Michelle Muses:
Speak to me, oh Beauty Brains, of “Idebenone” and its supposed anti-aging miracles. A spa in town carries True Cosmetics (www.truecosmetics.com), touted to be the only legal patent holder on this ingredient, but I see Elizabeth Arden is promoting it now. Also, is the similar sounding “idebenal” in any way related? Thanks!
The Right’s Brainy Explanation:
Idebenone has been used for decades as a pharmaceutical “smart drug;” in the US it’s sold without a prescription and classified as a nutritional supplement. Chemically, this material is closely related to CoEnzyme Q10 – a powerful antioxidant which has gained popularity for it’s alleged ability to improve skin wrinkles. Idebenone has found its way into some high end skin care products as the next miracle treatment.
There is some data to suggest that Idebenone may have some efficacy in fighting wrinkels but it’s easily deactivated by contact with oxygen so it must be kept “fresh” or somehow stabilized in the formula if it has any chance of working at all. Just buying a standard skin cream formula that has idebenone thrown in won’t do much for you. And even when it is properly stabilized there aren’t conclusive studies showing its better than other wrinkle treatments on the market. For a detailed discussion on this subject to read this from our friends at smartskincare.com.
What about Trucosmetics? Well, we’re not impressed by the claims on their website. They claim that idebenone has more effective than Q10 and we weren’t able to corroborate that claim anywhere else. We also can’t find any reference to a patent on their website, but if you’ve seen a patent number somewhere pass it on to us and we’ll check it out. We do know that Idebenone has been used for years, so we’re skeptical that there are any significant new patent activity. (Often times patents on cosmetics don’t really mean all that much!)
You also asked about “Idebenal” – that must be a typo. We can’t find any reference to that material at all.
The Brains‘ Bottom Line:
Idebenone is derived from the Latin “I Debit In None” which, loosely translated, means “I’m tired of going into debt for all these cometic products that deliver none of their claims.” Capiche?
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This is a fabulous write up about Idebenone. I have been reading up about it as well. I recently tried a sample pack of Prevage that they keep stored in very small containers, probably to keep the product stabilized.
Prevage smells terrible! Is the Idebenone that causes that?
Probably not. We’d have to see the rest of the ingredients in Prevage to know for sure.
i have found a patent for idebenone european 1 194115 how can this be in existence wiht so many products with idebenone and if its been used for so long?
Can you eat this cream? I have Friedreich’s Ataxia and it would help me out alot (:
OKay, I am a HUGE skeptic with expensive skin products, but I have to admit I am addicted to PREVAGE MD. DO NOT mess with the Elizabeth Arden formulation – go straight to the MD strength (1% idebenone). Well, I actually shoudl say obtain a sample and conduct a skin patch test first because it is so strong that some people actually have a reaction. I use it twice a day after cleansing/toning and applying a serum/treatment. After the Prevage MD I place on my sunscreen. Occasionally throughout the day I will actually reapply to refresh my skin. Other than my retinoid(I use generic) this is the product that I absolutely see results with. I have tried other companies products with idebenone, but Allergan got it right with this one – the idebenone is stable and the packaging protects it from the light and degradation. YOu can but ther ocmpanies but with tehirs you pay for the expertise and how they figured out to get it right – same goes with Botox which they sell/manufacture. They just know how to di it! The other interesting aspect is the longer I have used it I continue to see results. I had to use it for about 4 weeks to start seeing impact. FYI, the rest of the Allergan skin product line did nada for me – same goes for any of teh other Prevage products – eye cream, day cream, etc.