12 Most Viral Skin Trends Debunked

Summary

Biohacking Beauty: The Anti-Aging Skincare Podcast
Episode: 12 Most Viral Skin Trends Debunked
Hosts: Amitai Eshel & Anastasia Hojaiva
Release Date: May 7, 2025

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In Episode 12 of Biohacking Beauty, hosts Amitai Eshel and Anastasia Hojaiva embark on a critical examination of the 12 most viral skincare trends. Their mission is to sift through the hype and provide scientifically-backed insights into each trend's efficacy and long-term benefits. Here's a detailed breakdown of their discussions:

1. Face Ice Baths

[00:30 - 05:55]

Anastasia introduces the concept of face ice baths, a popular trend purported to sculpt, depuff, and tighten the skin. Amitai draws a parallel between facial ice baths and traditional ice baths, highlighting a common misconception:

"Face ice baths and actual ice baths are pretty similar that they have nothing to do with each other."
– Amitai Eshel [02:12]

The hosts agree that while facial ice baths can offer immediate cosmetic benefits like constricting blood vessels for a temporary glow, there are no long-term skincare advantages. Anastasia adds:

"If that look at yourself in the mirror makes you feel better, sure. Have it as a part of your day."
– Anastasia Hojaiva [04:28]

2. Salmon Sperm Facials (PDRN)

[06:00 - 09:21]

The discussion shifts to salmon sperm facials, also known as PDRN (polynucleotides). Amitai explains the historical context and current resurgence:

"They source them from farm-raised fish... but you don't know if they're contaminated."
– Amitai Eshel [06:19]

Anastasia expresses skepticism about the sourcing and effectiveness of these facials, emphasizing the risks associated with contaminants like microplastics and heavy metals present in farmed salmon. They conclude that unless sourcing improves, alternative options like human-derived PRP are preferable.

3. Morpheus 8 (Radio Frequency Microneedling)

[09:27 - 12:01]

Morpheus 8 is critiqued as an overhyped radio frequency microneedling device. Anastasia and Amitai discuss its limitations:

"It creates scar tissue... it's actually temporary swelling and water retention."
– Amitai Eshel [10:27]

They argue that while initial results may appear promising due to swelling, the long-term effects include thinner scar tissue without substantial collagen stimulation. Both hosts agree that the procedure doesn't effectively replace plastic surgery as some proponents claim.

4. Red Light Face Masks

[11:58 - 16:56]

Red light face masks have gained traction on platforms like Instagram, with companies like Omnilux heavily promoting them. Amitai debunks their effectiveness:

"Red light therapy masks aren't as effective long term as a panel that would provide about three times the energy."
– Amitai Eshel [13:37]

They highlight that while the wavelengths used are correct (630-850 nanometers), the LEDs' power is insufficient to deliver meaningful results. Anastasia recommends using red light therapy in conjunction with photoactive ingredients like retinol for enhanced benefits.

5. Retinol Body Cream

[17:49 - 19:57]

Exploring the use of retinol in body creams, the hosts caution against its frequent application:

"Body cream is normally used multiple times a day... retinol is not ideal for that mode of application."
– Anastasia Hojaiva [17:49]

They suggest that integrating retinol occasionally and ensuring proper sun protection can aid in improving skin texture and reducing signs of aging on areas like knees and elbows. Overuse without adequate sunblock, however, can lead to adverse effects.

6. Niacinamide

[20:02 - 24:39]

Niacinamide is lauded for its versatility but scrutinized for potential long-term drawbacks. Amitai explains its role in the NAD cycle:

"Niacinamide can provide short-term benefits... but long-term, it might harm the NAD recycling system."
– Amitai Eshel [20:54]

While beneficial for strengthening the skin barrier and balancing oil production, excessive use can disrupt cellular energy processes. Anastasia advises consumers to check product concentrations and be mindful of possible irritations or breakouts.

7. Hyaluronic Acid

[24:46 - 26:26]

Often hailed as a hydration hero, hyaluronic acid is dissected for its actual benefits:

"It helps lock in moisture and prevent transepidermal water loss."
– Amitai Eshel [25:28]

The hosts emphasize that while it effectively supports skin hydration by retaining moisture on the skin's surface, it doesn't deliver moisture to deeper skin layers. It's best used as a supportive ingredient alongside more potent actives.

8. Glycolic Acid

[26:32 - 28:09]

Glycolic acid is recognized for its exfoliating prowess but warned against due to its potential for skin trauma:

"It's trauma for the skin... results are temporary and can lead to more fragile skin long-term."
– Amitai Eshel [26:32]

They recommend that glycolic acid treatments be limited to professional settings and not overused at home to avoid compromising the skin barrier and increasing susceptibility to damage.

9. Peptides

[30:27 - 37:12]

The conversation delves into the complexities of peptides in skincare. Amitai stresses the importance of peptide length and concentration:

"If you have a peptide that you want to absorb into the cell, it should be four amino acids long, max."
– Amitai Eshel [30:27]

They critique many commercial peptides for being too large to effectively penetrate the skin and for inconsistent formulations across products. Only specific, short-chain neuropeptides show promise in influencing gene expression and reducing biological skin age.

10. PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) / Vampire Facials

[34:00 - 37:55]

PRP facials, popularly known as Vampire Facials, are discussed as a potent but misunderstood trend. Amitai explains:

"It is supportive to stimulation of repair... requires consistent treatments for gradual results."
– Amitai Eshel [35:34]

While effective in promoting healing and rejuvenation, especially when combined with microneedling, results are not immediate and require dedication. The hosts caution against opting for subpar or off-brand treatments to ensure safety and efficacy.

11. CO2 Facials

[38:23 - 41:55]

CO2 facials are criticized for their coarse approach to skin oxygenation:

"CO2 masks are a pretty crude way of delivering oxygen to the skin... hyperbaric masks offer a more efficient alternative."
– Amitai Eshel [38:25]

They differentiate between CO2 lasers (a medical procedure) and CO2-infused masks (often spa treatments), highlighting potential risks and advocating for more refined methods like hyperbaric masks that enhance oxygen utilization without the trauma associated with lasers.

Conclusion

In wrapping up, Amitai and Anastasia encourage listeners to question skincare trends, verify scientific backing, and prioritize long-term skin health over fleeting fads. They invite feedback and discussions from the audience, emphasizing the importance of informed skincare choices.

"Understand trends. Don't just follow them and question the source. Check the science."
– Anastasia Hojaiva [42:36]

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Key Takeaways:

• Skepticism is vital: Not all trending skincare treatments deliver on their promises. It's essential to research and understand the science behind each trend.

• Long-term vs. short-term benefits: Many popular treatments may offer immediate cosmetic improvements but lack sustainable skincare benefits.

• Ingredient efficacy and formulation: The effectiveness of skincare ingredients often depends on their molecular structure, concentration, and how they're formulated within products.

• Professional guidance: Treatments involving potent acts like glycolic acid or PRP facials should be pursued under professional supervision to minimize risks.

Final Thought:
Embrace skincare biohacks that are scientifically validated and tailored to your skin's needs, ensuring a graceful and enduring aging process.

Transcript

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Hey, friends. Welcome back to Biohacking Beauty where skincare meets science and we help you to cut through the noise in the world of anti aging.

[Amitai Eshel]

Wow. Anastasia Hojaiva doing the intro for the Biohacking Beauty podcast. That's it. I can leave? That was my last. I guess this is my last episode.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

And this is when the download's gonna start. The window.

[Amitai Eshel]

Come on. So first of all, welcome to the Biohacking Beauty podcast. Amitai Eshel here, co founder of Yango Skincare and my co host, co founder, co CEO Anastasia Hojaiva.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Hello everyone. Co parent to Lev and, and today we're going trend hunting.

[Amitai Eshel]

Oh my God. Do you have a license?

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

No, but we're going to be talking red light therapy, masks, salmon sperm facials, retinol for your elbows. You know, if I'm excited.

[Amitai Eshel]

Ice baths for the face.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah. And we're gonna see if this trend's actually worth the hype or are they just good marketing?

[Amitai Eshel]

Yes. Okay, so we're gonna start breaking down. Let's do it.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Okay, so we're breaking down 12 of the most viral skincare trends. No fluff, no filters, just anesthetics, clinical insights and some critical thinking along the way. Well, the first one and a little bit of fluff. Always with you.

[Amitai Eshel]

Some grunty fluff.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Okay, so the first one is face ice baths. You've seen it, everyone's doing them. Have you ever done face bath? Every time.

[Amitai Eshel]

Face bath, yes.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Face ice bath, no.

[Amitai Eshel]

I mean I've put. I've dunked my head when I did an ice bath, but no, same.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah, so the face ice bath, they, they claim to sculpt depuff and tighten your skin. So what do you think? Is it long term, short term?

[Amitai Eshel]

Okay, here's what I'm going to equate it to something else, something that I talk about a lot. You know, hyaluronic acid gained popularity because it. Cause it played in both worlds. It was an injectable, a filler.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

We will talk about hyaluronic acid later when I say.

[Amitai Eshel]

Okay, so what? No, because I'm saying it played on both worlds, was a filler and a humectant and people conflated the two. And companies helped that conflation where people think that if I apply it on the skin, it's going to act a little bit like a filler or the opposite. Oh, I'm injecting it. It's probably going to hydrate me as well. And one actually has nothing to do with the other. It just has the same name and face ice bath and actual ice bath are pretty similar that they have nothing to do with each other. And the reason is, is because ice baths are lowering the core, core body temperature and most of the reaction is done by the body as a whole, like the liver or the body as a whole and not the, not the actual organ that's being cooled like the skin, you know, Whereas facial, you're not getting any of that effect by cooling the face specifically.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

So what do you think about ice baths? Yeah, facial ice baths. So yeah, what I was saying is that I do think I agree with you that you can't now equate ice bath and facial ice bath for wellness benefits and say that all the same medical benefits that you get from ice bath you will get from the facial eyes. But no, but I do know people that when they're kind of like in the funk and they're having a bad day when they go to do facial ice bath because they for whatever reason can't. Maybe they don't have a big ice bath in their home. Right. It does help them to reset their mood.

[Amitai Eshel]

Great.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

So yeah, I just wasn't sure if you, if this is the people you were referencing.

