The Super Power of Defensins With Penny From Portland
Hey, everyone! Welcome back to my channel. If this is your first time here, my name is Penny. I am a master esthetician in Portland, Oregon, and I’m super excited that you guys are here today.
Now I’m going to put a before and after picture up real quick on the screen right here, and I want you to look at this woman’s improvement in a six-week timeframe. You can definitely see that she has some improvement in her tone and texture. I think you can see that there’s improvement in the laxity of her skin. There’s improvement in her fine lines, her wrinkles, and just an overall skin rejuvenation. I would even say you can see a little bit better jaw definition, and that is from 6 weeks of using the product that we’re going to talk about today.
Contents:
Penny’s Breakdown of the Science Behind DefenAge
That product we’re going to talk about today is the entire line, specifically a few products, but we’re going to talk about the whole line of DefenAge. You guys have actually asked me to review this. I’ve gotten lots of questions about this particular product line. And I was fortunate enough to pick this up at a discount. I did pay for it with my own money, but the doctor that I work with decided to bring this into her practice, so, just full transparency here, I did buy this with my own money. I did get it at a discount. But I get no commission or kickback or anything like that from this video.
The Master Stem Cell and Our Skin
I want you just to stick with me on some of the science because it’s super important. I’m going to nutshell it down for you. But basically, when we are in utero before we’re born, there is a skin master stem cell that is called LGR6+. We are going to refer to that as the master stem cell for the rest of this video. But that skin master stem cell is responsible for making our skin from scratch. It produces all of the skin that we have when we are born, and then it wraps things up just after birth, and it goes into dormancy in our hair follicles. So that master stem cell then says, “Okay, my work is done. I’ve created this fresh baby full of fresh baby skin, and now I’m just going to recede and sit in the hair follicle and wait.” And the only reason why that master stem cell comes out is if there is a wound. So if there is a scratch, a scrape, a burn, a cut, then that master stem cell comes out of dormancy, produces more basal stem cells, and those, in turn, create new skin cells.
The other thing that is critical to know about this master stem cell, and it is really integral to all of this, is that it doesn’t experience age like the rest of the stem cells in our body. The master stem cell is almost like it’s in a time capsule in our hair follicles. It doesn’t experience photodamage, it doesn’t experience mutations or anything like that. So when it is asked to come out of dormancy to help heal a wound or a burn or scrape or anything like that, it produces those basal stem cells as if it were a baby, as if it were that fresh kind of skin that has incurred no damage over the course of your life.
Master Stem Cells and the Healing Process
What is also super important to know is the process that happens in a wound. So, in a nutshell, again, when we’re wounded, something called a neutrophil is activated. This neutrophil produces something called a defensin. I like to think of this almost like a soap opera. Defensins are the character that is a messenger. There has been a cut. Neutrophils get activated. Neutrophils produce this little messenger called a defensin, and the defensin carries a little note to that master stem cell that we were just talking about and says, “Hey, can you come help? We have a cut up here, and we need you to help us fix it. Can you come out of dormancy in that hair follicle and go to work?” And the master stem cell says, “Sure!” Comes out of dormancy, goes to work, helps heal that wound, and the skin is healed. And that is what happens all over our body when we are wounded.
There’s a whole wound-healing process, and collagen gets produced and all of that kind of stuff. That’s why when you’re injured, you’re able to heal. Our body has this whole mechanism in place and ready so that it can heal itself.
Defensins and DefenAge
The company that created DefenAge was able to take defensins — they are synthesized, there is no human product in this product, and there’s no animal-derived product in this product — they make Age-Repair Defensins and put them in their product. So they basically put that messenger that is only released when there is a wound into their cream and serum so that when you put it on topically — no wound, you don’t have to put it on top of any micro needling or dermabrasion, you just put it on morning and night — that message is being sent morning and night to that master stem cell asking it to come produce some fresh skin. It doesn’t know that there hasn’t been a wound. It just knows that it’s been asked to come help, and it’s going to come help. That’s it.
The Scientific Studies Behind DefenAge Products
So all of that sounds very pie-in-the-sky to me. I don’t know about you, but we hear a lot of claims all the time in skincare, and I would say that 90% of the time, they’re elevated claims. They are exaggerated. So what is especially exciting about this particular product line is the studies they did on the products.
