Instant youth in a jar as scientists beat wrinkles

SCIENTISTS have developed a new wonder cream that takes years off anyone who uses it.

It smoothes wrinkles, eliminates eye bags and banishes signs of ageing, offering instant youth in a jar.

The new material, applied in a twostep process, protects and tightens the skin, while allowing it to hold moisture and breathe.

It has the potential to make anyone the wrong side of 40 look several years younger – but there is a snag. The effect only lasts 24 hours.

Scientists expect the silicon-based “biomimetic film” will initially be used for medical purposes, such as treating skin conditions.

The “skin” could also be used to dress wounds, screen out sun rays or deliver pharmaceutical drugs.

But it will also appeal to anyone hoping to look younger. A skin care company is involved in the research.

Excited

Professor Robert Langer, who led the team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, said: “Developing a second skin that is invisible, comfortable and effective in holding in water and potentially other materials presents many challenges.

“It has to have the right appearance, otherwise it won’t look good.

“And it has to have the right mechanical properties, otherwise it won’t have the right strength and it won’t perform correctly.

“We are extremely excited about the opportunities that are presented as a result of this work and look forward to developing these materials to better treat patients who suffer from a variety of skin conditions.”

The material, called XPL, was developed over five years during which more than 100 different polymers – large molecules made up of linked smaller units – were tested.

All contained a chemical structure known as siloxane, a chain of alternating This eye has been treated with the new material – currently the effects only last 24 hours atoms of silicon and oxygen. The winning formula produced an elastic transparent material which can be stretched invisibly over the skin.

XPL is applied as a cream ointment in two layers.

The first contains the key components and the second a platinum catalyst that causes the material to stiffen into a resilient coating which remains in place for 24 hours.

In elasticity tests, the material easily bounced back to its original state after being stretched by more than 250 per cent – easily outperforming natural skin.

Other studies conducted showed how XPL tightened skin under the eyes to remove sagging bags and improved the stretchability of skin on the forearms.

Skin covered by the film was also able to retain much more water than when treated with a top-of-the-range commercial moisturiser.

No volunteers reported any skin irritation caused by wearing XPL.

Dermatologist Professor Barbara Gilchrest, of Massachusetts General Hospital, whose work is described in the journal Nature Materials, said: “Creating a material that behaves like skin is very difficult.” or A volunteer demonstrates the ‘second skin’ which scientists have developed primarily to treat medical conditions Wrinkles from ageing are clearly visible under the eye left untreated