ME & M@.......FaShioN!!!

Laura Keogh asks Clinique’s Dr. Paolo Giacomoni about capturing eternal youth.

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When a scientist begins an interview about a new anti-aging cream with “Once upon a time,” I consider it to be a pretty lofty introduction since most fairy tales end happily. In the case of an anti-aging cream, ending happily means looking younger. Dr. Paolo Giacomoni’s story is about seeking eternal life, but with the caveat that “longevity without youth is a curse.” As executive director of research and development for Clinique, he understands the irony in his speech, and offers a disclaimer: “I’m not promising that you’re going to live longer with our cream.” However, he does take great pains to explain, in his thick-as-molasses Italian accent, how the company’s Youth Surge Age Decelerating Moisturizer SPF 15 ($59, at department stores) can help your skin preserve its youthful appearance for as long as possible—maybe longer than Mother Nature intended.

If you follow skin-care technology news as closely as some track the count of Jolie-Pitt offspring, then you’ve heard of sirtuins, enzymes that help safeguard the integrity of a cell’s DNA. There has been extensive independent research showing that increased levels of sirtuins in yeast cells boosted their duplication capability while maintaining their health. But what does this mean for the age-spotted masses?

According to Giacomoni, our cells “have their own lifespan,” and if we can maintain their lifetime while protecting the cell from damage, then our skin will look younger longer. Now, if you’re wondering how yeast relates to your skin, Giacomoni explains: “Like an expensive car that has some parts in common with less-expensive cars, we humans have some genes in common with yeast.” He’s being cheeky. But he has my attention.

Using sirtuin technology, Clinique has come up with a trio of ingredients that will allegedly result in your skin’s own Groundhog Day—you’ll appear 30 over and over and over. “We have in our epidermis several million cells, and every day, every one of the cells duplicates. And one cell is about one-1000th of an inch in diameter, but it contains about six feet of DNA. Imagine duplicating, every day, six feet of material without breaking it,” exclaims Giacomoni. “Before the cell duplicates, it makes many sirtuins, and these work with the DNA in such a way that it can replicate without breaking.” Upholding the DNA chain is important because cells without perfectly linked DNA do not maintain the structure of the skin.

Using what Giacomoni calls the “three musketeers” of age reversal, Youth Surge “addresses the damage that comes from within.” The first, isonicotinamide, keeps cellular activity moving, while the second, NADH, has two roles in the cell: to generate fuel and help repair any DNA damage. “The bad news is that when [NADH] is used to repair DNA, it is no longer helpful in making fuel. The cell will either die from lack of fuel despite being repaired, or survive and replicate, but with damage,” says Giacomoni. With added NADH, even if you suffer DNA sun damage, you can mend it. “The latest and very best antioxidant ever,” according to Giacomoni, is luteolin, the third element.

Add to that vitamin C, high-powered sunscreens and threhalose (to deadbolt moisture in the skin), plus decarboxy carnosine HCI, which maintains the snap of elastin easily damaged by glycation, and Giacomoni says Youth Surge will help “reduce the rate at which the body gets older—at least the skin of the body. We don’t want to live long for the sake of long living. We want to be in great shape.” Sounds like a fairy tale for big girls