[Amitai Eshel]

Just. I'm just referencing. And, and, and the, the major thing is the people think it's a wellness.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah, yeah. But there's definitely no long term benefits. And also. And yeah, if you're doing facial ice baths every day and, and you're hearing this and you're like, oh man, am I just wasting my time? That depends, you know, because it's all about how it makes you feel in the end of the day.

[Amitai Eshel]

You're said to be short and snappy.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yes. I'll just say the very last thing that the facial ice bath, it constrict your blood vessels. So temporarily you will look better in the mirror and you will have that glowing skin and you will look better. So if that look at yourself in the mirror makes you feel better, sure. Have it as a part of your day.

[Amitai Eshel]

Okay, sounds good.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

But it's not a miracle worker.

[Amitai Eshel]

Apropos. Makes you feel better and like you're.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Not building collagen, you know?

[Amitai Eshel]

No, you're not. Jelly eye patches.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yes. So that, that's. You're right. Jelly eye patches, for me, that's very much the same thing. It just makes you look better temporarily. There's absolutely no long term effect. And fun fact, you don't have to even spend money on the jelly eye patches. You can take Serene Wrap, you can put an eye cream under it. You can put serene tap wrap like on top around your eye. You will have the same effect. It's almost like the tissue gets heat up and the blood comes to the surface and you. It's a little bit even like a swelling effect. So if somebody has like, not really the dark circles, it doesn't help with the dark circles really but if, if you have like wrinkles or puffiness so that by that temporary like almost swelling it will all look more tighter and even. But again you don't even have to invest in it.

[Amitai Eshel]

I'm going to be short and snappy. I want to say two things. Number one, the problem is that I think they're sold as an active ingredient, which they are not, or they are not good at carrying the active ingredients. They're submerged in a liquid, but it's not really good at carrying that. So you should apply whatever you want to apply and have those applied after. Like Dukes for example. They have, they have ones that are reusable and all you do is you.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Put it off the grounds.

[Amitai Eshel]

Have now the reusable ones. The second thing I would say they're all, all of them. 100% of them are made in China, including. That's the same with sheet masks by the way. That's why we never made a sheet mask. So you don't know if they're contaminated, you don't know what's going on there. You don't know, you know what's going on. Same thing with Saran Wrap. They might have microplastics, things like that.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah, and I'm not suggesting that you should do it. I'm just saying if you want to save money on the jelly patches, you can use a solar rap.

[Amitai Eshel]

That is my, that is my problem. But that's it. I'm not going to rant. We can go to the next one.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah. Okay, so no cellular benefit, long term seller benefit, no long term change.

[Amitai Eshel]

Uh huh.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

So the third one is fun salmon.

[Amitai Eshel]

Sperm facials or pdrn. Yeah, PDRN polynucleotides.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

They supposed to support tissue regeneration and elasticity in theory. In practice. Let's talk sourcing.

[Amitai Eshel]

Okay, so, so why so first of all, this is actually really, really, really not new. And if people remember from like 10 years ago, ish companies having sodium DNA and sodium RNA in their products, they were always derived from salmon sperm. So the reason you don't see them anymore is that people realize that the sourcing is really poor. They source them from obviously farm raised fish. Farm raised salmon. These have a lot of like, you know, other Things like antibiotics, the dirtiest thing. And that's why people don't use them in cosmetics anymore. But now they kind of gain a resurgence in skincare, in, in injectables. What you can do to go around it because there, there is something to be said about poly, polynucleotides, sodium RNA DNA and by the way, spermidine, that that is, there is, you could do two things. You could apply young goose youth products that have spermidine and for sodium RNA DNA you can have exosome injections. That's what, that's the good part of exosomes. When you hear exosomes, that's a carrier, carrier vehicle. What's inside it is the same thing. So. Yeah, yeah, that's what I have to say.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah, no, I, I, I agree with you. I think you gotta think about microplastics and heavy metals that unfortunately are present in farm fish, salmon. And unless you can, you know, have control over sourcing, you're better off with like, you know, cleaner human derived options like PRP that actually align with regenerative medicine.

[Amitai Eshel]

Maybe we're gonna start a trend of like wild caught salmon sperm.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Actually, I, I'm, I guarantee you that it will come up because you know, there will be more and more people revealing the, the where this come that where the salmon.

[Amitai Eshel]

One thing I would say is that I, I know couple companies that have started to offer it topically. It's not there yet. Like we have no idea if it actually works topically or not. So yeah, we barely know if it actually works by inject with, with injections.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Okay, next next one. The next next one is Morpheus 8.

[Amitai Eshel]

And I think we should frame it as radio frequency and radio frequency microneedling. And this is not micro microneedling, which is.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yes, yes, that's a very common question that we get actually every time we bash microneedling with radio frequency. So we support microneedling, but we do not support microneedling with radio frequency. So this therapy is sold as, you know, tightening collagen stimulation procedure. It's definitely overhyped. And we talk about it, you know, a lot. You talked about it in so many podcasts, Ben Greenfield's podcast, and many, many others dropping names. I'm kidding. Yes, but you can drop them. But real long story short is this treatment just has so many drawbacks, so many risk factors that in our opinion, it's just not worth it. Are you okay with me saying this for the both of us?

