06/08/2014
This creamy, emollient moisturizer for dry skin is packaged in an airless jar to ensure the stability of the light- and air-sensitive ingredients it contains. Among those ingredients is retinol, and Mary Kay included it in an amount that appears to be greater than the amount in many other available retinol products. (Keep in mind, however, that more retinol isn't necessarily better; too much can result in red, flaky, irritated skin.)
Along with retinol are other anti-aging ingredients, including antioxidant-rich emollients, some soothing plant extracts, and a peptide. Those are all great, but there's a misstep, too: The formula contains cinnamon bark extract, which can be irritating. Cinnamon contains volatile components that can cause an allergic reaction, so, although it offers antioxidant benefits, it's not among the best to look for in terms of gentleness (Source: www.naturaldatabase.com). Still, on balance, this is the most impressive (and pleasant to use) Timewise Repair product.
What about Mary Kay's Volu-Firm complex? According to the company, this complex consists of three ingredients present in every Timewise Repair product: a peptide, an ingredient that helps boost skin's hyaluronic acid content (Mary Kay doesn't specify what this ingredient is), and plant stem cells.
Plant stem cells in skin-care products are fairly useless because stem cells must be alive to have an effect, and in a skin-care product that certainly wouldn't be the case (see More Info for details on this). In general, the research about peptides is at best minor, coming primarily from the companies selling the ingredients or the products containing them, which means that the research is not proof of anything. Theoretically, peptides can have benefit, but because no one knows for sure it would be a mistake to rely solely on them, in any formulation, to make a difference for wrinkles or sagging.
