Cosmetic Solutions vs. Skin Pollution

The ozone’s going, the globe is warming, fossil fuels are burning and Southern California’s more than 8 million cars, trucks and buses are coughing up a witch’s caldron of pollutants. Pollutants that not only lend the area distinction as having the worst air quality in the nation, but also sting eyes, burn lungs and turn locally grown oranges a ghostly, ghastly shade of yellow.

And this is a kettle of concern to certain beauty-attentive women from Brea to Emerald Bay who worry about smog’s effect on their complexions. “Women come in here talking about the irritants and chemicals in the air and they wonder, ‘I know it’s damaging my lungs, but what’s it doing to my skin?’ ” observes Marcy Shannon, 43, manager of the Estee Lauder cosmetics counter at Buffums, Newport Beach. “They want to know how to protect themselves.”

Enter the ritzy, trend-alert cosmetics firms. Having successfully wind-resisted, weather-fended and sun-proofed many of their tony lotions and often costly creams to sell themselves to consumers, some are now hoping to offer further skin protection--against pollution.

Chanel, for example, has introduced Prevention Serum (price: $50 for 1.35 ounces), which promises to fight “environmental impurities and emissions from cars and other pollutants.” Estee Lauder offers Skin Defender ($45 for 0.9 ounces) to provide a barrier against “environmental chemicals, irritants and oxidants before they can affect skin’s appearance.”

This appeals to the women who are rushing to the Estee Lauder counter at such stores as Bullocks Wilshire in Fashion Island. Counter manager Nicole Williams says they’re “grabbing (Skin Defender) up because once they try it, they love it.”

Some local dermatologists and specialists on aging, such as Dr. Lord Lee-Benner of Newport Beach, think the claims of these products are a lot of hooey.

“It sure sounds fabulous, but it just doesn’t work on paper,” says Lee-Benner, the author of the medical school textbook, “A Physician’s Guide to Aging, the Immune System and Free Radical Damage.” “A product that claims to protect skin against pollution is a waste of money. It probably feels good. It’s fun; it’s sexy. But it’s not doing a thing.”

Tell that to such respected cosmetic powerhouses as Chanel, which claims “you can’t be too rich or too thin . . . or too young-looking.” Touting its Prevention Serum as a shield against the appearance of future lines and wrinkles, the company states its product “neutralizes free radicals which are caused by environmental impurities.” The company maintains that free radicals, which are molecules or atoms found in hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides from paints, solvents, refineries and autos, are damaging to skin and its collagen and elastin support system.

The Estee Lauder Co., as well, says that while only 20% of visible aging is chronological, fully 80% of a woman’s facial sags, bags, creases and crow’s feet are caused by the environment. And its Skin Defender’s “Tri-level defense strategy” will take on the invisible daily onslaught of irritants, chemicals, oxidants, wind and sun--the “inescapable enemies (which) trigger harmful chemical chain reactions the moment they touch the skin’s surface.”

Most physicians would agree with majordomos in the beauty business that drying wind and damaging sun are among the worst elements to ride a woman’s dewy, youthful looks out of town--and down a road to ruin paved with age-blaring wrinkles and such skin disorders as spider veins, sun allergies (with their itchy or blistery rashes), abnormally pigmented “age spots” and even life-threatening malignant melanoma, or skin cancer.

The sun is especially dreaded, say experts, which explains why the “active” ingredient in Estee Lauder’s Skin Defender is DEA-methoxycinnamate, a sun blocker.

“The biggest problem for men and women, from a gorgeous point of view, is protection not from smog but from the sun,” says Dr. Gerald Weinstein, professor and chairman of the dermatology department at UC Irvine.

Indeed, say experts, the sun’s ultraviolet radiation penetrates through the skin’s outer layer, or epidermis, deeper into the dermis, where it relentlessly breaks down elastin, the rubber-bandlike tissue that supports the skin and maintains its smooth, youthful structure.

And while experts agree improper skin care can play a role in the appearance of frowning’s furrows, smiling’s lines or a leathery tone, some dermatologists part company over cosmetic company claims that they can take on environmental hazards produced by carbon monoxide-belching Buicks--and worse.

“I am dumbfounded,” says Fullerton dermatologist Bruce Mills of a cosmetic preparation that claims to “neutralize” subtly harmful effects to the skin of free radicals, whose presence in the Los Angeles area atmosphere violated federal air quality standards for such pollutants on 232 days of 1988. “We know free radicals can damage skin, but from the inside. Free radicals on the outside, in the environment doing harm? I’m at a loss (to understand how),” Mills says.

