Good Skin's EXTEN-10, A New Way to Fight Aging? At Kohl's?

Every now and then a company comes up with a novel way to approach aging of the skin, which is both good and bad. Good because new novel approaches can lead to big break throughs, but also bad because sometimes they may not have the evidence to back up their claims and consumers spend money on something that is worthless.

In this case, I'm not sure that there is enough information in the literature to claim (yet) that Sirtuin proteins are a good way to prevent aging of the skin. However, this new product from Good Skin Labs contains enough other anti-aging ingredients that I feel it's worth checking out even before more info comes out about increasing Sirtuins, and then you can be cutting edge and know that you're using ingredients that have more evidence behind them.

So, what exactly is all of this nonsense I'm spouting about Sirtuins? Basically, they are proteins found throughout your body that interact with different cell functions. Sirtuins are involved in cell process like cell death, fat and muscle differentiation, and energy expenditure (1). They've even been implicated in that whole low calorie diet leading to increased life span, remember from a few years ago with the mice?

Since the low calorie mouse study, Sirtuins seem to be a pretty hot topic of research. They've been looked at for their role in neurodegenerative diseases (2, 3, 4), diabetes (5) and of course anti-aging (6, 7) and finally, in anti-aging skin care (8, 9). Perhaps the most promising study that I found was that last one, 9, in which they found that Sirtuin agonists can also reduce MMP production in photoaging (I explain what MMPs are and why they are increased in sun exposure in my photoaging post).

Along with the ingredients that activate Sirtuins, Exten-10 also boasts anti-oxidants and peptides. While neither of these ingredient categories have been found to reverse wrinkles in the medical literature, they are generally accepted as effective in the fight against aging. So, yes, there's not a lot in the literature about Sirtuins and the skin. What there is available is encouraging, and the other more accepted ingredients are there with SPF 15 to make me even happier.

Good Skin did look at how Exten-10 improved skin. I don't remember how the results were determined (eg- was there grading just by subjects, subjects and a doctor, were they blinded, or did they use one of those computers that take a picture of your face and compute all sorts of things), but regardless they gave me some numbers to look at for after 4 weeks of use. They found a 48% visible reduction in lines/wrinkles, 41% increase in firmness and 41% improvement in skin texture.

I found the lotion itself nice to use. It was light, sunk into my skin quickly and it did not interfere with makeup application. While there is a light sunscreen scent, it was not noticeable just a few minutes after application. Note that while there is sunscreen, you could certainly use this product at night as well. It was nicely moisturizing for my combination skin, though if you have dry skin (especially during the winter) you may want to apply a little extra moisturizer over this.

During my use of Exten-10 I had no issues with blemishes and I was generally happy with my skin. It didn't seem to be any clearer or more "glowy" than usual, but just... good.

Ingredients:
Water, Butylene Glycol, Octyldodecyl Mysristate, Glycerin, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, Dimethicone, Glyceryl Stearate, Sigesbeckia Orientalis (St. Paul's Wort) Extract, Centaurium Erythraea (Centaury) Extract, Triticium Vulgare (Wheat Bran) Extract, Hordeum Vulgare (Barley) Extract, Argania Spinosa Leaf Extract, Laminaria Saccharina Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Hydrolyzed Rice Extract, Tamarindus Indica Seed Extract, Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract, Rosemarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Extract, Selaginella Tamariscina (Spike Moss) Extract, Humulus Lupulus (Hops) Extract, Citrus Reticulata (Tangerine) Peel Extract, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Juice Extract, Larix Sibirica Wood Extract, Padina Pavonica Thallus Extract, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Extract, Yeast Extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seedcake, Caffeine, Cetyl Alcohol, Polyethylene, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Propanediol, Stearic Triglyceride, Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, PEG-100 Stearate, Creatine, Behenyl Alcohol, Phytantriol, Hexadecene Copolymer, Trehalose, Acetyl Glucosamine, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Polycaprolactone Crosspolymer, Isohexadecane, Caprylyl Glycol, Polysilicone-11, Propylene Glycol Dicaprate, Sodium PCA, Carbomer, Polysorbate 80, Cholesterol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hyaluronic Acid, Adenosine Phosphate, Linoleic Acid, Cyclodextrin, Sodium Acryloyldimethyltaurate Copolymer, Hexylene Glycol, Potassium Hydroxide, Linolenic Acid, Tin Oxide, Silica, Nordihydroguaiaretic Acid, Potassium Sulfate, Ethylbisiminomethylguaiacol Manganese Chloride, Disdoium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Titanium Dioxide, Mica, Iron Oxides.


Also: Caffeine (tightening), Hyaluronic Acid (hydration and plumping)