If you’re looking for a single anti-aging ingredient, stop looking, it just doesn’t exist. That’s the opoinion of panelists and audience members at the HBA session, Anti-Aging: Synergies, peptides and beyond. The session was moderated by Gopinathan Menon and featured speakers from Neostrata, DSM and other companies.

Ronnie Weinkauf, VP-global R&D, NeoStrata Company, explained how her company is combining materials that offer disparate activities such as glycolic acid, polyhydroxy acids, bionic acids and peptides, to work together to beautify skin.

Mark Heidl, DSM Nutritional Products, reported on the impact that different peptides have on various endpoints such as Collagen I, III, IV, VII and XVII. For example, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5 has a significant effect on Collagen III.

Dr. Barbara Polla, Alchimie Forever, suggested that phyto-estrogens, such as soy, can improve the problems of post-menopausal skin. According to the speaker, insufficient estrogen levels in post-menopausal skin leads to sagging and the potential for more UV damage. But these symptoms can be alleviated by fortifying the body with topical applications and ingested forms of soybeans and pinto beans.

Finally, Daniel Maes, a retired VP-R&D at Estée Lauder, explained how the synchronization of “clock genes” can improve cellular activity, which leads to better skin.

“Clock genes affect everything: energy, metabolism, auophagy, DNA repair and cell cycle,” explained Dr. Maes.