Now, first of all, they started with a pilot study of 22 people. Basically, they got good enough results that they decided to do a formal study. In this formal study, we are talking a double-blind, placebo, very well-controlled study with 45 participants, who were all female, whereas, in the pilot study, there were men too. In this formal study, though, there were 45 ladies ages 41-71, which is also great in my estimation because those are the people most concerned with aging are those people between 40 and 90. They were split into three groups. So there were three centers and three sites with three different doctors managing 14 to 16 ladies at each site.
Measurable Results From DefenAge’s Clinical Trials
Now, they did, of course, baseline testing. They did testing at 6 weeks and testing at 12 weeks. I think what’s super important about this testing is that it was incredibly objective. It was not just before and after pictures and naked-eye assessment of results. They did 3D imaging, they did biopsies, they did ultrasound imaging, and investigators did formal assessments. But beyond that, they used devices to get objective results that were measurable, not just somebody saying, “Oh yeah, she looks better, I see fewer wrinkles.” You could measure that there were fewer wrinkles. You could measure that there was an increase in skin hydration, and there was. Statistically significant increase in hydration. Statistically significant decrease in oiliness. Statistically significant improvement in the pores, which wasn’t expected. There were so many fresh, new skin cells that they kind of crowded the pores, so the pores appeared much more refined. The appearance of the pores was significantly changed in a positive way. Also, there was an improvement in trends of epidermal water loss, so less water was being lost from our tissue. There was also obviously an improvement in the appearance of fine lines, an improvement in visible wrinkles, they saw an improvement in laxity, and there was an improvement in the appearance of the pigment. So across the board, it was a statistically significant improvement, and it was measured objectively.
This study found that not only did the appearance of dermal and epidermal thickness increase, which is akin to when we are younger, but it found that it wasn’t due to inflammation. So if you’ve been here for a while, you know that inflammation is pro-aging. We don’t want to experience results that look good but, in fact, are inflammation, which means that down the line, we’re going to experience more aging. This line is not inflammatory, and that was a huge plus for me.
DefenAge and Growth Factors — Is It Safe for Cancer Patients?
The other thing that I definitely think is worth taking into consideration and possibly researching yourself is growth factors; while they are incredibly powerful skincare ingredients, everybody can’t use them. If you have had cancer, in my opinion, you shouldn’t use growth factors. This is not a growth factor. It is a signaling molecule, and it has a specific goal to ask that master stem cell to go to work to help produce fresh skin. So it isn’t doing what growth factors are doing — in effect, turning everything on and possibly also turning on cancer cells.
So this product, because it’s not a growth factor that just stimulates everything, is potentially much safer for people who have experienced any kind of cancer. I want you to look into that yourself, but that’s my assessment of this product.
DefenAge’s Use of Placebo Groups
The other thing I want to point out is that two-thirds of the people in this formal study were full formula, so they had the products with the defensins, those messenger molecules that were able to ask that master stem cell to go to work. The people in the placebo group, the group that doesn’t have the active ingredient, had the exact same bottle, the same formula as the other group, only minus the defensins — the signaling molecule — but everything else in here is the same. Same smell, same feeling, same consistency, and the same other ingredients, so they truly were able to measure the effectiveness of defensins in their product. I think that’s pretty cool because if you have placebo groups that just use a moisturizer and the other group is using the full formula, it’s apples to oranges, whereas the placebo group truly was using this product just without the active ingredient, the defensins.
How Penny Is Using DefenAge Every Day
I want to go through the line and how I’m using it if you’re interested. So, first of all, there is a wash. I really like it. I am using this morning and night. It’s kind of a gel consistency. They say to go ahead and put it on dry skin and then you add water. I actually have found that I really just like to use it traditionally. I put it in the palm of my hand, I add some water, and I put it on that way. But it’s a beautiful product, and I do find that it removes my makeup, and I’m not double-cleansing. I'm just using this. I’m just testing it out and using it that way, and I really do like it.
Now at night, I am alternating, and on one night, I’m going in with my copper peptides, and you can see that clearly, I have loved this product. This is the VIP Serum from Dr. Pickart’s site, I actually do two pumps of this, and I put it all over my face and down my neck. I don’t really wait any time. I might wait 10 seconds or something. It soaks right into my skin, and then I go in with the DefenAge.
