Exposing The Skin Boosters Myth

‘This product promotes collagen in your skin’, is as vague as saying, “Europe.”, when someone asks, “Where did you go on holiday?”.

Well, was it Barcelona or Barnsley? There’s quite a difference.

There are 28 different types of collagen. Some can be biomarkers for assessing whether you’re going to die from cancer (Nissen 2022). Others can remodel a scar that reminds you of a traumatic life event to bring some happiness into your life.

When skin boosters such as Profhilo, Sculptra, NCTF, PhilArt, Nucleofill, SeventyHyal etc come on the market, they usually fail to make a big deal of which types of collagen they increase in the skin. When we know that increasing certain types of collagen, e.g. type XVI, is highly linked to disease (Akagi 1999), one would be forgiven for becoming extremely frustrated at brands not being fully disclosive and/or not making a big deal of which collagens they promote. The promotion is based on increasing ‘skin tightness’ as a generalisation.

After all, who doesn’t wish to keep their face youthful while slowing the ageing process?

The question then becomes, “Which collagens are required for this?”. This is what every patient and provider should ask when selecting a treatment to receive/provide. What’s special about this question is its objectivity arising from its naturally purely anatomical and factual answer(s) that necessitates zero subjectivity.

Most of them increase mainly type I and III. This causes no harm, but, at the same time, it doesn’t necessarily cause a tightness increase either. Anatomically speaking, for the purposes of this context, these types are found sitting inside the second layer of the skin called the ‘dermis’. Here they provide structure and tensile strength amongst other things. However, if we wish to create structure and tensile strength ‘between’ the layers like a staple bringing together sheets of paper (because we want ‘tightness’ which means layers glueing to each other and your face better) then surely we must require collagen types that traverse layers?

This is indeed the case. Types IV and VII are crucial for this (amongst some other relatively minor types). Factually speaking, they are responsible for bringing together the separate layers along with molecules such as fibronectin and laminins without going into details beyond the scope of this article. Therefore, the products that generate the most amount of these are the ones that factually give the best tightening effect. Types IV and VII are the collagens we desire whether we realise it or not.

Alongside these, the actual elastic recoil of skin must be increased if we’re to have youth returned. For example, your skin can be plump but if it doesn’t recoil back when stretched then it still gives the appearance of ageing. The common myth is to believe that collagen is the main structure responsible for this. The truth, factually speaking, is that ‘elastin’ is the key ingredient for this - hence the name ‘elastin’. Collagens provide structure, signalling complexes and strength. Elastins provide physical recoil like an elastic band.

However, understanding which molecules help improve our appearance is only half the game. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to increase these (specific) things. This is why there are so many different brands with so-called different methodologies and fancy marketing pictures, but, they all do pretty much the same thing - collagen I and III. This is the skin booster myth.

Factually speaking, again, there is only one product in the world that can maximally physiologically increase collagens IV, VII, elastin and fibronectin: Sunekos. The fact is proven by its patent. If the scope of this article allowed, one could show extreme similarities between many of the brands listed above and this one - it is no coincidence.

If you entered Formula 1, would you like to shorten the learning curve by copying the perpetual winner or the perpetual loser(s)?

The above paragraph is ‘physiologically’. What does this mean?

Imagine a treatment increases collagen IV, but, then it goes back to baseline. If you wanted the benefits, you’d have to keep having the treatment for life which is unsustainable. A spike and return to baseline is what we define as a ‘reaction’. A sustained increase is another way of saying ‘health’. This is what we term a ‘physiological change’ as opposed to a ‘reaction’. Think of it as naturally having a lower and lower resting heart rate because you’re getting healthier as opposed to having a drug that slows your heart down for the time it's in your system.

Which would you rather have?

Sunekos’ physiological change is what sets it apart - many products create a reaction that conveniently lasts just long enough to make a nice before/after image for marketing as well as get a nice review from the patient. Shortly after that, microscopic analysis can show an unsustained drop back to baseline. The scientific reasons it can do this is beyond the scope of this article again but is highly interesting for those educationally inclined.

Save your money for treatments that are biologically in line with our physiology and question profusely anyone who tries to sell you any product related to ‘collagen’. Arm yourself with the knowledge to protect yourself from corporations taking advantage of your lack of expertise. The first video below shows a good comparison between the most popular skin booster in the world and Sunekos in a factual manner. The second will give you more knowledge in this field than any manufacturer wishes you had.

^References

^{Akagi A, Tajima S, Ishibashi A, Yamaguchi N, Nagai Y. Expression of type XVI collagen in human skin fibroblasts: enhanced expression in fibrotic skin diseases. J Invest Dermatol 1999;113:246–50.}

^{Nissen NI, Johansen AZ, Chen I, Johansen JS, Pedersen RS, Hansen CP, Karsdal MA, Willumsen N. Collagen Biomarkers Quantify Fibroblast Activity In Vitro and Predict Survival in Patients with Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Feb 6;14(3):819}