Repair Concentrate, Dr Maes has also concluded that eating sugar has an adverse effect on skin. “We’ve all heard the saying ‘You are what you eat’. Now we believe ‘You age as you eat’,” he says. According to Dr Maes, over-consumption of dietary sugar (particularly refined sugars) catalyses a process of degeneration known as glycation. “Glycation impairs the body’s ability to produce and utilise antioxidants,” explains Dr Maes. “The effect on the skin is the deterioration of collagen and elastin, which ages the complexion.”

It’s unusual for a skincare scientist to talk about diet, but Dr Maes stresses that unless we change our eating habits and those of our children, we’ll produce a generation with poor skin as well as poor health. “Reducing sugar intake is a simple way to protect the skin and body – and it doesn’t involve buying a cream,” he says.

The way ahead

Perhaps the most important change to come from Estée Lauder’s research is a move away from the notion of treating the skin by adding booster ingredients, such as antioxidants, to cosmetics. “We want to encourage the skin to manufacture its own antioxidants,” says Dr Maes. “Yes, I’m searching the Amazon for new antioxidants and scouring traditional Chinese medicine for remedies to ageing, but we’re looking at the new super-ceuticals differently. I’m now looking for catalysts to healing, so the body can do what it does best by itself. It’s a subtle, but powerful shift in our thinking.”

In the near future, Dr Maes says we can expect products that stimulate the immune system, rather than prop up the skin’s malfunctioning mechanisms. “Antioxidants basically stabilise volatile molecules. We’re not looking just to add antioxidants to stabilise cells, we also want them to encourage any defective genes to function optimally,” he explains. This technology is already being used in Advanced Night Repair Concentrate – it includes bifidus extract to help repair damaged tissue at its source: the DNA in the cell membrane.

Dr Maes has now turned his attention to sun protection. “Pretty soon we’ll replace the Sun Protection Factor (SPF) system with an Immune Protection Factor (IPF) system,” he says. “Today’s sunscreens are effective but they’re clumsy – they can irritate skin, which is exactly what we don’t want.” Dr Maes and his team are currently developing technologies to support the skin’s own sun-defence mechanisms. He envisions a day when gentle, soothing sunscreens will act as immune stimulants.

Estée Lauder is just one company searching for solutions to skin and genetic ageing. Many of the world’s leading laboratories are also on the brink of huge breakthroughs. “When we began mapping the human genome we entered a brave new world where many things we thought were possible became realities,” says Dr Maes. The great news is that we can all look forward to smarter skincare in the future.

Watch this space

Lise Jorgensen is vice president of global skin care product development for Estée Lauder. Her role is to generate original products and she played a key role in the development of Advanced Night Repair Concentrate. We asked her what we can expect in the future:

• The dermatologist-inspired trend will continue. We may see machines currently found in salons and clinics made for home use. We’ll certainly see stronger formulas that produce more dramatic, visible results.
• Nanotechnology will probably be used in cosmetics. We’re already searching for ways to harness energy, such as electricity and magnetic energy, to improve skin. We’re looking at microelectronics as a way to deliver energy and information to the cells.
• Devices that employ virtual reality to improve the appearance of the skin are a possibility. Some powders and foundations already use technologies that refract light to make the skin appear more luminous.
• We will create products that compensate for poorly functioning genes, giving everyone a good chance of having great skin.
• New technology will allow us to pack more ingredients into creams that better target damage at the source.
• Overall, the cosmetics industry will continue to look to complementary therapies to produce more holistic, gentler products. We’ll also look for plants with powerful healing benefits.

 

Words: Nikki Goldstein. Photography: Steven Chee. Styling: Claudia Renford. Hair & make-up: Laura Dominique.