24/7 Barrier Cream
The way you use the DefenAge is a little bit different than we’re normally used to. But I put on the 24/7 Barrier Balance Cream next, which is how they advise you to do it. This is actually a cream. It is definitely hydrating. It’s comforting and lightweight, and it soaks in right away, but it feels very nice on the skin. This is obviously more backward than we’re taught because we do the serum next, and they have a good reason for that. You wait 30 seconds, and then you do a couple pumps of the serum. But you can see it’s almost like a jelly serum. It’s not super thin. You put that on over the barrier-protecting lotion. The reason you do that is, in the Barrier Balance Cream, there are all kinds of antioxidants and good stuff. You put this on first. There are fewer defensins in this product. It has a lower concentration of those messaging peptides in there, and that way, your skin is able to get the goods of the antioxidants and all the other things. If you were to put the serum on first, it is my understanding that it’s so concentrated with the defensins that it tightens up these junctions in your skin, and the good stuff in here wouldn’t be as accessible to your skin. So they like you to do this first, and then you put the serum on over it.
3D Eye Radiance Cream
Now, here is an eye cream. I’ve been using this eye cream. You put it on your lid. I find it to be really nice, and you don’t need a lot. I put about half a pump of this on. It does have one of those applicators where it can get cold. Honestly, I haven’t used it that way. I put it on my ring finger, and I put it all around my eye.
2-Minute Reveal Mask
The one other product they do have that’s an excellent product is called the 2-Minute Reveal Mask. This is a sugar enzyme mask. It has super fine-grain sugar in it, and the way you use this is you put this on dry skin a couple of times a week. You massage it on dry skin for about 20 seconds, and then you get your fingers wet, and the sugar just dissolves, so you get this manual, very fine exfoliation. Then, there are enzymes in here. So there are papaya, pumpkin, and pomegranate enzymes in this mask. You leave it on for a couple of minutes, you rinse, and honestly, I’ve had to restrain myself from wanting to use this everyday. It’s such a beautiful little mask, and it leaves your skin feeling really soft and smooth. I can feel this very fine grit. It is not super scratchy or anything, but it definitely does do a little bit of manual exfoliation, and so if you’re somebody that likes that, but as soon as you get your fingers wet, that sugar dissolves and turns it into this mask. It rinses easily, and I really enjoy that. None of these products have fragrance. Some of the products before did have fragrance, so if you decide you want to get this, just make sure you look and choose the one without fragrance because I will tell you in the products that do contain fragrance, the fragrance is very strong and off-putting, and I didn’t care for it. The lack of fragrance in these, the scent is just fine.
Additional Skincare
So that is what I am doing at night. On alternating nights, I am still using my retinaldehyde from Osmosis. I just really like it. I still want to get my vitamin A in my regimen. My morning time is actually very similar. I’m doing exactly the same thing, and on alternating days, I’m using copper peptides, and then on other days, I’m fitting in vitamin C. In that very first step, as I did with the copper peptide, I just rotate through as needed and assess my skin. If I feel like I need more of a glow or a boost, I will use some vitamin C, and I just go on with the DefenAge. Now, of course, during the day, I am using a moisturizer. I’m still using my iS Clinical Reparative Moisture Emulsion. I’m still in love with that — I think it’s fantastic. I just have to be careful not to use that on the days I use vitamin C because it has copper peptides, so there’s always the skincare puzzle. You’re trying to make sure you’re not ever using something you can’t use otherwise. And then, of course, I’m finishing with not only my Victoria Beckham Cell Rejuvenating moisturizer but also my SPF of course which is still The Dermatology.
Final Words
So that’s what I’m doing during the day. I hope you enjoyed this skincare breakdown, and I hope you share my excitement. Really there are not going to be any affiliate links for this product line. I am not linking it to make a commission or anything like that. You are welcome to contact the office where I work and ask for more information. They do sell it, and they ship if you’re interested. Again, absolutely no affiliation personally or kickback on my end. But you can get more information and know that you’re getting a legitimate product, etc. I will put that information in the description box. I hope you have a fantastic week, and I will talk to you in my next skincare video. Take care.
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