With millions of skin care products available, we’re all faced with the same challenge: how do I know what really works? We might read reviews or ask a friend for a recommendation to get closer to an answer. But if we really want to predict results, we should be looking for one thing: scientific data.

Scientific data is a sign that a skin care company has done their due diligence in testing and validating their products. But most skincare companies fall far short–conducting only the bare minimum testing instead of actually proving their products with scientific evidence. At OneSkin, we do things differently, leveraging the power of the lab and real human skin samples to validate our products at the cellular level. Join us as we explore the OneSkin difference and why our data is a cut above the rest.

Collected in a controlled lab environment, laboratory data help scientists analyze products on a cellular and tissue level. This lab research, which is often conducted on human skin cells and human skin samples, allows scientists to analyze the effects of products and ingredients on tissue health, genetic expression, and other cellular processes. In our lab studies here at OneSkin, we use real human skin samples donated from surgery centers, along with human skin models grown from donor cells. By testing human skin in the lab, we can subject the samples to various exposures – like high doses of UV radiation – that we would never conduct on real people. We can also study skin aging by using specific cells, such as those donated from patients with HGSP (Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome), a rare genetic condition characterized by the dramatic, rapid appearance of aging beginning in childhood.

The most common type of lab testing in the skin care industry is one you’re probably unaware of as a consumer: stability and micro testing. This lab study replicates storage conditions to assure that a cosmetic formula maintains its physical, chemical and microbiological integrity when subjected to temperature fluctuations and normal environmental exposure. In other words, this test ensures that your face cream doesn’t suddenly develop a strange smell, weird color, bacterial growth, or reduced efficacy over time. It’s the bare minimum that most skin care companies do to ensure that their products are safe for use.

The second most common type of lab data is ingredient efficacy testing. This is the type of lab testing that we conducted to validate the effects of our OS-01 peptide. By subjecting human skin samples to a number of conditions, then treating them with the OS-01 peptide, we were able to analyze the effects of OS-01 on the cellular level. Plus, we even analyzed how OS-01 impacted genes and biomarkers associated with aging, inflammation, hydration and more. This gave us a fuller picture of what OS-01 can do – and the assurance that OS-01 has very real beneficial impacts on human skin.

Clinical data measures impacts on real human subjects. This data can come from a number of different tests including human trials performed by third parties or observational studies that can be performed either by brands themselves or outsourced to third parties.

You’re likely to see a number of different types of clinical data floating around the skincare market. But how are they actually different? Here’s a quick summary:

• Clinical Trials are often used to test things like anti-aging claims, hydration benefits, and more. These tests physically measure the effects of products on human subjects. Results are usually expressed as percent improvements. For example, OS-01 FACE has been shown in a clinical trial to increase barrier function by +15%.
• Consumer Perception Studies are a very common type of research conducted by skin care companies. These studies ask users to apply a product for a number of days on a set schedule. Users are then asked to self-assess whether they think a product has made a difference. With this type of testing, you might see claims like “99% of users saw a reduction in wrinkles.” While compelling, this type of data tends to skew positive as most users are likely to report a positive difference.
• RIPT or Repeat Insult Patch Testing is a type of research you may see less often as a consumer but is especially important if you have reactive or sensitive skin. This test measures whether a product results in skin reactions when applied repeatedly. We conduct this test on every product to ensure it’s safe for sensitive skin.

Most skin care companies are run by marketing teams that outsource their scientific testing to third party labs. Because this outsourcing is expensive, it often means that these companies conduct less lab testing to maintain their bottom line. In fact, stability testing may be the only lab testing that a skin care brand conducts before taking a product to market.

Skin care companies that do choose to invest in data often choose to perform clinical research instead of lab research–most often in the form of consumer perception studies. The problem? This type of data reflects only surface-level effects, not the core mechanism of action. In other words, you will have no idea if a product actually reversed aging or only appeared to reverse aging. It also fails to measure long-term effects because it ignores cellular impacts and cannot measure biomarkers that may predict future results.

Need an example? Take caffeine, a popular ingredient for diminishing under-eye puffiness. In a consumer perception study, users are likely to see a noticeable difference in puffiness right away. You might even see an exciting claim like “97% of users noticed an immediate reduction in puffiness.” But that puffiness will likely return the next day because caffeine does not address the root causes of puffiness over time. This would not be reported in a consumer perception study.

As a scientist-led company, our entire R&D process is conducted in house – which means we execute our own research. In fact, we got our start as a research company–not a skin care company–that tested the efficacy of anti-aging skincare on the cellular level. It was only when we discovered that most products weren’t actually effective that we decided to create products of our own. Because research is our primary focus, we conduct lab testing to the highest scientific standards. Our lab data was recently published in npj Aging, a highly reputable scientific journal that peer reviews all data to ensure that it meets the scientific community’s best practices.

We then take things a step further by conducting clinical data with third-party researchers to validate our products on real human subjects. By examining both types of data for commonalities, we can feel confident about the effects of our products. This helps us cross-validate our results and ensure we are making reliable and evidence-based claims that you can trust.

• Lab data validates ingredients at the cellular level in a controlled environment while clinical research tests products on human subjects.
• Most skin care brands conduct only limited lab-based research, which does not show long-term product effects or cellular-level impacts.
• At OneSkin, we conduct extensive lab research in house so we can see how our products perform at the cellular level and predict long-term skin impacts.
• We then cross analyze our lab data with clinical data to ensure we are making reliable and evidence-based claims you can trust.