Planet Skincare has been receiving a ton of hype lately for its moisturizing cream, titled Planet Skincare Anti_Ageing [sic] Daily Moisturiser. From The Daily Mail (UK) — Snake venom face cream becomes best-seller in battle against wrinkles:

A face cream made with venom from an Asian snake is being touted as the latest miracle to ward off wrinkles.

Coming at 60 (UK) pounds a jar[, it] is an instant hit amid claims that it ‘freezes’ muscles in a way similar to Botox.

According to the makers of Planet Skincare daily moisturiser, the magical cream "stuns" the skin in a similar way to snakebite, helping to keep the face smooth.

The makers of Planet Skincare anti-ageing daily moisturiser claim their synthesised viper venom 'stuns' the skin in the same way a real snake bite would, helping to keep it smooth.

They say it gives 'Botox-like results' without needles. It went on sale in Selfridges last week and is selling at the rate of 50 pots a day. Staff say it is their best-selling premium skincare product.

The key ingredient is a synthetic version of the poison of the Temple Viper, a snake common in Thailand.

Amino acids in the venom block nerve signals telling muscles to contract, which helps to stop wrinkles forming.

Christine Benson, of Selfridges beauty, said: 'Products containing snake venom have been used for a few months now in the US, actresses especially love the effect.

Yeah… extremely gullible actresses such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Jamie Pressly. Two years ago, we saw the introduction of another product based on the same kind of formula: Snake Venom Used As Antiaging Ingredient. This product came from Sonya Dakar and is marketed as Ultraluxe 9 Age Control Complex. A review was published [removed]here[/removed].

Currently, Planet Skincare claims to have put their snake venom product through [removed]clinical trials[/removed]:

The efficacy of the SYN-AKE™ tripeptide (at a concentration of 0.5mM) has been demonstrated in vitro by measuring the frequency of contraction of the innervated muscle cell as a function of the incubation time. SYN-AKE™ peptide reduces muscle cell contraction and its action if reversible.

Efficacy Tests | In vivi tests:

The measurement of the smoothing and anti-wrinkle effect of SYN-AKE™ (4%) was compared to a placebo. A cream was applied to the forehead twice daily during 28 days.

SYN-AKE™ – Age Killing Effect.

The smoothing effect (Ra) was measured on 80% of the volunteers and the anti-wrinkle effect (Rz, Rt) measured on 73% of the volunteers.

Results showed up to 52% of wrinkle size after 28 days application!

Conclusions

  • SYN-AKE™ is an excellent anti-wrinkle active compound with a snake
    venom-like mode of activity
  • SYN-AKE™ smoothes mimic wrinkles in a short period.
  • SYN-AKE™ age killing effect particularly effective against expression lines
  • SYN-AKE™ is an intensive anti-wrinkle care.
  • SYN-AKE™ is a new anti-wrinkle active compound based on a synthetic tripeptide that mimics the effect of waglerin 1, a peptide that is found in the venom of the Temple Viper, Tropidolaemus wagleri.

 

As Col. Rhodes said, "Sounds like a mouth full of Greek salad." Sadly — or perhaps fortunately — "Syn-ake" joins chicken bone marrow, wolf's nipple chips, and human breast milk bar soap as one of the more seemingly ridiculous skin care ingredients. A cursory search in the UK and US trdemark database found no listing for Syn-ake. Brazilian researchers have reported on the inflammatory properties of snake venom here. My scattershot references to possible uses and/or misuses of snake venom — even fake snake venom — in skin care products is an indication that there just is not much out there in the way of scientific studies or clinical trials to prove or disprove its use.

The Beauty Brains blog, a reliable source when it comes to uncovering truth in advertising in skin care, is firmly on the fence regarding snake venom. Regarding the Sonya Dakar product:

You might wonder why they would put any snake venom in there at all. This is all about marketing. Pretty good marketing too as they got the New York Post, Style Dash, handbag.com, China Daily, Makeherup, a host of other beauty blogs, and now the Beauty Brains to talk about it. All this PR without a single dollar spent. Brilliant!

Of course, the reason people talk about it is because it’s something icky (snake venom), it’s “endorsed” by a celebrity, and it sounds plausible (people us botox right?) Well, rest assured Beauty Brainiacs this idea is just as crazy as it sounds.

Keep venom off your face and in the snake.

The other ingredients in Planet Skincare's offering include aqua, rosa damascena (rose) flower water, dicaprylyl carbonate, glycerine, squalane, myristyl myristate, steareth-21, butylene glycol, cety alcohol, dimethicone, mangifera indica (mango) butter, passion incarnata (passion) seed oil, steareth-2, stearyl alcohol, stearic acid, dipeptide diaminobutyroyl benzylamide diacetate, tocopheryl acetate, panthenol, sodium polyacrylate, cycopentasiloxane, phenoxyethanol, fragrance (parfum), simmonasia chinensis (jojoba) oil, calendula officinalis (calendula) oil, helianthus annu (sunflower) oil, ethylhexylglycerin, allantoin, xantham gum, 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1, 3-diol, hexyl cinnamal, linalool,butylphenyl methylpropional,citronellol, alpha-isomethyl ionone, and limonene. Wow.

As Bayou Renaissance Man writes, "I'm shaking my head in disbelief here. Women are really prepared to pay $120 for a single month's supply of face cream with synthetic snake venom???"

The answer could be yes, if they buy into the marketing hype.