I’m all about high concentrations of potent ingredients in skin care formulations. So when I heard about M Lab products, formulated with “unprecedented levels — 45-74% — of clinically active ingredients,” I was pretty excited.

It turns out there is both good news and a little bit of bad news. The good news is, of course, that there are lots of quality, well-researched ingredients, ranging from ceramide 2 to olive oil, from retinyl palmitate to vitamin C, which together comprise 45-74% of the composition of the cream. Each of the ingredients have specific uses and cover just about everything a patient could want in an anti-aging cream:

• free radical-fighting antioxidants vitamins C and E, coenzyme Q10, and olive oil
  
• firming palmitoyl pentapeptide-7 and ceramide 2, skin-smoothing soybean extract
• hydrating olive oil, glycerin, squalane, cholesterol, and dimethicone
• skin-brightening arbutin
• wrinkle-fighting retinyl palmitate and aminobutyric acid
• broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection with ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate and oxybenzone

That’s the good, or even great, news.

The sort-of bad news is that M Lab Anti-Aging Day Treatment SPF 15 fails to include especially high concentrations of any one key active ingredient. Although collectively, yes, 12 active ingredients comprise 45-74% of the composition of the product, some key ingredients, like vitamin C as tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate and vitamin E as tocopheryl acetate, are only found in the 1-2% range. In fact, the ingredient in highest concentration (besides the sunscreen) is aminobutyric acid, which is most likely in the 10-15% range. Limited research demonstrates that topical application of aminobutyric acid can have a wrinkle-inhibiting effect in some patients, but the effect is not universal. (I liken its effects to the diet product hoodia – for the patients it works for, it’s a miracle, but for others, it doesn’t work at all!)

Of course, I also recognize that having each of the active ingredients in the 10-15% range is a mathematical impossibility. I just wish that the cream had higher concentrations of the more scientifically researched ingredients, like vitamin C, vitamin E, olive oil, and retinyl palmitate, rather than aminobutyric acid, cholesterol, and squalane (a less-researched wrinkle-inhibitor and two hydrators).

M Lab Anti-Aging Day Treatment SPF 15 feels very smooth on the skin and drinks in quickly. It has a faint, pleasant scent reminiscent of many Clinique sun care products. And while I am a bit disappointed that the most researched ingredients are not found in even higher concentrations, I still feel that M Lab Anti-Aging Day Treatment SPF 15 makes a moisturizer ideal for the young patient who is looking to protect and prevent the skin from premature aging and to increase skin’s brightness and hydration, but not necessarily erase fine lines and wrinkles (too little retinyl palmitate for that), unless you know your skin reacts well to GABA inhibitors. I give it a solid 8.5/10. (High concentration of well-researched ingredients: 2.5/3. New technology or unique formulation: 2.5/3. Value for the money: 2.5/3. Sunscreen: 1/1).

Ingredients in M Lab Anti-Aging Day Treatment SPF 15

Aqua, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer-3, Oxybenzone, Pentylene Glycol, Aminobutyric Acid, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Glycerin, Sodium Dihydroxycetyl Phosphate, Cholesterol, Dimethicone, PEG-40 Stearate, Squalane, Butylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Beta Glucan, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate, Vitis Vinifera Oil Crosspolymer, Ceramide 2, Carbomer, Cetearyl Alcohol, Olea Europaea Oil, Polysorbate-60, Vitis Vinifera Oil, Alpha Arbutin, Caprylyl Glycol, Hydrolyzed Algin, Potassium Sorbate, Sorbitol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Xanthum Gum, Chlorella Vulgaris Extract, Chlorphenesin, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Polysorbate 20, Moris Aqua, Algin, Gellidiela Acerosa Extract, Glycine Soja Extract, Hypnea Musciformis Extract, Retinyl Palmitate, Sargassum Filipendula Extract, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Citrate, Atelocollagen, Evodia Rutaecarpa Extract, Ubiquinone, Sodium Hydroxide, Serine, Sodium Hyaluronate