Beauty Bites
By Irene Lacher 08/01/2009
Peptide Power
These days, a skin-care product without peptides is like a day without sunshine (which is probably better for your skin, but never mind). Companies are packing them into anti-aging serums and creams to trick your skin into making more collagen. And Southern California skin-care companies are at the forefront of the trend.
Carlsbad-based SkinMedica added peptides to its popular TNS Recovery Complex with NouriCel-MD, which wowed Oprah and my mother, who commented on my noticeably smaller, TNS-treated pores. Now the company has added three novel peptides and seven antioxidants to create the supercharged TNS Essential Serum (1 oz., $250). In a clinical study of 37 women ages 32 to 55 who used it twice daily for three months, 89 percent reported a vast improvement in skin tone and texture, according to SkinMedica. “The powerful combination of growth factors, anti-oxidants and peptides…[gives] users that highly sought-after ‘glow factor,’” says the company’s Dr. Jeanine B. Downie.
iS Clinical of Glendale has accomplished the seemingly impossible with Super Serum Advance+ (1 oz., $130), which combines two potent anti-agers that are normally incompatible — Vitamin C and copper peptides. (Copper peptides usually deactivate C.) The company says it achieved the synthesis by producing a form of L-Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) in “a uniquely stabilized molecular structure.” Together with mushroom extract, zinc sulfate and centella asiatica, the line offers three times the antioxidant protection of its earlier-generation Super Serum.
The new Beverly Hills–based Pursue skin care line loads its Royal Treatment and Youth Restoration toner, serum and eye cream with what it calls Quintuple Peptide Complex — five peptides, natch, in “higher-than-expected” concentrations — along with moisturizing hyalauronic acid, antioxidants and other goodies. The star of the line is Quinta-Peptide Youth Restoration Serum (1 oz., $95).
Lash Rites
Sometimes it seems as though all eyes in the beauty business are on long lashes — faking them and now, making them. The past few years have seen an upswing in out-to-there mascaras and those überfakes known as eyelash extensions. Now the market is rife with products that claim to help you grow your own.
Allergan, which has been riding the Botox bonanza, recently came out with Latisse ($125), the first federally approved prescription remedy for skimpy lashes. But over-the-counter potions are also having their day. neuLash Active Eyelash Technology ($150) is a serum of amino and fatty acids that promises visible results in 30 days.
Shopping Guide:
SkinMedica, iS Clinical and Latisse are available at Oh!U Beauty Medical Day Spa, 130 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, (818) 551-1682.
neuLash can be purchased online at neulash.com, as can Pursue at pursueskincare.com.
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