I've had some people ask me if this new Peach & Lily Zombie Cream is a gimmick because it claims to age you back 6 years in 2 weeks.

I've had some people ask me if this new Peach & Lily Zombie Cream is a gimmick because it claims to age you back 6 years in 2 weeks. Like, I'm sorry, what? So, for this Formula Files where as a chemist, I break down the formulation of new skincare products, let's see if this one's legit. Let's just go through first why it's called Zombie Cream. So as we age, some of our cells become senescent. But instead of dying off, they stick around and they release inflammatory signals that turn other healthy cells into senescent cells. And so on. So, senescent cells = "zombie cells". And then here's the first-ever tri-senolytic system. A novel, patent-pending combination of three clinically-proven actives to visibly address signs of zombie-cell damage. Now let's focus on this ingredient because this is like the main one where all the study claims come from. It's also where the claim of 6 years younger in 2 weeks comes from. So, the claim is that Eterwell Youth reduces senescent cells by 52%. For example, one limitation though could be that this is in cells, not on real skin. And the results for the clinicals look good. Like, pros: you can see there's a visible reduction in texture, elasticity, fine lines and wrinkles. And then for example, of a limitation though, could be that it didn't show that zombie cells were directly cleared. Because in the clinicals, they did show that there were changes in the senescent cells associated protein markers, which is encouraging and consistent with senolytic activity, but not unique to senolytic activity. So I'd like to see if there's a way to prove that actually the senescent cells were cleared. So, some people were confused by the 6 years younger claim. It comes from skin micro-relief stripping. So they evaluate that top layer of skin and they're basically just showing the texture, estimating apparent age based on surface level skin texture. So I think it's an interesting ingredient and it's actually not the only compound in here that I've seen studies for about being senolytic. And it might be one of those cases where maybe the science hasn't caught all the way up to the marketing. But there's a lot of other things going on in this formulation. So, like there's a bunch of growth factors, peptides, amino acids, and then also things like Glycerin, Squalane, Ceramides, Lactobacillus/Rice Ferment Filtrate, Cholesterol, and Hyaluronic Acid. So, lots of hydrating and barrier supporting ingredients. So, some of my favorites in here. So, even if you're not fully on board with the senolytic activity, you still have all of these amazing ingredients in addition to that. So, it's still a really good formulation and a really great product. I'm going to make my mom test it actually.