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 Beauty 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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I also read that Idebenone can be used to brighten spotty skin. How does it work to help age spots?
idebenol is a product by ‘sovage’. it’s actually the name of the product, not an ingredient. it’s (the product) is described as a “topical antioxidant”…there is no idebenone to be found in the product. my guess is this product was developed around the time idebenone was a big buzzword and they wanted to capitalize on people making the mistake of thinking they were buying something with idebenone.