Wouldn’t you love the secret to smoother, younger looking skin? What do women all around the world know that you need to know? These are two of the questions asked at the beginning of the Principle Secret Reclaim infomercial which you may have seen on TV. After watching the Reclaim wrinkle cream commercial I wanted to review it because of the “molecular complex” touted as “the secret to the wrinkle reduction power of Reclaim.” Let’s take a look at Principe Secret Reclaim – and the commercial – and see what we can discover.
Principle Secret Reclaim ingredients
According to the Principle Secrets infomercial I saw, Reclaim contains the following ingredients:
- DPHP - reduces appearance of wrinkles
- Deliner complex – smoothes skin surface
- Glycolipids -increases cellular renewal
- ATP-GC – improves elasticity
- Argireline molecular complex
While I’m sure a dermatologist or esthetician could speak volumes about most of this stuff, it’s hard for me to make sense of many of these ingredients because the majority of them – Deliner complex, ATP-GC etc – seem vague and could mean almost anything. But that’s ok, because we can learn about the main ingredient in Principle Secret Reclaim – Argireline.
What is Argireline?
At the heart of the Principle Secret’s Reclaim is an ingredient called Argireline. The scientific name for Argireline is acetyl Hexapeptide-8 although Wikipedia – and other websites call it Acetyl hexapeptide-3. Either way, hexapeptide is just a fancy way of saying that the molecule in this wrinkle cream is made up of 6 amino acids. No big deal.
On the Principle Secret commercial they say that Argireline is “the secret to the wrinkle reduction power of Reclaim.” I did locate two studies of Argireline. One Argireline study was on humans while the other was basically a test tube study.
The human study noted that 30 days of Argireline treatment (10% solution) reduced wrinkle depth by 30%. By wrinkle depth, I suppose they mean how deep the wrinkle looks.
One issue with this study – an issue for me anyway- was that I could not tell how many people were involved. The summary of the study I read only mentioned “volunteers.” How many volunteers? Was it 5, 10, 100? Generally, the more people in the study, the better the study. Also, I could not tell if this was double blinded, something I look for in a “good” study.
These two studies reveal that In essence, argireline is basically a topical Botox cream. In other words, it looks like Botulinum toxin but, molecularly, it’s a shorter version. Argireline products act similarly to Botulinum toxin by temporarily relaxing the collagen and elastic fibers of skin and temporarily paralyzing the muscles.
This Botox-like effect might result in a more smoother appearance to the skin. Even on the website of Lipotec, the company that makes Argireline, they say that “ARGIRELINE® is a safer and milder alternative to Botulinum Toxin.”
This argireline product might be safer since it’s a cream applied to the skin, but since I don’t see many human trials, it’s hard to say for sure.
Argireline is also one of the main ingredients in the anti-wrinkle cream Hydroxatone so read that review when your finished here
One big difference between Argireline cream and Botox is that Argireline is about 4000 times less potent than Botox. Some researchers also say that Argireline can be used between Botox treatments and that it might reduce the frequency of Botox treatments – although I see no published proof of these benefits.
Argireline side effects?
Another difference between Botox and Argireline wrinkle cream is that while Botox is targeted – it’s injected into a specific areas – Reclaim (Argireline) can be spread over a larger area of skin, since it’s a cream. In theory might this mean that Argireline might relax more muscles than you want.
On some websites that discuss this ingredient, some warn that Argireline might cause skin sagging. I don’t know if facial sagging is a real concern or not. It does make some sense given what Argireline can do (please let me know if this happened to you). Therefore, I think this is an issue to discuss with a dermatologist or esthetician just to be safe -especially if you are older or have sun damaged skin.
The problem with Argireline research is that there seem to be just two studies, only one of which involved people.
Is Victoria Principle a chemist?
In the Principle Secret infomercial they say that Victoria Principle is a “member of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists.” I thought it was interesting they would mention this because as far as I know Victoria Principle has no formal scientific training.
I went to website of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists where I found that anybody can download a membership application. A basic membership costs $140. It looks like anybody can be a “member” if you pay $140 and provide a few references. I wanted to mention this since her affiliation with the Society of Cosmetic Chemists was brought up in the Reclaim commercial.
