Miracle Skin Cream or Marketing Genius?

May 16, 2007 — -- For centuries women (and men) have been searching for the magic elixir which promises to turn back time and reduce wrinkles. This quest for the Holy Grail of face creams is worth several billion dollars a year worldwide.

As a result, scientists are constantly experimenting with peptides, collagens, bases and other chemicals, hoping to find one formula that really makes a difference. But most conclude there really is no such thing as a face-lift in a jar.

Or is there?

Enter career chemist Steve Barton from Nottingham, northern England, known as the skin care man in the U.K.

After years of testing various compounds in his cramped laboratory, some British dermatologists have concluded that Barton's product, an over-the-counter serum called Boots No. 7 Protect and Perfect, visibly reduces fine lines.

The cream recently became available in the United States. Target, one of the largest chain stores, is stocking the product with a different name: It's called No. 7 Restore and Renew.

Some dermatologists in the United States, however, say it is unlikely that the cream offers anything terribly new as a wrinkle fighter, and is probably not worth the hype.

Rachel Watson, a British skin researcher from the University of Manchester, explained that the five scientists developing the cream used retinoids and chemical compounds as a comparative marker. Traditionally, these compounds are used to treat acne and photo-aged, sun-damaged skin.

Retinol creams are only available by prescription as they can cause redness and peeling. Watson said that the compounds "increase the protein fibrillin in the skin, which repairs molecular damage and reduces wrinkles."

Describing the method, Watson told ABC News: "We tested three unidentified creams against those containing retinoic acid and only one showed the same increases in fibrillin as the prescription-only treatment, the Boots product."

As far as Watson is aware, there are "no other over-the-counter products available that can match these results."

But Dr. Darrell Rigel, clinical professor of dermatology at New York University Medical Center, said there have been other over-the-counter products in the past that have aimed to replicate the effects of prescription retinoid creams.