Playing the long game: how longevity science is changing the face of skincare

It’s hard to escape the longevity topic nowadays, as the multimillion-dollar industry impacts everything from health to interiors — and now skincare, with brands founded in or embracing longevity science. It isn’t all just marketing. In fact, says Dr Sophie Shotter, a leading aesthetic doctor and respected voice in the longevity field, “It’s a meaningful shift in the skincare space. For decades anti-ageing skincare has been a consumer’s go-to for skin with ageing concerns. These products have been about correcting what we can see on the surface, like lines, pigmentation or laxity. “Longevity skincare shifts the thinking to ask why skin cells are ageing in the first place, and whether we can slow that down”. The difference is the target. “Traditional actives mostly work on the end result, stimulating collagen, blocking pigment from forming, or exfoliating dead skin cells. Longevity skincare shifts the thinking to ask why skin cells are ageing in the first placeLongevity actives aim further upstream at the cell’s own machinery. They try to clear or calm senescent ‘zombie’ cells, support mitochondrial energy production, and protect the proteins that are integral to the skin.”“Longevity skincare is an extension of a much bigger shift in medicine,” agrees consultant dermatologist Dr Sidra Khan. “As someone whose research is in skin ageing, I find it exciting because it reframes skin not just as something to decorate, but as our largest organ whose ageing we can actually study and influence.”Science from outer space Dr Kyle Landry is co-founder of Delavie Sciences (alongside leading longevity scientist David Sinclair) and its Aeonia skincare collection, which centres around the proprietary ingredient, Bacillus Lysate, a microorganism that survived on the outside of the International Space Station. For organisms to thrive in extreme conditions means they’ve “evolved remarkable biological mechanisms that allow them to protect themselves”, says Landry.“We believe [they] hold many of the secrets to improving skin health, resilience and longevity.” Their research focused “on whether these compounds could stimulate the skin’s intrinsic hyaluronic acid production, activate pathways associated with cellular repair and longevity, and protect against free radical damage caused by environmental stress”. What makes this approach exciting “is that we are not simply looking for ingredients that temporarily improve the appearance of skin” but into “technologies that support healthier, more resilient skin. The goal is not to reverse time, but to create an environment where the skin can function at its best regardless of age.”At wellbeing site Healf.com, longevity skincare has “resonated incredibly well with our community”, says Julia Alsterberg, head of curation. “It taps into the prevention beats cure mindset that Healf was founded on”, and is “less about trying to look younger” and more about healthy skin for longer. As “the longevity shelf expands well beyond supplements” they were an early adopter of longevity skincare brands including OneSkin, “which stands out for their research on its proprietary OS-01 peptide and how it can help block senescent cells — the accumulation of cells that have stopped dividing but can continue to influence surrounding tissues and speed up the visible signs of ageing skin — effectively through topical application. Their approach works by repairing DNA damage in these cells, stopping them from unleashing harmful pro-ageing factors, ultimately lowering the skin’s biological age.” Romilly Wilde is another with its “biology-led skincare with peptide formulations which emphasise protecting and supporting skin”.If it seems like the latest bandwagon to jump on, the reality is that research has been ongoing for decades. At Adipeau, where the premise is on supporting the growth of healthy smaller fat cells — dermal white adipose tissue — beneath the skin and thereby supporting skin structure, founder Ivan Galanin has been on the case since 2017, though the “field really got started in 2011, when Yale researchers showed that fat cells within the skin actively regulate hair growth”, he explains.Read More“We focus exclusively on skin laxity and volume depletion, the two things that interfere with what we call ‘contour integrity’: the major curves of the skin on the face and body being strong and full,” issues that come with age and weight loss. They target the hair follicle, “because [it’s] a natural channel through the skin’s barrier and leads down to the fat cells that sit around it in the skin” to deliver cell support. L’Oréal Groupe has “more than 20 years of dedicated research into the biological mechanisms associated with skin ageing andlongevity”, says Dr Annie Black, Lancôme international scientific director — the brand recently launched its Absolue Longevity MD range, a collaboration with Swiss longevity biotech firm Timeline. “What’s changed is our ability to connect different areas of research and translate them into new approaches to skincare.”Through Absolue Longevity MD they are “exploring how this expertise can help translate advances in mitochondrial research into topical skincare innovation. Mitopure, Timeline’s highly purified form of urolithin A, is particularly interesting because of its connection to mitophagy — the process through which cells identify and remove dysfunctional mitochondria. This opens exciting scientific questions about how we might support the cellular processes associated with skin quality and resilience.”Early days of longevity skincare Everyone agrees we’re only at the first frontier of longevity skincare; Shotter likens it to “roughly where retinoids were in the 1980s”. They also agree it works alongside, doesn’t replace, accepted skincare fundamentals. “The slight irony is that the most powerful longevity tools we have for skin are already well established: daily sun protection, a well- tolerated retinoid, good barrier care, and the lifestyle basics of not smoking, decent sleep, movement, eating well and looking after your general health,” says Khan.Looking further ahead, Shotter points to “early research suggesting that aged, inflamed skin may feed the low-grade inflammation that drives ageing elsewhere in the body (with links to cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s Alzheimer’s and more) and that repairing the skin barrier can lower circulating inflammatory markers. If that holds up, looking after your skin becomes part of looking after your health.”As Landry puts it, “Ageing is a whole-body process, and addressing it effectively requires a holistic approach to health and longevity.”Face the future The beauty picks at the forefront of longevity skincareRevision D.E.J Daily Boosting SerumRevisionTargets the dermal-epidermal junction, which flattens with age.Adipeau Volume CreamAdipeauFocuses on the quality of fat under the skin.Lancôme Absolue Longevity MD Anticipate the CreamLancome Brings mitochondria recycling into mainstream skincare.Aeonia Age Defying SerumAeonia Uses a space-surviving microorganism to improve resilience.OneSkin OS-01 Face topical supplementOneskin Founded by four female scientists, who set a testing benchmark.Tatcha The Longevity SerumTatcha With three double-fermented ingredients to boost resilience.SkinCeuticals AGE Interrupter Ultra SerumSkinCeuticals Targets firmness by supporting collagen, elastin and density.Romilly Wilde Peptide Longevity SerumHealf This brand “deserves credit for transparency,” says Shotter.