[Amitai Eshel]

Yes. People do it instead of plastic surgery. Like that's what people want, they want to prevent plastic surgery by using Morpheus 8 softwave, other wave based devices. It doesn't do that. In order to do that it needs to target the fascia. That's what doctors are using it for. It doesn't actually reach the fascia as far as like the needles. What it does reach are tissues like fat, like, you know, hypodermis, like areas that are like blood vessels. The reason it doesn't actually reach the fossa is because below the fascia are like nerves and you don't want to reach them actually. So it reaches areas that dead of getting, you know, tightened up beautifully. What is created is scar tissue. So the reason there is results in the beginning and that these results are, you feel like they're going away. It's because these results are actually temporary swelling and water retention. So basically like trauma, when this trauma result is resolved, it's resolved as scar tissue which is very thin. If you think of like if anyone has a scar anywhere, that scar long term is, is thin. It's number one. Number two, it doesn't actually function well like the tissue that that was before and you even might damage and you probably are damaging if you are doing it over and over again. Fat and blood vessels. And again, that is a summary of something we said often. So I don't know if you want to say anything else.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

No, no, you covered it. You covered it. Okay. Red light face masks.

[Amitai Eshel]

Oh, red light face masks specifically.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Okay, so Instagram loves them.

[Amitai Eshel]

Instagram loves them and companies like Omnilux are paying. It's funny, we were at dinner with a. Not a dermatologist, just some. What is she like a pediatrician?

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

I don't know what dinner are you talking about?

[Amitai Eshel]

She said, oh, it's the only mask that works.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

I don't remember. We go to so many dinners.

[Amitai Eshel]

Anyway, I am not going to say, I'm not going to throw under the bus who that is.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah, no, you shouldn't.

[Amitai Eshel]

But it's an opinionated Israeli doctor that just had a baby.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

No, I don't know. And I don't want to put anyone on the spot, so let's move on.

[Amitai Eshel]

Okay. Anyway, so she said, someone asked me about LED face masks and she said the only one that works is Omnilux. And then I proceeded to ask her why. She couldn't really explain. I explained to her why that is not true and that this is just another face mask. To which she said, yeah, but why do all the dermatologists on Instagram recommend it? And the reason is Money.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yes. It's so strange to me that people don't draw that connection.

[Amitai Eshel]

Yeah, insane. But so Omniac is just another face mask. The way we measure face mask or any red light therapy is the color. In other words, the wavelength and the power. Right? That's it. They are not powerful enough. They could be the right wavelengths. The wavelengths are very easy. I mean like any Christmas lights can be the right wavelengths, but they are, by the way, some Christmas lights are actually stronger than.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

So the wavelengths should be between 630 and 850 nanometers. Right?

[Amitai Eshel]

630 to 650 and then 800 like and then around 850, which are infrared. But basically there is no. Anyone can make those. There is. I'm not even going through the nitty gritty of it. There is quality issues, but I'm not even going to go there. I'm going to go to. That is a given. Any company can do that. The problem is with face masks is that the diodes that you need to use, the LEDs bulbs that you need to use are very weak. The reason is because LEDs are actually really bad at higher outputs at controlling their heat. So once you get a certain power, you need to cool them down with vents. And you can't have it in face mask. That's heavy. And so you're left with, with, with diodes that are weak. And these diodes actually are like. Instead of. If you want to have a good physique, you're not going to lift like your, you know, I don't know, like, like a stick. You're not going to do deadlifts with a stick. Right? Because it's not going to give you any results. That is similar to LED masks. You might get some results in the beginning, like someone that's just starting to train and does just body weight exercises. But long term, if you really wanted to get amazing results, you need to start lifting heavy things over your head. And that is not the case with masks in general. If you wanted to get good results with masks, it would be by them activating other ingredients. So retinol, even though most masks are saying don't use retinol with it because retinol is full of sensitizing. That's more for regulatory reasons. And of course this is not medical advice. But I'm telling you like what is a way to bypass it is by using retinol with red light therapy. If you wanted to use something that is more effective than you would using ladder serum, which is designed to be Activated by red light. We've designed. Took us four years to develop that. But in general there you should use photoactive ingredients activated by red light and then you can use a mask. That's true, but alone red light therapy masks aren't as effective long term as a panel. That would provide about three times the energy.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah, yeah. So I agree. Panels are just like as a rule of thumb panels are better and you get more result. If you happen to have an LED mask and you don't want to throw it away and you want to get some results out of it, you might as well use it with a ladder serum. I personally would just say if you don't have the latter serum, you heard Amitai saying, oh, use the retinol. You do have retinol. You're like, oh, I'm going to go do it. Just make sure that retinol takes. A lot of people don't know retinol takes about 20 minutes to get absorbed. So you would need to really wait at least 20 to 30 minutes, have retinol fully absorbed and then use the red light therapy because the light gets abstracted by, by any kind of water. So if you have anything on your face that haven't fully absorbed, you know, you, you're not going to get any results. And on that note, I will tell you am that I don't know if you've seen it, but there are people that they put sheet mask and then they put the LED mask on.

[Amitai Eshel]

I hope you mean mask because that would make more sense than a sheet mask.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Okay, guys, I don't know if you understood my accent, but. But yes, people are using sheet mask. Okay.

