Wrinkles Beware

As part of my responsibility as a cosmetic surgeon in Southwest Florida, I browse through many related  magazines. Increasingly, my eye comes across a new anti-aging, anti-wrinkle cream.  They’re almost as common as 7-11 stores.  

The FDA recently warned Avon products about their marketing of “anti-wrinkle” cream.  Just last month the FDA warned L’Oreal about some claims it made on their “anti-wrinkle” cream.  

The Avon skin care line is called “Anew.” One of Anew’s claims  is, “A new Clinical Therma firm Face Lifting Cream"  According to the FDA this is a “drug” and can’t be marketed as such.

 I guess it’s their version of Face lift in a bottle.  I’m sure they’re not cheap but in the end I feel disappointment reigns.  In our quest for a more youthful appearance, less is not necessarily more.

Walk the makeup aisle of any store that sells cosmetics, and you'll probably see plenty of products touting anti-aging benefits. A wise shopper, however, will be cautious. Some of these companies use some extravagant wording to help sell their products. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) keeps an eye out for false claims. Recently, it issued a warning to L'Oreal concerning phrases found on its website that made questionable statements about several of its products.

The letter singles out a number of beauty items. The warning also outlines some of the phrases in question. One claim said the Genetique Eye Youth Activating Eye Concentrate "boosts the activity of genes and stimulates the production of youth proteins." Two other products, the Absolute Precious Cells Advanced Regenerating and Reconstructing Cream SPF 15 Sunscreen, claimed that customers would "see significant deep wrinkle reductions in UV damaged skin, clinically proven."

The FDA warns that L'Oreal's products are not "generally recognized among qualified experts as safe and effective for the above referenced uses," and strongly urges the company to correct its website.

 L'Oreal isn't the first company to receive such a warning. Around the same time that the FDA warned the beauty company, it also wrote a letter to Greek Island Labs, which offered a product known as Athena 7 Minute Life. The company claimed this product was "a safe and effective alternative to Botox."

Fortunately, products like Botox and other injectable fillers have been given the stamp of approval by the FDA, which is part of the reason why they've become so popular over the past few years.

The background for this blog message was provided by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, of which I am a member. 

WRINKLE CREAMS - MIRACLE DEVICES? More hype than happening.

(Ed: As a Board Certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Robert J. Brueck, MD, FACS, is frequently asked by people he meets or has free consultations with if there is ANY substance to the claims advertisers make about "Miracle Wrinkle Creams and Devices." Here is Dr. Brueck's response, from a recent article he wrote:)

"I am so amazed how people are inundated with infomercials about beauty products that supposedly turn back the clock.

I remember recently seeing one that related to the 'neck/exerciser'.

I don’t know the exact name or title of this product, but you put this product on your chin and the other end goes up against your neck and you go up and down, up and down like you are bobbing for apples in a pool of water and after 10 to 15 years of doing this 3 or 4 times a day you have a beautiful more youthful neck line. And it’s only $29.95 plus shipping and handling and if you act now we will throw in at no extra charge our new miracle neck cream so you too can have a softer, more youthful neck. I think you get the gist of this.

Then I get an occasional patient who comes into the office to see me and asks me about this new miracle breast cream that is supposed to give you fuller, more youthful breasts. People buy them because they are cheap and people are desperate.

Sad but true, they don’t work.

Consumer reports in their 2009 addition recently reported on “winkle creams”. The sense of the article is simple, save your money.

The priciest cream tested was Perricone MD for $95. It was costlier than the over-the-counter drugstore brands. But notice, they put the MD in there... ah that must mean it works, it’s tested, it’s MD approved.

Sorry folks it doesn’t!

So the bottom line is save your money, go to Vegas, roll the dice, have some fun and, if you are lucky, you may come back a few dollars richer."

Dr. Brueck is Board Certified in Plastic Surgery and discusses the various procedures available at his Fort Myers - Cape Coral, FL in his web site at Beauty-by-Brueck.com.

You're invited to visit the web site or arrange for your own private, no charge consultation by calling 239-939-5233. If you would prefer to speak with a woman first, ask for Judy. Thank you.