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Sound too good to be true? That's what we at TIME thought too. But a group of us--O.K., let's admit it, women in our 30s, 40s and 50s--decided to look into the claims a little further. (More men have been spotted buying antiaging creams, but the market is overwhelmingly female.) With open minds and a certain degree of self-interest, we contacted the major cosmetics firms and talked to biochemists, physiologists and dermatologists. We even commissioned the Chemir/Polytech Laboratories of Maryland Heights, Mo., to analyze 10 different products to see how much antiaging agent they contained (see box).
What we learned surprised us. While we didn't exactly find a face-lift in a jar, we did try some creams that made us look better. The effects are subtle and temporary, but they're real. That doesn't mean you can suddenly trust everything you hear. Nor are we convinced the hypercostly potions--as much as $450 per oz. and sometimes more--are better than what you can get in the drugstore. But as long as you don't expect to look 18 again, you won't be disappointed.
Before we start giving you the details, there's a little background you need to know about your skin. (We promise to keep the chemistry to a minimum.) Considered by scientists to be an organ, the skin weighs 9 lbs. on average and has three main layers: the epidermis, the dermis and the hypodermis. No thicker than a page in this magazine, the outermost layer, the epidermis, is filled with layers of specialized skin cells known as keratinocytes. When these cells, which start out plump with water in the deepest layer of the epidermis, migrate to the skin's surface, they lose moisture and are eventually sloughed off. In young people the average keratinocyte takes 28 days to traverse the epidermis. In folks over 50, it can take an additional week and a half. Result: mature skin contains fewer round, plump keratinocytes at any one time; it loses its glow, and fine lines start to form.
Right under the epidermis is the dermis, which contains the blood vessels that nourish the skin and the structural elements--proteins called collagen and elastin--that keep it taut and springy. As we grow older, the body has trouble replenishing the stores of collagen and elastin, giving the skin a thin, papery look.
Back in the 1970s, most dermatologists believed your genes determined how well your skin aged. But that was before researchers learned how many dangerous chemicals called free radicals are released in the skin when a person smokes or spends too much time in the sun. Now they estimate that as much as 90% of the signs of premature aging are due to just these sorts of environmental triggers. The toll is greatest among Caucasians, who seem most vulnerable to the effects of "photoaging."
To get at those free radicals means going deeper into the epidermis than most cosmetics had ever gone. And that means springing for some serious research. "It's the year 2000, and we don't understand the skin," says chemist Daniel Maes of Estee Lauder, whose basic research staff has tripled in the past decade. "But studies in skin technology are now at full speed."