The latest Boots No7 range, Future Renew, was launched this week to considerable fanfare, not merely a new face cream, but a “world-first breakthrough in skincare research”.
Since 2007, when a Horizon documentary on the science behind its Protect & Perfect range prompted an unprecedented consumer stampede, the Boots No7 team has been taking the “here comes the science bit” to the next level. Its latest collection of creams and serums was preceded by a presentation at the American Academy of Dermatologists’ (ADD) annual congress in New Orleans, and the launch took place, not at an exclusive hotel, but at the Science Museum in London.
As a PR strategy, the science has done its job peerlessly. Glowing coverage has suggested the serum is so revolutionary it could replace Botox or even pave the way for new treatments to heal scars and burns, and a reported 88,000 people signed up to a waiting list to buy the product. But how miraculous is the cream?
“The products are backed by a lot of fundamental science to really get a deep understanding of the skin … to help the skin help itself,” said Dr Mike Bell, head of science research for No7 at Boots, citing a 15-year collaboration with the University of Manchester.
The key ingredients of Future Renew are two “super peptides” that have been demonstrated to boost the skin’s natural repair process. The basic concept is that proteins in the skin – tiny springlike structures that lend skin its elasticity and smoothness – get degraded over time by UV light, pollution and a variety of other kinds of damage. Peptides are small pieces of the protein that are cleaved off, and which signal to skin cells that self-repair is needed.
The University of Manchester team, along with Bell, used an AI approach to identify which peptides, of the thousands in existence, are most common in the skin, which could be synthesised and which could feasibly penetrate the epidermis to the deeper skin layers where repair takes place. A process of elimination identified two peptides that appeared particularly promising and which were shown in cells in a dish to help boost the skin’s own self-repair activity.
When the peptides were placed under a patch on the arms of eight volunteers, a biopsy after 12 days showed that their skin had increased levels of the springy fibrillin proteins that are thought to make skin more elastic, according to the results presented at the ADD conference, although the study did not show whether the skin actually looked younger.
“The data shown is encouraging but I’d like to see the effect on all aspects of skin ageing,” said Claire Higgins, a lecturer of bioengineering at Imperial College London.
Skin ageing has other components, for instance, such as DNA damage that reduces cells’ ability to self-repair regardless of how much peptide is around. Higgins views the advance as “more of an incremental finding” than a revolution, but is not disparaging either.
“The novelty in this piece of work is the computational analysis approach that they used,” she said. “Coupling together different disciplines as they have done is a powerful tool that will likely cause the most interest in the scientific community.”
The company also conducted a clinical trial with 44 female volunteers in which they used the Future Renew formulation on one half of their face and just a simple SPF cream on the other. After the trial period, the two sides of the women’s faces were graded by experts using various clinical benchmarks such as the Griffiths Wrinkle Scale, and appeared to have benefited. According to Bell, the serum produced “five years of wrinkle-reversal”. “If you take a 55-year-old after six months, it would take them back to the wrinkles of a 50-year-old,” he said.
However, there is something of an evidence gap between the basic science research and this consumer-focused trial, which tested the finished formulation that includes other potentially beneficial ingredients. “There’s a leap still required – does what’s happening inside the skin translate to what the consumers are seeing?” he said. “It becomes harder to pinpoint what the peptides are doing.”
Bell also plays down any potential future medical applications. “There’s been some headlines around scars and burns, but we’re not claiming anything like that,” he said. “This is very clearly in the cosmetic space.”
The evidence for the anti-ageing effects of No7 may fall somewhat short of the “scientific breakthrough” claims. But, given that this is a face cream, many people will probably be willing to take a gamble.
“What consumers want is that when they can see there’s science backing it, and when they can see that it’s with partners that they trust and scientists that they trust, they’re willing to give it a go,” said Bell.
