My birthday is coming up in less than a month and I’m going to be 43 this year. I just had a baby in January ’08, so some days I feel my age, but because I’ve been blessed with good genes (a Filipino/Irish/French mother and a Japanese/Okinawan/Scot father), most days, I don’t look my age.
So, let’s cut to the chase: what makes my skin look younger than its chronological age? I swear it’s my moisturizer.
I’ve been in the industry for what seems like forever (20 years) and I’ve used hundreds of different products on my skin. The product that I’ve seen the best results with has been Neova Creme de la Copper.
Here’s a bit of disclosure before we go any further. I worked for ProCyte, the makers of Neova for two years (2000-2002). When I joined the company, I was skeptical about the benefits I’d see with the skin care products even though the company’s technology (GHK Copper Peptide also known as Prezatide Copper Acetate) had tons of science behind it. I started to use Neova Night Therapy right away and in 8 weeks, I had an “aha!” moment in the mirror. You know those moments when you look in the mirror and say, “Wow! My skin looks fantastic!” My skin looked the best it had looked in years, and I had great skin to begin with.
Prezatide Copper Acetate (GHK Copper Peptide) is the performance ingredient in all Neova Therapy products. The actual scientific explanation of how it works can get somewhat complicated, so for you science/ingredient geeks (I’m the president of that club) go to: http://www.procyte.com/brand.php?bid=9. I co-wrote an article several years ago about the technology that was published in Les Nouvelles Esthetique. If you'd like a copy of it, let me know and I'll email you a PDF. For the rest of you normal people who here’s the simple explanation: copper is an essential mineral for building collagen and elastin skin. Did you know that? Neither did I until I started working for ProCyte. ProCyte has bonded a chain of amino acids to a copper molecule to drive it into the skin so that it can do its work down in the dermis.
Perhaps the thought has occurred to you, “why can’t I just stuff myself full of copper-rich foods or take a supplement?” Well, that would be a great idea since Americans typically have a copper deficient diet and the copper that we do take into our bodies goes to running our vital organs. Nuts, liver, oysters and chocolate (the only thing palatable as far as I’m concerned) are all exceptional sources of copper, but if you want copper to do its business on your skin, you’ve got to apply it topically. ProCyte’s patented GHK Copper Peptide is the only copper ingredient that really works because of the peptide that’s bonded to it. Think of the peptide as the vehicle and the copper as the passenger. The peptide knows where it’s going, drives the passenger there and lets it out at the final destination to work at stimulating collagen and elastin. The result is beautiful, firm, youthful looking skin.
When I was in my 30’s, Neova Night Therapy was enough, but now that I’ve hit my 40’s, I prefer the richer texture of Neova Creme de la Copper. But let me warn you, it’s not a cheap date. At $97.00 for 1.7 oz (available at www.dermadoctor.com) the price can seem a bit steep in these hard economic times. So I’ve got a little secret for you: ProCyte licensed a copper peptide technology (Copper Tripeptide-1) to Neutrogena which they carry in their Visibly Firm products. They have a Night Cream that retails for about $20 at your local drugstore that I think performs just as well as Neova Night Therapy or Creme de la Copper. I use Neutrogena Visibly Firm Night Cream when money gets a little tight and I’m always happy with the results. I’ve tried to use other moisturizers over the last six years and nothing makes my skin look as good as a product with GHK Copper Peptide in it.
So there you have it. That’s my fountain of youth. And while I’d like to keep it to myself and make you believe that I’m younger than I really am, the truth is I’ve got some serious help in a jar.