MOVE OVER Strivectin, LiftFusion and Hylexin - the latest buzz in the beauty world is idebenone, an antioxidant that promises instant, dramatic results. Its marketers say it's 'a miracle' and 'the new wonder potion', but do such treatments live up to their hype in Hong Kong, where skin is assaulted daily by pollution, ultra-violet rays, stress and second-hand cigarette smoke? And can antioxidants such as vitamins C and E or ferulic acid really halt the ageing of our faces?
Skincare manufacturers and local experts say they can. Properly formulated topical antioxidant preparations act as free-radical scavengers, protecting and correcting skin damage, they say.
'Everyone has a built-in antioxidant system, but sometimes it needs a boost.' says Hong Kong dermatologist Tinny Ho. 'We know there are certain ingredients or chemicals in skincare products that can produce this antioxidant effect - in fact, there's a huge range, including vitamins C, E, idebenone, selenium, green tea extract and ginkgo.
But Ho says she has doubts about the efficacy of some products. 'The question is, do they penetrate and work from within the skin?' she says. 'If they have only been proven to have an antioxidant effect in a test tube, that's not good enough. We need to see 'in-vivo' effects - whether the antioxidants work within. There's no use rubbing green tea leaves on your skin if it doesn't help.'
Skincare products containing idebenone aren't yet available in Hong Kong, but two brands, Prevage and Idebenol, are selling well overseas.
Sovage Dermatologic Laboratories, makers of Idebenol, claim that in a clinical trial conducted on women with an average age of 67, the speed at which new skin cells replaced old matched that of a 29-year-old.