The Skin Care Brand Based on Nobel Prize-Winning Biochemistry
RéVive Moisturizing Renewal Cream. (Photo: RéVive)
As someone who’s just starting to think about anti-aging and what to do and use, the science nerd in me naturally gravitated towards RéVive Skincare, a line formulated with Nobel Prize-winning science. Since you don’t typically associate such a prestigious award with the beauty counter, I had to call up the founder, Gregory Bays Brown, MD, to find out why this clinically proven skin care line took decades to develop.
RéVive founder Gregory Bays Brown, MD. (Photo: RéVive)
Fresh out of medical school and in a residency program at Harvard for plastic surgery in the 1980s, Brown took time off to work on wound surgery, in addition to his usual cosmetic procedures. It was then that he learned that human growth factors — a family of hormones that expedite cell growth and division that is oftentimes confused with stem cells — first discovered in the 1960s but first synthesized in the 1980s with biotechnology, could make wounds heal faster. In 1986, Stanley Cohen and Rita Levi-Montalcini, both biochemists, jointly won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for their pioneering work in isolating nerve growth factor and discovering epidermal growth factor. Cohen was a friend of Brown’s and his Nobel Prize-winning work became the backbone behind RéVive.
“My idea was to take that concept and to apply it to aging,” Brown tells Yahoo Beauty. “To reverse aging, cell growth needs to be sped up. Older skin is not just more prone to wrinkles but also prone to a lackluster appearance.” The epidermis is about 10 to 12 layers thick, Brown explains, and unfortunately, only the cells on the bottom layer divide or generate new cells. These new cells slowly percolate to the top, and then they die to the surface until you, hopefully, exfoliate them off on a regular basis. Brown ended up doing a series of experiments that showed that you could stimulate cell turnover with bio-engineered molecules, so he patented that idea and eventually made a proto-type of RéVive that he gifted to friends and family.
RéVive Intensité Line Erasing Eye Serum Advanced Wrinkle Corrector. (Photo: RéVive)
Brown claims to have performed clinical studies to show that his formulas, like his bestselling Moisturizing Renewal Cream ($195), actually penetrate the basal layer of the skin, which most ordinary skin creams don’t reach. Brown is also skeptical of botanical ingredients which claim to do the same thing: “I’m not degrading anyone or any other brands, but there are no receptors on human cells for plants extracts,” he explains. Brown insists that if you want to rejuvenate the skin, you have to start with human-based research; plants will do nothing for your epidermis beyond the surface.
Still, Brown is a doctor first and a skin care entrepreneur second. He tells Yahoo Beauty that good skin is 75 to 85 percent due to a healthy lifestyle — only 25 percent or less is due to the type of skin care products you use. “No one under 30 needs $300 face cream,” he admits. But if you’re like me, and starting to think about investing in luxury face cream beyond the basics, this is a skin care brand that may convince you via science, not just slick packaging.
Related:
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