Despite the many claims, there are few anti-aging creams that have been shown to be effective. It is generally agreed that the retinoids (retin A, retinol) are effective, but here are few mainstream scientific reports of any other anti-aging cream that really works.

The cream that does work is No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum.

The down side of this anti-aging cream is that it is currently only available in the UK. It is made and sold by Boots, a drug manufacturer and chemist (pharmacy) chain.

The last time I was in England the cream was £17.99 which is about $27, and is often on a 3 for the price of 2 offer.

In trials being published in British Journal of Dematology, the cream was shown to increase the expression of fibrillin-1. A role of fibrillin-1 is to make tissues, including skin, more elastic. The loss of skin elasticity is a major contributor to the formation of wrinkles.

Having shown that fibrillin-1 expression was increased, the effect on wrinkles was tested. Sixty volunteers, 11 male and 49 female between the ages of 45 and 80, used either No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum or a placebo cream for a year. It was blinded study, which means until the last measurement had been taken; neither the researchers, or the study participants knew who had which cream.

After a year, 70% of those using No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum had a significant reduction in wrinkles, compared to those using the placebo.

Check out the before and after pictures in this news item from the University of Manchester.

Unlike the retinoids, No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum is not irritating. In fact it leaves your skin with a nice silky feeling.

No, you can’t have any of my tubes of No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum. My Mum sent me three tubes for my birthday a couple of months ago.

photo credit: Linds K

[tags] No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum, fibrillin-1, skin elasticity, reduction in wrinkles[/tags]