t only takes a cursory look at the stable of Estee Lauder products, from the line itself to its protégés, to notice that there is an overwhelming number of antiwrinkle products (over 300 in all). But the question to ask is this: If just 10 of its products could live up to their claims to get rid of wrinkles, why would you need an additional 290 products claiming to do the same thing? The Estee Lauder lineup boasts some wonderful moisturizers, but also some absurd prices for products that can't live up to their more glorious claims.
Future Perfect Anti-Wrinkle Radiance Creme SPF 15 ($65.00 for 1.7 ounces) is being marketed as Lauder's high-tech answer to the dilemma of aging skin. Take a look at these claims: "Estee Lauder Research cracks the code of visible aging to dramatically change the destiny of your skin... Helps re-ignite skin's natural age-fighting ability... The look of lines and wrinkles is significantly reduced." Does this mean Lauder can empty its counter and discontinue all their other products that have yet to "crack the code of visible aging?"
This supposedly "futuristic" moisturizer uses what Lauder refers to as cell vector technology. Supposedly, these vectors (guides) can recognize and immediately respond to skin and "the visible effects of its inherent deficiencies" to make "lines and wrinkles visibly retreat."
Yet for all of this technical talk, what Lauder has produced is, in simple terms, an excellent in-part avobenzone sunscreen whose base formula is excellent. A well-formulated, broad-spectrum sunscreen is the only true antiwrinkle product we have at our disposal. This is because sunscreens act on the skin to deflect or absorb ultraviolet light before it can damage skin, and that means all well-formulated sunscreens have cracked the code, not just Lauder's. What sunscreens cannot do is make lines and wrinkles go away, an idea that is certainly implied in the ad copy for this product.
It turns out that cell vector technology is less an intriguing formulary advantage and more a marketing concept to convince consumers that this is the antiaging product to buy. Does anyone remember when Lauder's LightSource Transforming products with SPF 15 debuted? The buzz there was using gemstones (specifically, emeralds) as a means for increasing skin's energy. It tells you something that, less than two years after their launch, the LightSource products have been discontinued, presumably because most consumers found that gemstones didn't energize the skin or have any other benefit for that matter.
The bottom line is that although the claims are a bit outlandish, this is still an incredibly well-formulated sunscreen. It is loaded with antioxidants, water-binding agents, and other ingredients essential to getting skin to look, feel, and act better. This product does contain fragrance and a small amount of mica that leaves a soft shimmer on skin.
By Paula Begoun, author of The Beauty Bible and Don't Go To The Cosmetics Counter Without Me
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