[Amitai Eshel]

Anyway, shout out to History on fire and Danielle Bolelli that he's an Italian and he gets a lot of flack for not being able to pronounce shit and shit and sheep and ship.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yes. And honestly digress me here, but one of the reasons that I wouldn't come before on the podcast more often, I do feel like I have an accent.

[Amitai Eshel]

Okay.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

And that's a sheath reason for not.

[Amitai Eshel]

Coming on the podcast.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

I understand what I'm saying.

[Amitai Eshel]

Listen, let's, let's get back to it. You said to be snappy.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yes. I mean to be short and snappy. Okay. Retinol body cream.

[Amitai Eshel]

Okay. Oh, wait, so sheet masks are. It's just stupid. Okay, don't do it. It's dumb. Just we need to be short and snappy. So I'm being very snappy. Sheet masks with red light therapy is dumb. Don't do it. Now we're going to go to retinal body cream. Retinal body cream actually not that bad of an idea. So we are going to launch a body cream. We're working on it for a long time. Why did we decide against retinol? First of all, because body cream is normally used on some areas for multiple times a day or every day or when going outside. So retinol is really not a product or not an ingredient that plays nice within that mode of application. Do I think someone should be using some sort of retinol in their body cream? My recommendation would be once in a while mix in your retinol that you use on the face into your body cream and apply it overnight. I think you would be doing significantly more harm than good if you applied it after a shower and then went about your day without sunblocking your body on your body.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah. And also like wet skin can react with vitamin C and can react with retinols as well. So yeah, it's good to put humectants on wet skin to, to, to lock in moisture but not active ingredients like retinol or vitamin C. There are actually peptides.

[Amitai Eshel]

You know, I know I she on peptides a lot but there are actually peptides that are more effective in the body than body skin, than face skin. So shout out to different peptides for the skin.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

And and I also want to say, can I second you to say that retinol can help with texture, sun damage, even crepiness on knees and elbows. So I agree with you that all of those areas you can just, you know, if you use our bioretinol you can go ahead and apply it there and yeah, thank us later. Make sure you protect from the sun though. And if you are taking our advice and you'll start doing it just like on your face, start slow, moisturize after and yeah, always spf. Always.

[Amitai Eshel]

Yeah. Let's go next. Nice cinema.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

And it's everywhere. It's everywhere. Why everywhere?

[Amitai Eshel]

The reason it's everywhere, it's because it's, it's dirt cheap. It's one of the cheapest ingredients you can have. It has a lot of data, although misunderstood data, non longevity related data.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

I agree. Well, I will say this niacinamide is versatile. It does have some data that it strengthens the skin barrier, balances oil and reduces redness. Because after all we do want to, you know, bring up data here but too much of it can backfire. So it can be something that can actually irritate or cause breakouts.

[Amitai Eshel]

Okay, so here's the thing. So here. So let's frame it short and snappily within the longevity framework. The longevity matrix, if you would.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yes. I love the episode that you did about longevity matrix.

[Amitai Eshel]

Thank you very much. I try to be like. Anyway, so not to digress. So niacinamide is the waste material of NAD consumption in the body. It can be recycled back into NAD and that is why it provides results when used in skincare. That is actually one of the evidence we provide as far as treating other NAD precursors like NR or NMN in ways that would improve their absorption. We actually borrow a lot of the data off of niacinamide, which is from the same family. The problem is the body recognize. The cells recognize niacinamide as a signal that a lot of NAD has been used or a lot of NAD has been. Basically a lot of energy has been created. And really, just because I'm saving you guys an hour, just trust me when I'm saying the body doesn't want to use energy, it doesn't have to. Cells don't want to use energy, they don't have to. I'm going to finish that at that. I should do an episode about that specifically. But there is a reaction that happens with niacinamide when there is high amounts of it. Your cells stop recycling NAD. All right, I remember shout out to Dr. Joel Maricola. Poor guy was giving a lecture about how great niacinamide is on stage and I texted him like a bazillion articles on why he's wrong. And I think since then he stopped saying it. Shout out to Dr. Joe Marcola. But basically short term, great results because you have more nad. Long term, it's like taking steroids. You will have more testosterone, but you're going to make less testosterone naturally and you might harm that system long term. That's why too much of it can cause complications. What do we do? We use precursors that are much more sleek and elegant like NR and NMN and other ones as well. By the way, not all niacinamide is created equal. We use niacinamide, which because of regulatory reasons we have to call it niacinamide, but it's not really 100% niacinamide, which bypasses that signal of stopping the recycling of nad. That's. I'm going to. I'm going to finish with that. I'm just going to say that we actually are doing the opposite with our NAD apex complex, which is our newest complex, which we actually stimulate more NAD production naturally. We kind of flip the script on that. On that reaction, and we signal the body that it needs to create more nad. Mic drop. We can move on.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Okay. Okay. I actually feel compelled to just say that all of what you said is right, but there are not that many companies that use like 10% of cinema.

[Amitai Eshel]

The Origin.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Okay, well.

