KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Nelda Frank doesn’t use anything special on her face and never thought much about her wrinkles, but she was game to try an over the counter product promising to visibly reduce the appearance of wrinkles around the eyes in twenty minutes.
The product is
“WrinkleFree Eyes”, distributed by University Medical Pharmaceuticals Corporation out of California.
“Sure, I’ll give it try,” said Nelda Frank, mother of one and grandmother of two.
Another eager candidate was Jara Adams who works for
Dr. Daniel Aires, Dermatology Division Director and faculty member at KU Medical Center.
“I want them all gone,” explained Jara as she pointed out wrinkles still visible after Botox®. “It’s time to get another round of Botox, so I’m willing to be a tester.”
We asked Dr. Aires to supervise the test. The product contains Retinol®, used commonly to treat acne as well as a long term approach to reducing wrinkles.
We wanted the doctor's opinion on how it could work in just twenty minutes.
The Test Begins
“WrinkleFree Eyes” is advertised to reduce the appearance of wrinkles in 20 minutes using a trademark Retinol cream and special patches.
We purchased two starter kits for our test. The kits included the patches, Retinol 4X™ Activating Cream, Retinol 4X™ Intensive Cream and a bottle of the “24 Hour Face Lift” to target fine lines and surface wrinkles.
The advertising markets the products as alternatives to Botox and Restylane® without the injections.
“Anything you buy in a department store is a low enough percentage, it won’t be burning people,” said Dr. Aires as he read the “WrinkleFree Eyes” package. “At the same time, it’s going to be weak enough it won’t do a whole lot of good. The stronger ones are the ones you get from a doctor or other health professional. They offer increased risk and increased benefit.”
Dr. Aires followed the package directions which said to apply the Retinol 4X™ Activating Cream to each patch. We decided to treat one eye only on our test subjects to more easily compare the results in his office. Dr. Aires applied the cream to two left patches using a cotton swab and placed them on our testers’ left eyes.
“You may need to hold this with your hand,” observed Dr. Aires as the patch on Jara’s eye kept pulling away from her skin. Nelda’s patch adhered to her skin without any problems. We asked how the patches felt.
“It feels fine,” said both testers.
Neither tester felt any tingling or irritation to their face. Both listened carefully as Dr. Aires explained why he suspected the product would work.
“In the short term, the only thing you could do that I’m aware of is to cause a little bit of edema or tissue swelling that might improve the appearance of wrinkles,” said Dr. Aires. “I don’t think that would be a long term choice, but it might give you some help for the evening.”
