FASHION : An Easy Way to Save Face : Cosmetics: Even the mild dose of alpha hydroxy acids found in over-the-counter products may help aging skin appear younger.
What’s cheaper and less painful than a chemical face peel and easier to buy than Retin-A? Over-the-counter face creams infused with alpha hydroxy acids.
Cosmetics companies are marketing these acids--in lotions, astringents, creams, cleansers and masks--in the latest effort to slow the aging process. Derived from sugar cane, sour milk, old wine and fruits, alpha hydroxy acids are used in physician-administered chemical face peels. In over-the-counter strength, they help loosen dead cells, plump the skin’s top layer and make fine wrinkles appear less noticeable.
Chanel, La Prairie, Elizabeth Arden, Prescriptives and Clinique are a few of the lines touting new alpha hydroxy products. And while La Prairie’s Age Management Serum costs $125 an ounce, 2 ounces of Alpha Hydrox’s Face Cream go for a mere $8.99. (And, no, you can’t make your own formula out of sour milk or grapefruit juice. While each might make the skin tingle, neither will exfoliate it, say dermatologists.)
Alpha hydroxy acids are less harsh than the popular wrinkle-softening prescription drug Retin-A, which was introduced in the ‘70s. And they don’t cause sensitivity to the sun.
“Everyone needs to be careful when using these over-the-counter products,” says Dr. David Duffy, a UCLA assistant professor of medicine/dermatology, because no doctor supervises their use.
Even those who have no trouble with other products may develop a reaction, he says. And younger users are more susceptible to inflammation than older ones because skin thickens with age, becoming decreasingly sensitive.
Like Retin-A, alpha hydroxy acids won’t work miracles, but they may help baby boomers postpone the inevitable. Dr. Helene Rosenzweig, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at UCLA, says using such products especially benefits people in their 30s.
“It will give them a jump-start in the anti-aging process--as long as they continue with sun protection--and it may even postpone the need for more intense chemical peels.”
PRODUCT LIST
* Avon: “Anew Perfecting Complex for Face”; $15.50 for 1.7 ounce; 4% concentration alpha hydroxy acids.
* Chanel: “Day Lift Refining Complex”; $45 an ounce; not listed.
* Clinique: “Turnaround Cream”; $27.50, 2 ounces; amount of alpha hydroxy acids not listed.
* Elizabeth Arden: “Ceramide Time Complex Moisture Cream”; $45, 1.7 ounces; not listed.
* Estee Lauder: “Fruition Triple ReActivating Complex”; $42.50, 1 ounce; not listed.
* La Prairie: “Age Management Serum”; $125 for 1 ounce; 5% concentration alpha hydroxy acids.
* Murad: “Skin Soothing Cream”; $35, 1.7 ounce; 8-10% concentration of alpha hydroxy acids.
* Neoteric: “Alpha Hydrox”; $8.99, 2 ounces; 8% concentration of alpha hydroxy acids.
* Prescriptives: “All You Need Action Moisturizer”; $30 for 1.7 ounce; not listed.
* Westwood Squib: “Lac-Hydrin 12”; $22, 5 ounces; 12% concentration of alpha hydroxy acids. Prescription only.