[Amitai Eshel]

Well, that's all they're called. Origin. Origin Orange, I think. Shout out to the. To Origin.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Okay. Anyway, the. The point is that what I'm. What I'm trying without trying to say, is that Ordinary. Ordinary? Yeah. Origins is like your geek company or something.

[Amitai Eshel]

Origin. No, Origin was in the malls. It was like selling like shea butter and stuff.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

The point is, before you. You go ahead and think that now your body doesn't produce NAD very well because you use niacinamide in your skincare. Check the percentage, if indeed you have the ordinary or something like that. That has over 10%. Yes. Refer to what Demeter was saying. But either way, there are other issues that we talked about where niacinamide can cause, you know, irritation, et cetera. So it's just not the best ingredient. Not very overused and not the best ingredient. Okay.

[Amitai Eshel]

Okay.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Speaking of not the best things. Speaking of not the best ingredients, we are moving on to hyaluronic acid.

[Amitai Eshel]

I'm not against hyaluronic acid.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

No. But is it the must have or just the trendiest hydration?

[Amitai Eshel]

And I think I've explained some of it before. I would just say that what is incorrect, you are never, ever, whatever you do, you don't give your skin hydration. You don't. Nothing goes to the level layers where hydration is being produced and exchanged in your skin. That's too deep. Ingredients don't get there. So when you apply hyaluronic acid to your skin and you heard the myth about it kind of drawing moisture from the air, whatever, it does it at a very low level, which is basically your skin barrier. That's the good news. So what it does, actually, it helps lock in moisture and prevent something called transepidermal water loss.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah. You just have to make sure you apply it on a damp skin and follow up with the moisturizer.

[Amitai Eshel]

Correct, Correct. So there are benefits to using hyaluronic acid. It's just not the benefits that it's being touted as. And there are even benefits to your skin microbiome. Not crazy, but there are. So they, like, I just think that.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

We should kind of like let people know that hyaluronic acid, if your products contain hyaluronic acid, that can be great because it's a great supportive ingredient. It shouldn't be the hero ingredient, though. If you have.

[Amitai Eshel]

It's a supportive ingredient to supportive ingredients. It's like if it was, if it, if you had assistant to that, assistant to the active ingredients, shout out to the office. No, I would say like if you had a sports team, that would be the guy painted at the team as the team colors as a spectator shouting, let's go. Whatever your team is. Okay, okay, again, bad jokes.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

No, no, no. Great jokes. Okay, glycolic acid next up.

[Amitai Eshel]

Okay, glycolic acid. Glycolic acid is very cool as an ingredient. It's super cool. But because it's a super cool ingredient and it basically breaks down the glue between your cells, so it breaks down connections between your cells. It allows other ingredients to absorb very well. But this is a trauma. This is trauma for the skin. So this is not an ingredient that you should be using willy nilly, willy and not also nearly. And by the way, this, the paradigm of over exfoliation is the paradigm of companies. We normally don't throw companies under the bus.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

No, this episode you're throwing everybody there.

[Amitai Eshel]

Is a bus and everyone being strong. But companies like for example, Obagi Zo, I mean all the medical grade skincare companies of like that were found founded around like 30 years ago. The paradigm was let's stimulate as much renewal as possible through exfoliation, through sensitization.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

The paradigm was give us amazing results. Now give it to us now and.

[Amitai Eshel]

We now have the opportunity to see what happened 30 years later for people who subscribe to this paradigm long term. And it's more fragile skin, more rigid skin, more, you know, thinner, bruiseable, less recoverable.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah, I agree. And I, and I think to like describe glycolic acid, it's, it's, it can give you amazing results. It's dangerous if overused.

[Amitai Eshel]

Yes, it should be a professional treatment. Shouldn't be done more than once every two months, shouldn't be left on forever.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

You shouldn't use it if your skin is very like, sensitive. If you have compromised skin barrier, it's too harsh for that.

[Amitai Eshel]

Amen.

[C]

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[Amitai Eshel]

All right, you want to pull out the air quotes? Anti aging peptides. I was mimicking air quotes with my hands.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Okay, got it. Yeah. Well, you recently have been talking a lot about peptides and how they're overhyped.

[Amitai Eshel]

So first of all, let me tell you something. If you have a peptide that you want to absorb into the cell, I want it to be four amino acids long, max. So you need to look at the peptide and you need to Wikipedia it, and you need to see that it says invent a peptide here. But it has three amino acids. Glycine, leucine, whatever. Okay. And that would be the peptide. Like, I want four amino acids. More than that. Forget about it. Okay? It's just, it could do other things, but it's not going to be. For example, I had a talk with a. I gave a talk in Israeli Tech week and there was an incredible person there that were developed. They were developing peptides, and I was like, oh, my God. Do you have, like, we can collaborate. Do you have peptides for skin? It's like, well, we have peptides that replace glyphosates in agriculture. You know, maybe that could kill acne. I don't know. But. But by the way, maybe we're talking. But. So peptides are like a very. You could do so Many things with them, it's basically just a bunch of proteins or amino acids, which comprise proteins. Growth factors, by the way, are types of peptides.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah, I think a lot of people don't realize that. Well, what do you think about Matrixyl, Argirelline, copper peptides? Those have some clinical backing.

