Demand for antiaging cosmeceuticals and cosmetic products was strong in 2009 and growing, according to a recent post at CosmeticDesign.com. As I am decidedly skeptical about the antiaging product marketing that has exploded in the media in the past year, the marriage of antiaging science and market research is questionable at best. The CosmeticDesign.com story mentions anti-aging skin care sales in the US rising 13% between 2006 and 2008, hitting $1.6 billion.

Among the hot areas called out were products to treat skin glycation, a process that weakens skin’s structure at a cellular level; the launch of more technologically advanced ingredients, ranging from elastratropin (a bioengineered form of a part of human elastin) to antioxidant ingredients adapted to cosmetic use; and research investigating the potential of stem cells to heal the ravages of aging. Anti-aging technologies come to the fore in 2009:

Perhaps the biggest development for anti-aging formulations was in the area of stem cell technology.

In a conference held at the HBA event, in New York, back in September, lead LVMH scientist Eric Perrier underlined how such technologies were the path towards efficacy in a jar, as opposed to hope in a jar.

Another speaker at the conference, Boris Petrikovsky, senior scientific advisor for skin care company Bellis Development, discussed his research into fetal skin and how this could present new opportunities for anti-aging ingredients.

According to Petrikovsky, fetal skin heals in a completely different way to adult skin and bears little resemblance to the classic wound repair that scientists are used to and stem cell technology can be used to render it suitable for anti-aging treatments.

As 2009 draws to an end technologically and scientifically advanced anti-aging skin care formulations continue to proliferate, and with this proving to be the key driving factor for the categories, 2010 is set to throw up some equally spectacular developments.

The fact that this activity is all happening "in a jar" is a clue to the hype: One cannot put one's hands on any product that holds the hope of so many that the antiaging market will get real and get serious in the coming year. I admire the antiaging folks for being positive thinkers, though. There may be high hopes for the efficacy and usefulness of new antiaging products, but let's hold off on declaring them and the market a runaway success just yet.

The Physicians Coalition for Injectable Safety recently launched a campaign aimed at reminding consumers that no pharmaceutical filler or injected device is presently FDA-approved for large volume injection to the buttocks. Coalition Says Synthetic Fillers and Large Volume Injections Dangerous:

The popularity and hype surrounding buttock augmentation and other large-volume body enhancing injections on blog sites like RealSelf.com and outside U.S. borders is an alarming and potentially deadly trend, cautions the Physicians Coalition for Injectable Safety. Permanent fillers such as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), silicone, and polyacrylimide used in augmenting buttocks, hips, and even breasts can not only result in disfigurement but have resulted in death and serious injuries both in the U.S. and abroad. Synthetic fillers are used without extensive studies to determine safety and long-term outcomes.

The recent death of a woman in Argentina following buttock augmentation is not a result of plastic surgery. It is the result of a dangerous practice with fillers that are not intended to be used in this way.

The recent death of a woman in Argentina following buttock augmentation is not a result of plastic surgery," says Brazilian plastic surgeon Joao Carlos Sampaio Goes, MD, PhD, and past president of the International Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. It is the result of a dangerous practice with fillers that are not intended to be used in this way." Buttock augmentation is a hot topic in the media and a popular procedure of surgical tourism," often performed in countries where standards are less stringent.   

This is not an incident or practice isolated to the U.S," says Baltimore dermatologist Robert Weiss, MD, Immediate Past- President of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery. Recent headlines of death in the U.S. include cases in Tampa, Florida where an unlicensed, non--medical provider allegedly injected two women with a homemade combination of industrial silicone oil and saline to augment or enhance the shape of their buttocks, and a woman in the Bronx who died after illegal silicone injections resulted in the substance migrating to (traveling) her lungs and producing respiratory failure."

Read it all.

I am always amused when some organization does a study that reveals what common sense and regular life's observations already told us. And very often these ain't-it-obvious research pieces take the obvious to ridiculous lengths -- for example, gun-toting drivers are more prone to road rage, faraway objects are tougher to see, swallowing more than one magnet is dangerous, etc. Here's the latest one and it's all about facial wrinkes: Women are More Prone to Facial Wrinkles Than Men:

Findings from a new study published in the November/December issue of Aesthetic Surgery Journal (ASJ), a publication of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), suggest that gender-specific differences in the perioral skin (skin surrounding the mouth) account for more and deeper skin wrinkling in women than in men. The study, conducted by a team of plastic surgeons from the Netherlands, was presented at the annual meeting of the European Association of Plastic Surgeons last May in Barcelona, Spain.

The study found that all of the following could be contributing factors to the presence of more and deeper perioral wrinkles in women:

    * Women’s perioral skin contains fewer sweat glands and sebaceous glands (microscopic glands in the skin that secrete an oily/waxy matter, called sebum, to lubricate skin and hair), which could influence the natural filling of the dermis (skin).
    * Women’s perioral skin contains fewer blood vessels and, therefore, is less vascularized compared to men, which could accelerate the development of wrinkles.
    * In women, the closer attachment of the muscular fibers surrounding the orifice of the mouth to the dermis may cause an inward traction, thereby creating deeper wrinkles.

Many of my female friends are chuckling over the study. "In addition to this so-called scientific information," one wrote, "keep in mind that men shave everyday and by their grooming habits exfoliate on a regular basis from an early age. There are also hormonal reasons for why women's faces wrinkle more than men. You can run down the list. Every woman knows what these doctors spent a lot of time and effort trying to 'prove'."

Read about the study here.