Wrinkle creams don’t always deliver

Product Reviews

October 23, 2011|Consumer Reports

Are wrinkle creams a miracle or mirage?

Garnier promises “repair action to the core of each wrinkle’’ so that “in four weeks wrinkles are reduced.’’ Aveeno claims that “in four weeks, 100% of women showed improved skin vitality with reduced appearance of wrinkles or diminished look of age spots.’’

Lancôme claims a “dramatic decrease in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.’’ But at $80 for 1.7 ounces for its Paris Renergie Double Performance Treatment Anti-Wrinkle Firming cream, you might expect Lancôme to repaint your house, too.

Consumer Reports tested seven antiwrinkle creams, including Aveeno Active Naturals Ageless Vitality Elasticity Recharging System, Day, $40; Equate Advanced Firming & Anti-Wrinkle Face & Neck Cream (Walmart), $8; CVS Pharmacy Firming Anti-Wrinkle Moisturizer, $12; and one control, a moisturizer with no wrinkle-reduction claims: Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture Sensitive Skin Ultra Gentle Facial Moisturizer. (Two Olay products Consumer Reports also tested have since been reformulated.) Alas, testers were underwhelmed.

How Consumer Reports tested

At an outside lab, 79 subjects (67 women and 12 men) used two of the products, one on each side of the face, every morning for 12 weeks. All had moderate to marked lines and wrinkles, and they didn’t know which products they were using. They filled out questionnaires assessing the products after an hour, six weeks, and 12 weeks.

Six trained sensory panelists then assessed wrinkle reduction by comparing before photos with after photos taken at those same intervals, looking at six specific areas on subjects’ faces. Panelists didn’t know which product or time period they were looking at. They also assessed the products’ scent and how they felt on the skin.

What they found

At best the products had a small effect, and not on everyone.

After an hour, the Garnier, L’Oréal Paris ($16), and Lancôme products seemed to bring a slight, short-term improvement in the look of wrinkles, based on photos. After six weeks, all the products had reduced wrinkles a bit on just one-third or less of the people who used them. No product was even slightly better than the rest, including the control. After 12 weeks, the Garnier product was slightly better than the rest. Sensory panelists judged that it lessened wrinkles somewhat on 9 of 16 people. Other products helped only three to six people.

Yet just seven of the 16 test subjects said they would buy the top-rated Garnier. Sensory panelists said its aroma had a hint of floral and sweet plastic, and some of them needed more than 30 seconds to rub it in. The largest number of test subjects said they would buy the Neutrogena moisturizer tested as a control.

Bottom line.

If you are set on a wrinkle reducer, go for the Garnier. Just don’t expect any miracles.

Consumer Reports writes columns, reviews, and ratings on cars, appliances, electronics, and other consumer goods. For previous stories, see consumerreports.org.