"Newborn" Cream Claims to Give Adults Baby-Soft Skin With a Surprising Ingredient
Eight years ago, I wrote a short-and-sweet post for NewBeauty about how scientists were working to mimic something called vernix caseosa. Even if you've never heard of it, you were once covered in it. It's a hydrophobic substance that keeps water on the surface of fetuses' skin, acts as a barrier for water absorption, and helps babies through the birth canal — or as my MacBook's Dictionary app so eloquently puts it, "a greasy deposit covering the skin of a baby at birth." Apparently, these scientists believed vernix could have benefits for adult skin and now, nearly a decade later, one company has essentially re-created it for use in a moisturizer.
The official website for the aptly named Newborn Bio-Complex Moisturizing Cream says the company's chemists have created a "bio-similar compound to mimic the core elements and structure of vernix caseosa as the base of our formula." The Newborn moisturizer contains lipids and proteins with other more familiar skin-care ingredients to create a cream with "intense moisturizing" and wrinkle-smoothing qualities.
Although the brand doesn't reveal exactly what makes up the vernix-like compound, one component in particular stands out in the ingredient list: fetal bovine serum. The $30 cream also includes lanolin, which was suspected to have potential in simulating vernix back when cosmetic chemists first started working on a replica. (Reminder: Lanolin is the wax secreted by wool-bearing animals, like sheep, so needless to say this cream is not vegan.)
These ingredients, in my opinion, are best classified as hydrating ingredients and can be used to make your skin look plumper...in the short-term.
It definitely sounds significantly different from other kinds of face creams, but is it the breakthrough the brand touts it to be? "Theoretically, [vernix's] properties can not only improve the appearance of the skin by keeping it hydrated and plump, but it can act as a barrier to allergens and bacteria," says Miami-based dermatologist Roberta Del Campo.
However, she says because lipids and proteins (the key characteristics of vernix) don't slow collagen loss or stimulate its production, you shouldn't expect it to make any long-term changes in the youthfulness of your skin. In other words, just because vernix is found on newborn babies doesn't mean it's going to make you look more like one.
"These ingredients, in my opinion, are best classified as hydrating ingredients and can be used to make your skin look plumper, feel smoother, and look more hydrated in the short-term," Del Campo says of lipids and proteins. "They do not slow the progression of skin aging."
As for the other ingredients in Newborn, the brand touts hyaluronic acid, squalene, and vitamin E as the supporting cast in this cream. But when it comes to hydration and overall skin appearance, Del Campo says they deserve as much, if not more, credit than the lab-produced vernix compound. "Both hyaluronic acid and squalene are well-known hydrators," she says, praising hyaluronic acid for its plumping qualities and calling squalene a pure hydrator.
She says that even on their own, these three ingredients can be quite beneficial, especially vitamin E. "[It's] is a tried-and-true antioxidant that protects skin from both sun and pollution damage." (However, it should be noted that vitamin E has been known to cause irritation in those with sensitivity.)
It's unclear how it would help adults or babies, really.
So is this vernix-mimicking compound doing anything that other more recognizable ingredients don't already do quite well? Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, professor of women's health in obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University, has doubts.
"Vernix is a sebaceous layer of cells that appear as a creamy white substance that covers a baby as it is delivered. It is thought to help facilitate passage through the birth canal as well as conserve heat and homeostasis. It is not needed after delivery," she tells Allure. "It's unclear how it would help adults or babies, really."
That being said, vernix caseosa — or in the case of Newborn, the compound that behaves like it — may help hydrate, but it probably won't do more for your skin now than it did the day you were born.
More on moisturizer:
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