Cosmetic Industry Truth

Are Very Expensive Skin Creams Worth The Price?

Where Breakthroughs in Skin and Hair Care Originated 

Fairy Dust Cosmetic Ingredients

Damaging Skin Products

Skin Hardening Peptides

The Skinny on Skin by Idelle Musiek

Firming Like a Callus - Collagen-Stimulating Peptides (Pentapeptides and Amino Peptides) May Harden Skin and Produce Scarring

The latest "Hot Product" sold by cosmetic companies, and aging actresses on late night cable channels, are products with peptides claimed to improve skin by increasing the production of collagen and elastin, and proteoglycans.

These peptides are similar in action to substances intensively tested in wound healing skin studies about 10 years ago.

These peptides are compared by the manufacturer to actions of transforming growth factor beta 1.

1. All skin renewal proteins and peptides are based on some aspect of skin repair and wound healing skin.

In the early stages of wound repair, there is a very high synthesis of of proteins used to close the wound and produce a scar that rapidly covers and protects underlying tissues.

This process can also produce hard calluses on hands and feet.

In the later stages of healing, the scar tissue is removed and the skin is "remodeled" into a smoother, scarless surface.

Transforming Factor Beta was named because it made normal cells grow more like cancer cells but this does not mean it causes cancer.

However, some researcher think it may speed the growth of breast cancers and play a role in the development of kidney failure.

Early stage wound repair factors such as TGF beta 1 (developed by Amgen Corporation) and RGD-collagen binding peptides based on fibronectin and collagen (developed by Telios Corporation) produced a strong stimulation of the production of collagen and elastin, proteoglycans and so on.

However, these molecules failed to become wound repair products because, while they rapidly healed wounds, they also produced heavy and unacceptable scarring.

2. These peptides are said to be as effective as retinol on wrinkle reduction but said to be less irritating.

The comparison to retinol and wrinkle reduction seems to be an attempt to confuse the consumers.

Retinol has only a modest action on wrinkle reduction and is not very irritating.

On the other hand, retinoic acid (such as used in Retin-A or Renova) has significant wrinkle reduction but can be very irritating.

3. To get any skin effects with such peptides, they must be used at high concentrations (3% to 8%) in the product.

Most cosmetic companies only use trivial amounts of any potentially beneficial substance.

4. Despite the heavy promotion of these products, there are no published papers on the skin effects of these new "breakthrough" peptides in any credible scientific journal.

One of the widely circulated studies is by a French professor who has apparently has never published a reviewed paper in a major journal in the past 30 years, at least as recorded by the National Library of Medicine in Medline (See http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hinfo.html).

This is baffling since France is filled with superb skin researchers.

Why does not a corporation that sells billions of dollars in products yearly have its great breakthrough products tested by well known and respected skin researchers?

In contrast, the studies to determine the effectiveness of retinoic acid on skin remodeling and wrinkle reduction were funded by Johnson & Johnson for many years. Studies were performed by highly regarded, independent skin researchers.

5. Will these products give you a hard, insect-like exoskeleton?

This is unlikely since these peptides must be present in concentrations of 5% to 8% in the product.

Cosmetic companies are famous for putting in minuscule amounts of any potentially active factor.

For example, effects on skin with retinol require about 0.6% retinol in the product.

But some highly advertised retinol products have as little as 0.001% retinol. So the amount of peptide in the cream is likely to be very low.

6.On the positive side, such types of peptides could prove valuable for filling in skin defects, and hardening feet of long distance runners, and the hands of practitioners of karate and taekwondo.