Passion Flower and citrus extracts for your wrinkles?

Anti-ageing creams ought to pay up hefty fees to all those flowers and fruits they use to decorate their products with a scented, ‘magic’ allure that tempts you to open your purse for one more giver of youth!

When WHICH? The independent consumer guide did a four week study with 96 women using either anti-ageing cream or a moisturizer (without knowing which) they got interesting results! Says WHICH? “Before you invest anything from 5 pounds to 50 pounds in the allure of youth in a pot, consider their experiences.”

It says that all moisturisers help smooth away fine lines. Most anti-ageing creams claim to also help with the wrinkles. But of the 16 women who did report some improvement, nine had been using an ordinary moisturizer and only seven were using an anti-ageing cream!

One product used was Synergie Wrinkle Lift. Price then was: 5.49 pounds for 50 ml. Average price estimated by the users was 8.67 pounds! Ingredients includes AHA (passionflower extract) UV filter. Claims: Smooths the skin, reduces fine lines and wrinkles.

Users verdict: Half the users thought it was an anti-ageing cream. They either reported no change or a change for the worse in the look and feel of their skin and the appearance of fine lines or wrinkles.

All the women using this cream experienced some side effects ranging from an initial tingling on application, to a red rash and sore, dry skin. Comments from users include “the cream did not absorb well” “did not agree with my skin” and “had an awful smell.”

The American Medical Association in its Book of Skin and Hair Care tells consumers when they ask about such products promising miracles from the exotic ingredients used such as “Formula X-9,” or placenta extract (wow!) “milk serum” or aloe vera! The promoters of such preparations use suggestive advertising techniques alluding to flimsily conducted experiments reported under the guise of scientific research. There is no scientific evidence that aloe vera juice provides any special benefits alone or in such preparations!

So the better idea would be to grow an aloe in your garden, take out the gel and use it to find out for yourself whether it helps your skin or not!