When my beauty editor friend, @lovelyislovely1, forwarded me a release this morning, she was annoyed about it and so was I. The release begins:
Ditch The Botox: The First Collagen Drink Is Launched In The UK To Combat Aging Skin.
In a case of serendipity, I was actually on my way out to get a Botox top-up at Courthouse Clinics, so I had time to mull over this crazy assertion while having a needleful of Botox at the same time. I’ve said previously that it’s not my place to judge whether you do or don’t have fillers or Botox – each to their own – but what I can say is that my face would look significantly older if it wasn’t pumped with filler and frozen in certain parts. And, don’t be imagining it’s a Katie Price effect either – usually, if I tell people I have it, they are aghast. It is properly natural looking and even the most expensive cream in the world can’t compete against the anti-ageing effects of Botox, never mind a collagen drink. Collagen drinks are massively faddy in Japan and Asia – as are collagen laced sweets and biscuits – but realistically, any conceivable benefit of ingesting collagen will never be visibly translated to your wrinkles. Never.
Clinical trials (done in France) on the product that claims you can ‘ditch the Botox’ produced these results after 12 weeks on 47 participants who saw 28% increase in skin hydration, 19% increase in skin suppleness, 26% smoothing of ‘micro relief’ furrows and 30% wrinkle decrease. None of this sounds at all impressive to me: 28% more moisturised? Really? There is no woman in the world who can tell to that percentage how much more her skin is moisturised – that’s all down to clinical equipment and doesn’t really translate onto the skin in a noticable way. And certainly, 26% reduction of ‘micro relief’ furrows doesn’t even touch a Botox effect.
Brands need to stop comparing themselves to Botox. Sorry, but no matter what, a skin cream is just not a viable equivalent to a muscle relaxing injection. Putting ‘Tox’ on the end of your product name is purely wishful thinking.
Interestingly, one of the products I ordered from imomoko.com was a ‘Collagen Ball’ (see below) that bore a strong warning not to eat, but to pour in the bath instead. I did, and saw nil result; it was as though I’d never added it at all. Baffling.
As far as I know, most topical products containing collagen don’t increase its level in the skin in any way, since the particles are too big to absorb through the skin. Ingredients having collagen production stimulating properties, that’s a whole different story. But face cream with collagen? It’s not going to do a thing.
I cant get over such a ridiculous claim, I was taught A&P by a DR during my HND and he made it crysdtal clear that the only way to reduce wrinkles is through injectables such as fillers and botox. In my own personal opinion creams are a prevenative and not a cure based on the fact they maintain moisture and hydration in the most superficial layers of skin but other than that we all know they do diddly squat to ‘combat’ wrinkles’
Its amazing what people will believe though!
Hi there. Just to let you know this drink does work but obviously not in the same way as botox or fillers. Because it is drink it works on the dermis (not the epidermis which creams work on) so it basically has more impact than cream. It can’t do what botox does that’s true but Japanese women have been snapping it up because it is a much more natural look and approach to anti ageing than invasive treatments.
I’m not convinced by the claims, totally agreed that skincare, etc. is preventative (and, well, it just feels nice, doesn’t it? That has to count for something).
But I am going to be browsing imomoko.com now. Love me some exotic beauty website!
xx
BOTOX = Botulinum TOXIN