How often are you browsing the net or flipping through a magazine only to see ads for anti-wrinkle products that promise outrageous results? And it’s the exact same when your in the skin care aisle at your local pharmacy. So which products are scams and which really work?

The truth is that most are not nearly as effective as they claim. This is especially true with what you see on drugstore shelves, because they cut corners and don’t use the better (more expensive) ingredients. The good news is there are many anti-wrinkle creams out there that use real science to deliver clinically proven results. These are often sold online because they cost a little bit more to make but usually they’re well worth it.

It’s understandable that you’re probably dubious of most product claims. After all, they all claim to work yet their results usually fall short. What do we recommend? We actually recommend something which may be counterintuitive, and that is to ignore manufacturer’s claims of effectiveness. Instead, you should pay attention to what clinically proven active ingredients they use in their products, and in what concentration they use them. Because the truth of the matter is that there are a few key ingredients which have been proven to increase collagen formation, reduce fine lines, and even out skin tone.

So what you want are anti-wrinkle products which contain these substances in high concentration. What should you look for?

Glycolic Acid: This is a very powerful substance that is used to exfoliate your skin. By doing so, dark spots of pigmentation are often minimized as your body sheds the old skin and grows new. However the stronger strengths of this can have adverse side effects if it’s not used properly – too much itching, peeling, and burning. Because of this “risk” the brands you find at stores typically don’t use this. It’s too much of a liability for them to use an effective concentration of it. Now  they may put a small amount of it into their serums and cleansers simply so they can claim it contains glycolic acid, but if you read the fine print on the label, you will discover there’s not much in there.

Retinol A: This is another very effective ingredient. It works by increasing the cell turnover rate where it is applied. It can take a few weeks to get use to this and for the peeling to subside, but after that, the results are amazing. The prescription treatments Retin A and Renova use a form of retinol as their active ingredient. Being that Renova is the only FDA approved prescription topical product to treat wrinkles, it speaks volumes of the effectiveness of retinol. Fortunately for you, this can also be found in many non-prescription anti-aging creams.

Hyaluronic Acid: No treatment regime is complete without hyaluronic acid serum. This is the same ingredient used in the most popular injectables. Now when it’s applied the surface of your skin in the form of a cream or serum, it is also absorbed. Now you can’t expect this technique to miraculously fill in deep lines and make them invisible, buy many say it improves them. Because this is such a costly ingredient to make, you probably won’t find it in any significant concentrations in your drugstore products.

The best anti-wrinkle products on the market combine at least two of these chemicals. One of my favorites out there meeting this criteria would be the Is Clinical skin care products. Is Clinical Youth Complex serum has an extremely high concentration of pharmaceutical grade hyaluronic acid.