[Amitai Eshel]

They do. A lot of those clinical backings are not translatable. Not only. So they're not translatable in two factors. They're not translatable for actual. If you've gone past the petri dish, because then you're talking about them surviving a lot of defense mechanisms. The skin has like acid mantle, like lipid layer. So there's a lot of things there that this. The peptide needs to survive and it also needs to survive the time in the bottle. So peptides, because of their. They're very delicate. They're super fragile. Super fragile. For example, you know, there is the Wolverine peptide that's very popular right now in. In inject as injectable firms called BPC 157. Joe Rogan talks about, et cetera. BPC 157.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

I had a really cool conversation with a waves about it on. On this podcast.

[Amitai Eshel]

I did.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

We did.

[Amitai Eshel]

Okay, so BPC157, when you mix it with water to inject it, you should not even shake the bottle. If you shake the bottle, 90% of the material is gone. Okay. So that those are the challenges. And even the manufacturers, I'm telling you, we make, you know, many products with peptides. The manufacturers don't know how to formulate with them. They tell you, we don't know. One manufacturer would say put 1%, the other would say put 10%. That one would say it doesn't work with this. The other say, you know, even like if you ask your esthetician one say, hey, you shouldn't use vitamin C or you shouldn't use retinol with it. The other one says it actually improves its action. It's all over the map. We found out that there is a complex that if you have neural peptides are a little bit different. They absorb differently, they act differently, they're very natural to the body. But they don't create collagen. They don't do everything that, you know, Matrixyl 3000 said it does, or other peptides that are kind of supposed to be collagen supporting peptides. So I want a short amino acid. We use T. Go pep up four. The number four should tell you what it is. Ghk, cu, which has GHK and copper Attached to it, that's three amino acids long. These are peptides we use and neuropeptides. And we found that this combination of neuropeptides and very short chain amino acid peptides does create crazy results on a genetic level by the way, on, on, on, on the expression of genes and so on. Reducing the biological age of the skin. Not only appearance, also appearance. We found out that any peptide that's bigger than that, any peptide that tries to do other things than that, unless it's a peptide that works on skin barrier like algae derived peptides. Useless.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah. And I think it's, I think you soft, softly touched on it. But it has to be in meaningful concentrations.

[Amitai Eshel]

Yeah.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

And you have to look for specific names in the inci. Yeah. Like too inky to make sure that you're using like the, the proper ingredients. Like you know, properly sourced ingredients. Okay. PRP or also known as vampire facials.

[Amitai Eshel]

Vampire facial by the way is. I don't know if people know, it's just a trademarked term. So you don't need to look for vampire facial. It's just someone trademarked it. And if you use their, I mean if you use their material or you use their vials, use their, you, you've gone through their, their training, they, they can call it vampire facial. But it's the same as saying PRP or prf by the way, same thing as far as PRF is platelet rich fibrins.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

The other one is plasma.

[Amitai Eshel]

Plasma, yeah, it's the same thing. It's either you take out the fibrils or not. Okay, so.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

So it's your own blood spanned down and reinjected to deliver growth factors and promote healing. So it's powerful, especially when combined with microneedling. But do you think it's all that, like where we stand with the pyramids?

[Amitai Eshel]

I think it's all that, but I do think that it is like red light therapy or like exosomes or like NAD or like you know, whatever. It is supportive to stimulation of repair. So the stimulation of repair for for example microneedling should be there.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

I think for facial rejuvenation it has a lot more gradual results with consistent treatments. It just can be like one treatment. It's not overnight miracle. You have to sign up. It's a costly treatment too. So you have to sign up and be ready to spend the money and do it consistently. I've personally heard about less effects with hair loss restoration. So I know there's a lot of PRP treatments for hair loss restoration.

[Amitai Eshel]

I think Guilty. Someone did it. I did it.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

You did?

[Amitai Eshel]

Yeah, it was part of what I did with Dr. Bman. Shout out to Dr. Bman.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Ah, but he did like one time.

[Amitai Eshel]

Yeah. That you do it once a year.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah.

[Amitai Eshel]

Shout out to Dr. Bman. Yeah, but this is super concentrated with exons with this, with stem cells with that. So.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

So. Well, I. I just know that. Yeah, I just know a lot of people that did it for hair loss restoration. They didn't get good. Great results. You got great results. But I think it's the complex.

[Amitai Eshel]

Yeah.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

That you're doing.

[Amitai Eshel]

Yes, that's correct.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Okay.

[Amitai Eshel]

Misunderstood. I think it's what we said. No downtime. Very little downtime cost. You know the cost for that.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

I know that a lot of time PRP can be like anywhere between 300, but the average is like around 600. And I was told that I have. That haven't done personally, but I know that you got to look for a person using the right, you know, kind of tubes and the machine because. Yeah, if you just get things that are off brand to save money, it might not be as effective.

[Amitai Eshel]

I don't know. I. I think that might be marketing. I don't know. Really, I don't know.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

But that's what I'm.

[Amitai Eshel]

Yeah, but maybe we should get someone on that does know.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah.

[Amitai Eshel]

Right. Dr. Mirren, a dentist, is the kind of the guy behind prf. And the funny thing was he freaked out when we came out with CARE because his chain of clinics is called care. Ah, but he's a great guy. But he was like, did I not trademark it? No, you didn't, sir. Anyway, so Next let's do CO2 facials. That's going to be the last one, I promise. So that's trending.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

They're everywhere right now.

