Epigenetic Skin Care: Is It Real or Just Marketing?

There's a new buzzword going around in the world of skin care. Epigenetics, or heritable changes in gene expression, is being touted as the latest trait that can be addressed by skin-care products. It's the idea that topical products, like moisturizers and serums, can impact and change gene expression.

While nonmedical skin-care brands have long used terms like antiaging, firming, and lifting, many have stopped just short of saying that products could have any real effect on a deeper level, like its pharmaceutical counterparts, partly because of the percentage of each active ingredient being used in these formulas. Still, the use of the word epigenetics in skin-care marketing leaves much to be understood about the topic. Can topical products have an impact on your gene expression? Ahead, a dermatologist explains what you should know about the new fad and if the term "epigenetic skin care" actually means anything.

Omer Ibrahim, MD, FAAD, is a board-certified dermatologist at Chicago Cosmetic Surgery and Dermatology.

Joshua Zeichner, MD, FAAD, is a board-certified dermatologist and director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

In short, epigenetics has to do with gene expression. "It's how genes are turned on to be active and off to be inactive, as a response to the environment," board-certified dermatologist Omer Ibrahim, MD, FAAD, tells PS. "In other words, epigenetics describes how genes make proteins and affect bodily functions in response to environmental stimuli."

But what does that mean? Allow us to break it down a little more. "Epigenetics refers to processes that regulate skin cell function and interaction with the environment," says board-certified dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, MD, FAAD. "This is separate from the genetic code that determines traits like skin color. Think of your epigenetics like the instructions that your genes follow."

Epigenetic traits are said to be passed down through generations, so something that has affected someone from three generations ago could affect your gene expression.

The answer to this question is complicated, as the field is still very new. "There is still a lot to be studied in this category when it comes to skin disorders and skin aging," Dr. Ibrahim says. "For inflammatory skin disorders like atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, there are studies showing epigenetic differences, but much more research is required to fully understand current findings as well as to create targeted treatments."

Technically, it is possible that one person's epigenetic traits can affect the way that their skin looks. "Changes in epigenetic are thought to be responsible for variety of skin conditions and even contribute to premature aging," says Dr. Zeichner. Dr. Ibrahim adds that it can "cause someone to have deeper wrinkles and signs of photoaging in the same environment as someone else with a different genetic makeup. The same goes for acne and inflammatory skin disorders."

Remember how we said epigenetics has to do with what genes are active or inactive in a person? In a nutshell, most of the skin-care formulations on the market hasn't evolved to that level just yet. "Skin care that target epigenetics is useful in enhancing cellular activities," says Dr. Zeichner, however, "Theoretically, skin care products targeting epigenetics may not be as useful in people with severely damaged skin and in those who have previous DNA damage."

"When it comes to skin aging and epigenetics, it mostly comes down to oxidative stress damage due to excess reaction oxidative species (ROS) (also known as free radicals) in the skin," Dr. Ibrahim says. "The skin's production of defenses like antioxidant proteins and enzymes against ROS is epigenetically regulated."

Dr. Ibrahim adds that ingredients that also target collagen stimulation, like retinol, collagen, and vitamin C, also affect gene expression. "They are stimulating the DNA to say 'transcribe more collagen protein, please,'" he says. Still, the promise of reverse aging using epigenetics in skin care is not there yet.

Dr. Zeichner says, "Companies must be careful in what claims they're making about cosmetic products. Cosmetics cannot claim to change the structure or function of the skin, which is why products say that they improve the appearance of wrinkles, rather than improving wrinkles themselves."

"The use of the term 'epigenetics' in skin care, at this point, is a marketing tool using tried-and-true ingredients," Dr. Ibrahim says. "Any skin-care ingredients and products that enhance the production of things like collagen and elastin are, by definition, working on the genetic level. These things cannot be made without genes, anyway." So, when it comes to products or ingredients that truly change genes at their core like many brands claim that epigenetic skin care will do, the science simply has not gotten that far yet."

It also needs to be proven whether or not epigenetic skin care is even necessary or if tried-and-true antiaging ingredients are enough. "We need comparative data to see whether stimulating the skin's epigenetics is truly any better than using traditional ingredients like retinol, which are known to rev collagen production and enhance cell turnover," says Dr. Zeichner.

That said, it's not impossible for skin care to be this sophisticated — it's just not there yet. "There is real research behind epigenetics in dermatology," Dr. Ibrahim says. "But it is still new and mostly untapped."

Ariel Baker is the former associate editor for PS Beauty. Her areas of expertise include celebrity news, beauty trends, and product reviews. She has additional bylines with Essence and Forbes Vetted.