Ponds Age Miracle Wrinkle Corrector SPF 18 Pa++ Anti Aging Day Cream
Review
Age Miracle Wrinkle Corrector SPF 18 Pa++ Anti Aging Day Cream from Pond’s does not perform as advertised.
Glycerin in the product adds hydration to the skin.
A couple of other ingredients help retain that hydration to some extent.
Niacinamide in the product will reduce the skin’s redness and help brighten it up.
This product has an SPF of 18, which stands for sun protection factor. Unfortunately, this level of protection is very low.
Let me explain what the 18 in SPF 18 means…
18 means it offers 18 times more protection to the skin than when it had no sunscreen. This might sound like a lot, but it is nowhere near enough.
18 blocks around 94% of the sun’s UVB radiation while allowing around 6% of the sun’s UVB radiation to affect our skin. Again, this seems like a lot of protection, but it is not.
Let me explain…
SPF 30 allows 3% of the sun’s UVB radiation to affect our skin, while SPF 50 allows around 2%.
This means SPF 30 offers close to 100% more protection than SPF 18, and SPF 50 offers 200% more protection than SPF 18.
Two types of sun radiation can harm our skin: UVA and UVB. The SPF number indicates UVB protection. The letters pa indicate UVA protection. The two plus signs in pa++ indicate that this product offers moderate protection from UVA. A product that offers high protection against UVA will have four plus signs after pa.
The danger with products like this one, which has an SPF of 18, is that they create a false assurance that we are using a sun protection skin care product, so our skin is safe. The sun protection this product offers is not enough for daytime.
The product’s marketing claims it can address wrinkles. It contains retinyl palmitate, the ingredient responsible for wrinkle reduction.
Pond’s does not mention how much of this ingredient it uses. If any anti-aging ingredients are used, it is a good practice for the manufacturers to mention their percentage. Pond’s does not mention the percentages. Let’s assume it uses the right percentage for now.
Retinyl Palmitate is a vitamin A derivative. Vitamin A and its derivatives are anti-aging ingredients that can address fine lines and wrinkles. However, retinyl palmitate is considered the least effective of vitamin A derivatives.
Vitamin A and its derivatives can be harsh on sensitive skin. Though Retinyl palmitate is the least effective of Vitamin A ingredients, it is well tolerated by most people. This ingredient would be a good choice for people with sensitive skin.
There is still one very big problem! Vitamin A and its derivatives are usually not recommended for daytime use, as exposure to the sun will make them less effective. So, using these ingredients in a day cream is not very useful.
The product has allantoin and tocopheryl acetate, which will brighten the skin.
The product has a good feel and a smooth texture, which suggests that it must be effective in what it says it can do. However, what it actually can do does not match its marketing claims.
A word of caution
The product has fragrance. Fragrance is irritating to the skin and weakens its barrier function. When the skin’s barrier function is weakened, it loses hydration and becomes susceptible to breakouts like pimples and acne.
Fragrance in a product the manufacturer says miracle wrinkle fixer is counterproductive.
The product marketing mentions anti-aging technology, but these words are purely a marketing gimmick—they have no real substance.
How to use the product?
If you use this product, apply it after cleansing.
Ingredient 1 – Water
Function: Solvent
It helps in dissolving other ingredients in the product.
Dissolved ingredients can spread better on the skin.
Ingredient 2 – Cyclopentasiloxane
Function: Emollient, Solvent, Lubricant
It adds a thin layer on top of the skin and thus reduces the evaporation of water from skin’s surface. This keeps the skin hydrated.
It also enhances the texture of the product. It gives the product a silky feel. It helps the ingredients in the product mix well and thus enables the product to spread well on skin,
Ingredient 3 – Glycerin
Function: Humectant
It is a water magnet. It pulls water molecules from the atmosphere to the top layer of the skin. This way, it hydrates the skin.
Ingredient 4 – Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate
Function: Sunscreen
It protects against the Sun’s UVB rays, which are responsible for skin cancer and sunburn. However, it does not offer protection against the Sun’s UVA rays.
This ingredient is not very stable. It starts losing its protection ability in about 30 minutes. It should be combined with other sunscreen agents to give the sunscreen a more stable protection.
This ingredient is also called Octinoxate.
Ingredient 5 -Dimethicone Crosspolymer
Function: Thickener, Texture enhancer
It binds ingredients together, thickens the product and enhances the texture of the product.
Ingredient 6 – Niacinamide
Function: Anti-inflammatory
It reduces redness and calms the skin. By reducing redness, it brightens the skin.
Ingredient 7 – Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Function: Emollient
It forms a thin layer on the skin’s surface and reduces the loss of hydration from the skin into the atmosphere through evaporation, thus helping to keep the skin hydrated.
Ingredient 8 – Titanium Dioxide
Function: Sunscreen, Opacifier
It protects skin from UVA and UVB rays of the sun. It is also an opacifier, meaning it adds a rich, creamy, luxurious feel to the product.
Ingredient 9 – PEG-10 Dimethicone
Function: Emulsifier
Keeps the oil-based and water-based ingredients in the product together – blends, unlike ingredients. Without emulsifiers, ingredients in the product will separate.
Ingredient 10 – Potassium chloride
Function: Thickener
It binds ingredients together, thickens the product.
