Sephora’s newest skin care line is for the face. Photo courtesy Sephora.com.
Sephora, the LVMH-owned beauty chain of 518 stores in 16 countries, has recently released a new facial skin care line. One product, the Sephora Age Prevention Moisturizer for Normal Skin ($20, Sephora.com) claims to “act like a shield, protecting skin from sun and free-radicals which cause signs of aging.” However, does the product live up to the claims? Or would you be better off spending your $20 on drugstore moisturizers?
Not a great source of antioxidants
Based on the ingredients list, Sephora Age Prevention Moisturizer for Normal Skin contains less than 1% of all of its major antioxidants, including vitamin E (tocopherol), green tea (camellia sinesis leaf extract), and vitamin C (ascorbyl palmitate and ascorbic acid). Compare this to a similarly priced product like Olay Regenerist Night Recovery Treatment ($17.14, Amazon.com), and you can clearly see the Olay Regenerist Night Recovery Treatment has superior ingredients, including a higher concentration of vitamin E and green tea than the Sephora product, as well as a high concentration of beneficial niacinamide.
Not a source of proven anti-aging peptides
Sephora Age Prevention Moisturizer for Normal Skin contains “rice nutripeptides.” Unfortunately, this is one of those times in which a name, “peptide,” is not what it seems. A rice nutripeptide is nothing more than a peptide sequence [of amino acids] derived from rice. Unfortunately, no published scientific studies to date have documented any benefits to the inclusion of rice nutripeptides in skin care products. In addition, while the amino acid content of skin is lessened in dry or scaly skin, it has never been found in independent scientific studies that applying amino acids to the skin restores moisturization or stimulates the skin to regenerate amino acids.
This is misleading, because some peptides (not rice nutripeptide) have been shown in scientific research to stimulate collagen production in the skin. Two of these are palmitoyl pentapeptide-3 and palmitoyl oligopeptide. Palmitoyl pentapeptide-3 is the amino acid sequence lysine-threonine-threonine-lysine-serine, which has been demonstrated to stimulate feedback regulation of new collagen synthesis and to result in an increased production of extracellular matrix proteins (types I and II collagen and fibronectin). For these reasons, palmitoyl pentapeptide-3 is increasingly popular in skin care products. On the other hand, palmitoyl oligopeptide is a sequence of peptides that reads valine-glycine-valine-alanine-proline-glycine, combined with a palmitic acid in order to increase penetration through the epidermis. A 2007 study in Dermatologic Therapy suggests that palmitoyl oligopeptide significantly stimulates human skin collagen production in fibroblasts, which may slow the degradation of collagen over time.
A source of hydrating ingredients and sunscreen
The only things Sephora Age Prevention Moisturizer for Normal Skin has going for it are its plethora of hydrating ingredients and its broad-spectrum, UVA/UVB sunscreen. Pick an emollient, and it’s here: butylene glycol, glycerin, dimethicone, cetyl alcohol, shea butter…the list goes on. Unfortunately, hydrating ingredients are available in a wide range of creams, and many have additional benefits to offer.
As a result…
I am not a fan of this product. Product Rating: 2/10 (Ingredients with substantive research backing in high concentration: 1/3 [only emollient ingredients], New technology: 0/3, Value for the money: 0/3, Sunscreen: 1/1).
If you are looking for superior antioxidant treatments, I recommend Skinceuticals CE Ferulic ($103.70, Amazon.com), Cellbone Technology C15ie Advanced C-Serum ($68.00, Cellbone.com), Revalé Skin Night Cream with 1% Coffeeberry ($99.00, PrSkincare.com) or Topix Replenix Cream. ($43.00, MakeMeHeal.com).
If you are looking for a peptide treatment with antioxidants, I recommend DERMAdoctor Wrinkle Revenge Facial Cream ($72.00, DERMAdoctor.com).
And if you are looking for a peptide treatment with antioxidants in this price range, I recommend Olay Regenerist Night Recovery Treatment ($17.14, Amazon.com).
Ingredients in Sephora Age Prevention Moisturizer SPF 15 for Normal Skin
Active ingredients: Octinoxate 7.4%, Octocrylene 2%, Titanium Dioxide 1.05%. Other indredients: Water, Butylene Glycol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glycerin, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Capriylic Triglyceride, Dimethicone, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Shea Butter, PEG-40 Stearate, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Phenoxyethanol, Shorbitan Tristearate, Nylon-12, Fragrance, Hexyl Laurate, Alcohol, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Caprylyl Glycol, Carbomer, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Methylparaben, Propylene Glycol, Stearic Acid, Lecithin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Maltodextrin, Alumina, Butylparaben, Sodium Hydroxide, Carnosine, Ethylparaben, PEG-8, Isobutylparaben, Propylparaben, Tocopherol, Camellia Sinesis Leaf Extract, Hydrolized Rice Protein, BHT, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Sorbitol, Silybum Marianum Fruit Extract, Ascorbic Acid, Citric Acid.