Don't waste money for anti wrinkle creams

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EW YORK, Dec 13 (Reuters) Spend a fortune on anti-wrinkle creams? Don't bother, said a US study.

Luxury-price products don't work any better than drugstore brands, according to the study by Consumer Reports magazine, released yesterday which ranked Olay Regenerist, priced at about 19 dollars, as the most effective in reducing wrinkles.

But none of these products made a significant difference in the skin's appearance.

Researchers found that after 12 weeks the top-rated products smoothed out some fine lines and wrinkles, but even the best performers reduced the average depth of wrinkles by less than 10 per cent, a change barely visible to the naked eye.

''The tests revealed that, on average, these products made little difference the skin's appearance and there's no correlation between price and effectiveness,'' a spokeswoman for the magazine said.

Americans spend over 1 billion dollars a year on anti-wrinkle creams.

Consumer Reports, published by nonprofit consumer research group Consumer Union, chose a sample of top-selling mass-market lines for its study. The products were purchased in retail stores for between 19 dollars and 355 dollars. 17 to 23 women, aged between 30 and 70, tested each cream.

The women were recruited and evaluated by a European laboratory specializing in cosmetic testing.

The women used a test product on one side of their face and the lab's standard moisturizer on the other side for comparison. A high-tech optical device was used to detect changes in wrinkle depth and skin roughness.

Results varied among the women, the study said.

Dr Tina Alster, a dermatologic laser surgeon from Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, DC, and a member of the American Academy of Dermatologists, said it was overly simplistic to conclude from such a limited study that these products did not work.

''People would love to believe that cheap products are the same as the more expensive ones, and I may pooh-pooh someone paying 500 dollar for a cream, but I do see the value of some of the luxury brands which are science-based,'' she said. ''But it is a cautionary tale that people should be looking at the ingredients rather than just at the packaging.'' Despite the study's findings, some women said they would continue to use anti-wrinkle cream.

''I've never really believed these creams would stop wrinkles, but they make me feel and smell good,'' said Amira Thoron, a 36-year-old New York teacher.