Do anti-wrinkle creams work?
January 21, 2010
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Trish Crawford
LIVING REPORTER
A jar of face cream can be a very powerful elixir.
Whether or not anti-aging creams actually reduce wrinkles, they do hydrate the skin, reflect light and give women a sense of confidence and hope.
That's what we found when the Star asked six middle-aged women to try anti-wrinkle cream for a month.
The most expensive product used was a $150 Chanel night cream and the cheapest was Jamieson's $21 eye cream. Hundreds of anti-aging products are on the market and it is the fastest-growing segment of the $1.3 billion Canadian skin care market.
What happened to our test subjects was a kind of transformation.
Three believed their wrinkles were reduced, one was unsure and two observed no change. They all, however, revelled in the daily regime of pampering, they all felt they looked better and some received lovely compliments.
Financial adviser Tammy Laframboise was told over Christmas that she "glowed."
At a New Year's Eve party, three people exclaimed to fire dispatcher Charlene Rathgeb, "Your skin looks beautiful."
And fellow vacationers on a Cuban holiday assured fair-haired, sensitive-skinned Rose Marie Hall that she didn't look her age.
All six women described their skin as softer, firmer and better looking in general.
Marketing professor David Dunne, of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, worked for cosmetics manufacturer Unilever for 15 years and says the adage of the business was, "We sell hope."
"It's not just what the products do, but the emotion behind them," he says. "You are paying for a feeling, a sense of self-assurance that you are taking care of yourself."
When women take the time to do a beauty regimen, he says, they "look better and then feel better, which makes them more confident."
He suggests that it was this happy confidence that was shining through during the holidays for our busy women, some of whom admit to barely applying moisturizer to their face in the past.
Price is extremely important, points out marketing professor David Soberman, also of U of T, with a comfort level around the $30 mark. In fact, a number of the Star's test subjects said they bought creams only when they were on sale. One woman, whose wrinkles were reduced, said she wouldn't buy the $90 Lancome night cream because it was too expensive.
Soberman says face cream is not like wart cream; the results are slower and more subjective. You can tell when a wart is gone, but a reduction of creases and folds in the face is less obvious.
On the other hand, cosmetic companies have an ace in the hole with their promises of youthful looks, according to Soberman.
"This is a dream people have as we get older and seems to be more of a big deal for women than men," he says.
Rob Wilson, marketing professor at Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management, says the creams may be the first step for many women. "They will move on to lasers and Botox if they are not happy with the results," he says. "Others are choosing a less invasive substitute."
Noting that divorce has thrown many boomers into the dating scene, Wilson speculates that trying to find a mate at that stage of life prompts heightened concerns about appearance. In this scenario, a face cream purchase is really an expression of hope, he says.
"She is thinking, `If I use this product, I hope I will look better. I hope at the least I get a compliment or, in the extreme, maybe romance, maybe love, maybe God knows what.'"
While dermatologists say no cream or potion can eradicate wrinkles, they agree that creams containing antioxidants (vitamin C), vitamin A (retinoids) and peptides can plump up the skin and reduce the appearance of the lines that occur over time.
Hydrated skin also looks fuller and healthier and can seem to "glow" as a result of the light-reflecting properties of many creams and lotions.
Paula Begoun, author of Don't Go to The Cosmetics Counter Without Me, says too many women use products that dry out or irritate their skin. They really should pay attention to ingredients.
She scoffs at cosmetic companies' anti-aging claims. "What cosmetic company is pro-aging, pro-wrinkles?" she asks.
"There is no magic potion, no secret formula, no exotic ingredient from the Himalayas," jokes Begoun, who searches for the antioxidants and retinoids in the face creams that she "lathers" on her face.
Dr. Kucy Pon, a dermatologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, counsels patience.
"Many different creams all work to varying degrees and it takes time to see their benefits."
The 40-year-old doctor, who gets many compliments on her skin, uses moisturizer and sunscreen, Retin-A and vitamin C and has Botox injections in her forehead.
Hydrating is important for younger-looking skin, she says. "When you have dry skin, the wrinkle looks like mud that is cracked."
Because so much of what happens to our skin is genetic – fair-skinned people are more likely to wrinkle than dark-skinned – she recommends women take charge of the part of the equation they can control: sun damage. "We can't prevent genetics but we can use sunscreen for protection."
The doctor, who treats skin cancer patients as well as conducting esthetic procedures, says sunscreen is really the magic bullet for preventing wrinkles. But if you've already got them, there's always hope in a jar.
tcrawford@thestar.ca
Toronto Star