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Neova - Skin Biology Skin Care Product Comparison

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ProCyte’s Neova vs. Skin Biology’s Protect and Restore with Natural Sun Protection

I was asked to compare Skin Biology’s Protect and Restore Day Cover active copper cream with natural sun protection to Neova’s copper cream.

The Neova line has three products with SPF ranging from 20 to 45. I chose to review Neova Day Therapy SPF-20 since it is the closest comparable to Protect and Restore’s implied SPF of 15+.

There is one critical difference in Protect and Restore’s approach to sun protection. Its formula uses natural absorbers of ultraviolet radiation rather than chemical sunscreens.

This makes it ideally suited to those with sensitivities to chemical sunscreens or health concerns about their use. Since the science behind this approach is not yet widely accepted, Protect and Restore does not have a stated SPF. Rather it has an implied SPF of at least 15.

According to the product’s developer, Dr. Loren Pickart, “It now appears that many heavily-used chemical sunscreens may actually increase cancers by virtue of their free radical generating properties. It is not that these compounds were ever viewed as benign substances.

Organic chemists have been long aware of the dangers of compounds in chemical sunscreens. Such chemicals are widely used to start free radical reactions during chemical synthesis. These chemicals are the dangerous types that one carefully keeps away from your skin while working in a laboratory.

To use them, you mix them into a combination of other chemicals, then flash the mixture with an ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet absorbing chemicals then generate copious amounts of free radicals that initiate the desired chemical reactions.”

Skin Biology Protect and Restore Day Cover Ingredients

Purified water, Squalane, Octyl Palmitate, Glycerol Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Myristyl Ether Proprionate, Propylene Glycol, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Stearic Acid, Allantoin, Cupric Sulfate, Titanium Dioxide, Diazolinydinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Oil of Lavender, mixed Tocopherols, Beta Carotene, mixed Tocotrienols, Ubiquinone (CoEnzyme Q10).

Neova Day Therapy SPF 20 Ingredients

Active: Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Titanium Dioxide. Other: Water, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Cyclomethione, Glycerol Stearate SE, Propylene Glycol, Cetyl Alcohol, Prezatide Copper Acetate, Dimethicone Copolyol, Beeswax, Polysorbate 20, Synthetic Beeswax, PEG-20, Water, Copernica Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, PVP/Eicosene Copolymer, Sorbitan Tristerate, Steareth-100, PEG-100 Stearate, Alumina, Silica, Sodium Polyacrylate, Carbomer, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Triethanolamine, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Isopropylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Butylparaben

Sun Protection Comparison

Neova’s SPF-20 is achieved with Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate and Titanium Dioxide. Both are recognized by the FDA as sunblocking ingredients. Titanium Dioxide does not penetrate the skin, but rather reflects away harmful UV rays.

Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate is a widely-used chemical sunblock. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) assigns it a low level of health concern (0.1 on a scale of 0 to 5) due to insufficient data. EGW notes that it does not show up on any of the 37 toxicity databases which they consult.

Protect and Restore’s implied SPF 15+ is achieved with Titanium Dioxide, Squalane (from olive oil) and Allantoin. Titanium Dioxide is the only FDA-recognized sunblock ingredient here though the others are so recognized in some European countries.

Dr. Pickart explains how the other two ingredients operate to protect skin from UV rays: “Squalane is the skin's most important protective lipid and declines from levels of 11% in teenagers’ skin to less than 5% in adults after age 20. Allantoin is a nucleotide that naturally occurs in the body and absorbs the spectrum of ultraviolet radiation which damages the cell's fragile DNA. Clinical studies have also found Allantoin to enhance skin repair.”

Active Copper Comparison

Neova contains Prezatide Copper Acetate which is a GHK Copper Peptide Complex.

Protect and Restore contains one of Dr. Pickart’s most recently patented copper peptide formulations based on Cupric Sulfate and Hydrolized Soy Protein. In addition to the skin-healing properties of copper peptide, this particular compound also exhibits superoxide dismutase activity, scavenging free radicals and converting them into harmless hydrogen peroxide and oxygen, making it particularly well-suited to a sun protection cream.

To learn how Active Copper benefits the skin, read these related articles:

Antiaging Skincare Using Copper Peptides

Copper Peptide Product Comparison

Effective Skin Regrowth Ingredients

Copper Peptide Hair Loss Treatments

Copper Peptide Questions

The Rest of Neova

Neova contains Diazolidinyl Urea, the second most potent Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMF) available; combined with emollients for penetration (Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerol Stearate SE, Dimethicone Copolyol and Steareth-100).

Propylene Glycol is included as a humectant, Polysorbate 20 as an emulsifier and penetration enhancer and Triethanolamine as a pH balancer.

Neova SPF-20 has so many ingredients to adjust the consistency that I had a hard time parsing through them. There are three film-forming agents (PVP/Eicosene Copolymer, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer), nine thickeners (Carbomer, PEG-20, PEG-100 Stearate, Alumina, Silica, Sodium Polyacrylate, Beeswax, Synthetic Beeswax, Copernica Cerifera or Carnauba Wax) and Cyclomethicone to reduce the greasy feel that many sun products have.

Finally there are the usual “-parabens”, five to be precise, as preservatives and anti-microbials. Neova seems to have taken the “more is better” approach with this product. The result is a cream that goes on like silk and is quickly absorbed.

The Rest of Skin Biology's Protect and Restore

Protect and Restore includes the same excellent NMF as Neova SPF-20, Diazolinydinyl Urea. Its emollients (required to comprise a complete moisturizer) are Octyl Palmitate, Glycerol Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol and Stearic Acid.

On its website, Skin Biology says, “Protect & Restore Day Cover is a skin repair cream that helps protect against sunlight (ultraviolet radiation) and environmental pollution.” The last part refers to the excellent collection of antioxidants which this cream contains.

In order of antioxidant power, they are Ubiquinone (CoEnzyme Q10), Beta Carotene, and Vitamin E in both Tocopherol and Tocotrienol forms.

Myristyl Ether Proprionate is added as a skin conditioner, Propylene Glycol as a humectant and Oil of Lavender for its skin-soothing and anti-inflammatory properties.

As for ingredients added solely to adjust the consistency, Protect and Restore has only one, PEG-100 Stearate. Finally, it contains two of the “-parabens” as preservatives and anti-microbials.

The Winner Is?

Sorry, my conclusion is that this is not even a race. These creams are so different that it’s hardly fair to compare them.

What they have is common are excellent complete moisturizers, skin-repairing active copper and sun protection. As for sun protection, you must decide whether to go for the conventional SPF approach (Neova) or the emerging theory that chemical sunblocks actually do more harm than good (Protect and Restore).

Neova has a wonderful consistency that makes the cream simply glide on and absorb rapidly. Protect and Restore has boosted the antioxidant action of copper peptide with some of the best antioxidants on the market. So the winner is … ?

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This article is for informational purposes only. It does not purport to offer medical advice.

 

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