While we had mentioned this in one of our Beauty Brains polls, we never discussed the full story. According to a study done 
by Consumer Reports, you are wasting your money if you buy expensive wrinkle reducing face creams. According to CR, there is no connection between price and effectiveness.
Of course, it’s not surprising to the Beauty Brains. Since we know the raw materials that go into both ultra expensive and ultra cheap beauty products, we can sincerely report retail price doesn’t always reflect formula quality.
Most interesting about the study was the conclusion that no cream was noticeably effective. Some had slight improvements but none were deemed worth it. In lab studies, CR found the most effective product was Olay Regenerist (Enhancing Lotion, Perfecting Cream and Daily Regenerating Serum).
One surprise was a $335 product scored among the lowest of all the products tried.
The full list (in order of performance) is as follows.
Best to Worst - Wrinkle Reducing Creams
1. Olay Regnerist : $57
2. Lancome Paris Renergie: $176
3. RoC Retin-Ox+ : $135
4. Neutogena Visibly Firm Night Cream w Active Copper : $38
5. Avon Anew Alternative Age Treatment : $64
6. L’Oreal Paris Dermo-Expertise Wrinkle De-Crease : $40
7. StiVectin-SD Intensive Concentrate : $135
8. La Prarie Cellular : $335
9. RoC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle : $40
Consumer Reports and Beauty Products
Now, we here at the Beauty Brains love magazines like Consumer Reports. We completely support what they are trying to do. However, in some ways their results are suspect. It is not as good as peer reviewed research. Consider this true story that happened to one of the Beauty Brains.
Years ago, Consumer Reports did a study comparing a large number of shampoo formulas. They tested properties like foam, detangling, conditioning, etc. Then all the products were rated.
Coincidentally, two formulas that one Beauty Brain had created were in the study. The only difference between these 2 formulas was the color, the fragrance, a couple of “claims” ingredients and the name. In all other ways the formulas were the same.
In the study however, the formulas scored differently. One product was called a great value while the other was rated only mediocre. If they tested them thoroughly, this should not have happened. Ever since then, I’ve always been a bit skeptical of Consumer Reports studies.
Beauty Brains’ bottom line
While Consumer Reports has noble intentions, you shouldn’t always rely on their conclusions. They are not experts in the product areas that they test so they’re apt to make mistakes. Having said that, we agree with the results of this particular study…don’t waste your money on high priced wrinkle creams. They aren’t worth it.
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Raven Says:
I love hearing about little snafu’s with panels that set themselves up as authoritative. There is no way consumer reports can measure how each cosmetic or skin/hair care product will work for everyone who uses it, and they obviously don’t read labels.
Say…don’t the usually warn people to read labels?
thebeautybrains Says:
This is what the Beauty Brains is all about. More than anything, we want people to think for themselves. Be skeptical of things you hear from friends, family, the news and even “experts”. We are all easily fooled. Experts don’t know everything.
Babs Johnson Says:
There are many Johnny come lately products which claim to reduce wrinkles. However, if you know the industry pretty well, then you have heard of Agera. They were one of the first companies to utilize peptides in their formulas and have extensive clinical research to back up their products. How do I know this? I was the Quality Assurance Director before I took my present job.
Left Brain Says:
Being first to use a technology that has never been proven to improve skin condition in a peer reviewed scientific paper is no great accomplishment. There’s no proof that Agera works better to reduce wrinkles than any other fine wrinkle product. But you can be sure it’s not because of the peptides.
thebeautybrains.com » Vitamin C: Skin Savior or Marketing Myth Says:
[...] not work any better than high quality mass market products like Olay or Ponds. As we discussed in a recent post on wrinkle creams, spending a lot more doesn’t always guarantee that you’ll get a better [...]
cdt Says:
Why $57 for Regenerist? Doesn’t it cost around $15-$20?
michelle Says:
the neutrogena copper made a true difference to me and i let my dermatologist know it. she had recommended something else that didn’t work at all and couldn’t understand why i said the copper product was really working. the downside is that if you use it twice a day for a little while it gives a metallic taste to your mouth. although the results were great, it’s not worth the metally taste to me so i have compromised and now use it about once every other day instead.
thebeautybrains Says:
Michelle,
This “metallic taste” in your mouth sounds really strange. I wouldn’t imagine that there is enough copper in the neutrogena product to have that kind of effect. We’ll look into this more.
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[...] seen previously that price is not indicative of the effectiveness of an anti-aging skin treatment. The conclusion was that none of the products were as effective as [...]
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[...] are two posts you should read, Hope. The first one is about what Consumer Reports found out about expensive wrinkle creams. The second is about what organic cosmetics really [...]
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