The Catherine Crier “interview”
At 8 minutes into the Principle Secret Reclaim commercial there is a short segment with Catherine Crier that starts out this way: “And here to get to the facts and science behind Principle Secret Reclaim’s astonishing results is television news journalist Catherine Crier.”
The segment starts out with Catherine Crier saying to Victoria Principle “Welcome“ – as if Victoria Principle has shown up to the set of some TV interview show. But, since this is a commercial for Victoria Principle’s product, it’s actually Catherine Crier who is the “guest.” Victoria should be saying welcome to Catherine!
Don’t fall for this trick. In this segment, Catherine Crier is probably being paid to play the role of the interviewer in this commercial.
I find it shameful when TV news personalities sell out their hard earned and coveted status to market products – any product – while cloaked under the veil of “investigative” news journalism. This confuses people.
Many infomercials look like “interview shows.” For example, you may remember seeing the commercial for the arthritis supplement called Supple which to me, looked almost like the set of the Larry King Show!
If Catherine Crier had appeared on the commercial and said “I love Principle Secret Reclaim. It’s amazing!” I would have no problem. But, that’s not what happened.
Does Reclaim (Argireline) work?
Since Argireline is basically a weaker version of Botox, it does make some sense that women and men might notice a reduction in facial wrinkles. That said, I recommend people speak to a dermatologist or esthetician about Victoria Principles Reclaim first. They are up to date on the research on Argireline and any side effects it might have. I also say this because I asked myself why they didn’t mention the Argireline-Botox relationship in the Reclaim commercial? Since Botox is so popular, I’d think this fact would be a selling point to people who can’t afford Botox or don’t like to get Botox injections. But, they never mentioned this connection in the Principle Secret Reclaim infomercial. Why? It just made me wonder.
What do you think?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
This is interesting Joe. The whole promotion of the product is based on the logical fallacy of Appeal to Authority. You brought that up by stating Victoria isn’t a member of the Society of Chemists. She is not a dermatologist or licensed Esthetician either as far as I know. She was on a night time drama 30 years ago and that makes her an expert? Well, people will try anything regardless.
I have flawless skin
People stop me in the street and everywhere I go asking what I do or use on my skin. The first thing I tell them is that I exercise 5 days a week. I sweat heavily (known to flush out toxins.) I drink lots of water every day and eat a diet high in vegetables and fruit, I discuss some of the skincare products I currently use on my Facebook page, because people always ask.
You can betcha none of what I use costs more than $20.00 (Regenerist moisturizer by Oil of Olay.) In fact my favorite new skin care find is Freeman Feeling Beautiful facial masks and exfoliating cleansers. They cost 1.35 a piece at Walmart.
As with exercise, consistency is the key. Whatever your regimen is, you must do it ALL OF THE TIME. The other thing that is probably most important for those interested in anti-aging is to use a sunblock!!! Even in the winter. Make sure it an SPF of 55 or higher. The sunblock that comes in makeup or moisturizers does not count (unless you can verify the SPF.) Sun damages the skin more than anything except maybe drug and alcohol abuse.
Joe, you will never catch me paying to have botulism injected into my face or any of that other houey. I will be 51 years old on January 2, and I am smoking! See it’s the attitude that counts. Feel good, look good.
God bless you and yours this holiday season.
P.S. You got me started again!
Christallin, thanks for your feedback and Merry Christmas AND Happy Birthday!
I have that getting started effect on people I guess
Thanks for that review. What can you tell me about Hydroxatone?
Far, Ill be reviewing hydroxatone very soon. Its next on my review list.
I just discovered your site and so thankful for it. I’m very interested in nutrition and health and it seems everday a new products come out that claims to be the product we MUST have. It’s so confusing and expensive if you try to get them all. I usually search reviews and of course they are always on the site of the ones selling the product so suspect at best. Thanks for non-biased info.
By the way, if the lady Christallin, who posted on here last Dec. is still posting on here, I would love to be your FB page so I can read about the products you use to have such amazing skin.
Cynthia, thanks for the very nice words and I’m glad you found my website
Yes Christallian still posts here and in case she doesn’t see this, you can find her from my FB page.