Free radicals are everywhere: in ultraviolet light, cigarette smoke, and even in the body as a result of normal metabolic functions. Because they are atoms with an extra ionic charge that makes them “unbalanced” and magnetic, they attach to other unbalanced atoms to become whole. Unattached free radicals within the body can alter the molecular structure of cells in their quest for wholeness, says Dr. Lee-Benner, going even so far as to alter the DNA structure of the gene. When the cell divides to repair itself after any kind of assault (such as sunburn or overindulgence in alcohol) it can’t do so as effectively, which begins the breakdown of the body, disease and aging.

“With all the research into AIDS and immune disorders, we’re just in the last 10 years becoming aware of (the nature and extent) of free radical damage,” Lee-Benner says. He adds that available research reveals that the best way to disarm these meddling molecules is by ensuring your body has enough “anti-oxidants,” said to be vitamins A, B, C, E, and the minerals zinc and selenium, among others. “Anti-oxidants gobble up free radicals,” Lee-Benner says, “and the only way to protect your skin is to take them orally” through supplements or a balanced, nutrient-rich diet.

What’s more, such advertised miracle workers as Vitamin E oils or B-rich creams are useless free-radical-busters when applied topically, experts say. “The vitamins in cream are like 0.1% of the ingredients, and the amount that is able to penetrate the skin is 100th of 1%--not much,” says Dr. James Fulton, the Newport Beach dermatologist who co-developed Retin-A, the Vitamin A derivative that might offer hope for repair of age- and sun-damaged skin. “While anti-oxidants in cosmetic products could neutralize free radicals in theory, they become insignificant in cream. You’re better off pumping yourself full of (vitamins) C and E.”

After all, says Fulton, free radicals are extremely short-lived substances. “Those in smog likely have reacted to other contaminants in the environment long before they hit your skin.”

The question, of course, remains: What effect does smog’s chemical irritants have on moisturized, sun-protected Southern California faces? Says Weinstein of UC Irvine: “There is no evidence these materials can even penetrate the skin; they merely sit on it like dirt.”

Weinstein adds that lotions and potions said to create a “barrier” between the skin and the environment are unnecessary. “Skin itself is the best barrier there is against environmental irritants,” Weinstein says. “It acts as a sort of Saran Wrap” that keeps harmful elements at bay--without cosmetic help.

Anaheim dermatologist Gary Hardegen says such products, most of which are formulated with oil, may even retain higher concentrations of pollutants on the skin than if it were left in its natural state.

“Even if you have a fraction of a millimeter of cream or powder or makeup on your skin,” Hardegen says, “as soon as you step out into the smog it will quickly equilibrate.” That is, the concentration of chemicals in the cream will build up until it equals that of the air. And, he says, they will be held there, mixed with the grime of city life, clogging pores and contributing to what some dermatologists say is a current “epidemic” of adult acne.

“When you leave the polluted area and go to the beach, you’re still wearing smog cream,” says Hardegen, who believes that “naked” skin dressed skimpily in moisturizer (if dry) and essential sun block is the best protection against environmental impurities.

Healthy skin regenerates itself completely every 30 days--shedding the dead, dull and dirty skin and presenting a fresh face to the world. Healthy complexions also naturally manufacture a protective layer of bacteria that is the skin’s own shield to germs.

According to Dr. Weinstein, smog can even have a positive effect on Southern California complexions under siege by the sun. It’s a small benefit gained from the lung-burning gunk, he says, but “smog stops some of the ultraviolet rays from getting through. It can act as a sunscreen of sorts.”

Of course, this is not to say the Southern California life style is not a beauty spoiler. Like improper skin care (using harsh and irritating soaps) and lax dietary habits (eating junk foods barren of nutrients), indoor dry heat, outdoor low humidity, dirt, dust and other unseen enemies in the air contribute to dull skin, dryness, irritation, blackheads, acne and other complexion assaults.

But smog, says Dr. Weinstein, is nothing special from a beautiful complexion’s point of view. “I don’t know of any information that smog has affected the body by penetrating the skin. The problem is all in what you inhale.”

Despite expert opinions, beauty seekers may not retreat from cosmetic counters. Says Estee Lauder’s Williams of those intrigued by the company’s new anti-smog product, “Women love to try something new and different. It’s part of the fun.”