[Amitai Eshel]

They are everywhere.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

And it's like one of the number one ask questions comments, especially whenever we talk about Morpheus 8.

[Amitai Eshel]

Really?

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah. People always ask, what about CO2 facials? And I'm kind of tired answering it.

[Amitai Eshel]

Okay, first of all.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

But I'm still answering it, guys. I'm not stuck up with something. I'm tired.

[Amitai Eshel]

But I do it for the third time in this podcast. I think people are conflating two things. CO2 lasers are lasers that are.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Well, that's what they're asking about.

[Amitai Eshel]

Okay, but that's not CO2 facial, so.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

I know.

[Amitai Eshel]

But CO2 lasers are. Are a type of laser that the gas that is used as CO2. There are other one. Erbium, for example, urbia, like in the AG lasers are another one, basically. But CO2 facials are a mass that combines two things to create CO2 that is infused into the skin. Shout out to Dr. Marcola the second time in the video that does CO2 insufflations up the behind. That's enemas. Anyway, so let's talk about CO2 lasers. Not necessarily the worst thing in the world, but you need to treat yourself like an athlete. You are recovering from serious, serious, serious trauma. You need to be like a hermit Nazi, son. Treat yourself like, you know, what's the name of this football player that had Gisele Binshen for a while there? Tom Brady. You're the Tom Brady of recovery, right? Eat the best. Like, treat your body like a temple. Skincare, Spermidine, NAD in your skin care supplements, whatever. Nad, ivs, you got to be on top of it, or else you're creating more aging than good, and you need to do a lot of it beforehand. CO2 facials are really cool. The model is really cool. The idea is, in order to use it oxygen, you need CO2. That's what happens, by the way, when you exercise, you have more CO2, so you use more oxygen. That is indeed correct, but it is a pretty crude way of doing that. Another way to do it is to do what we do with yeast derivatives, growth factors from yeast that we have in hyperbaric mass. So hyperbaric mass doesn't actually give oxygen to the skin. It also improves oxygen utilization. So these two, they actually do the same. You could do it in a. You know, you need. It gets pretty crude in. In the CO2 mask that people do professionally. You could do it much more often and in a much easier fashion if you use the hyperbaric mask. So you could do either or. Yeah, but go for it. If that's something that is done part of your facial, go for it.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah. I just think that, yeah, there should be a distinction between whether it's a spa treatment or medical procedure.

[Amitai Eshel]

Like, you know, if this is a spa treatment. Yeah. The laser is a medical procedure.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

No, I know. I'm saying. I'm saying that. Yeah. And for beginners, it just started with facials, not lasers.

[Amitai Eshel]

And, yeah, they say have nothing to do with each other. Yeah. Yes, yes, yes. I agree.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

People are conflating, confusing, and even some.

[Amitai Eshel]

Of them are insufflated.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

So, yeah, we have to make the distinction. And also. Yeah, I hope that settles it. But I personally wouldn't do the C2 laser just because we live in Miami. And I can't imagine not Accidentally exposing my skin to the sun.

[Amitai Eshel]

Even though you don't expose your sun to CO2 lasers. Okay, that's all we have for today. You said that I should be snappy, so I'm snappy.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

I said it off air because we need to go back to our sun. But you keep saying it on air.

[Amitai Eshel]

Right? People should know. Anyway.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Okay, 12 trends, 12 breakdowns, guys. Let us know what surprised you the most.

[Amitai Eshel]

Yeah. What do you think is over? I want to know from the audience in a review on Apple podcasts or on Instagram, but really a review on Apple podcast where it should give us five stars. Which. What's one thing that we talked about that you think is overhyped or just something we didn't talk about? What do you think is overhyped? What do you think that we are wrong about? What do you think is underrated? Maybe we didn't do that. Maybe people have an idea of what's underrated.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

And I think just our biggest tip is understand trends. Don't just follow them and question the source. Check the science.

[Amitai Eshel]

I have a tip. The Tom Brady tip. Okay.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

I'm glad you remembered his name.

[Amitai Eshel]

Yeah. So any treatment, medical treatment is stimulation for repair. You are the one repairing when you sleep, when you eat, when you walk around, your body responds to the treatment. So the more youthfully function, younger, biologically, whatever you want to call that you are the better results you will have and vice versa. So don't, you know, don't get into McDonald's if you're interested in recovering.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Yeah, yeah, for sure you can get.

[Amitai Eshel]

In, but you can't eat anything there anyway.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

No, that. That. That's great. Well, if you love this episode, drop us a review. Like a Mitai, you know, has been hinting, but I'm just going straight for it.

[Amitai Eshel]

Yeah, we need reviews more than Uber driver.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Five stars. Five stars.

[Amitai Eshel]

Five stars. Give me. I. You give us five stars, we give you five stars. Anyway, thank you everyone.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Thanks for listening.

[Amitai Eshel]

See you here next time. Comment. The fact that you want Anastasia to come on more episodes, that really helps, as you can see.

[Anastasia Hojaiva]

Bye bye.

[Amitai Eshel]

Sa.