I’m from the generation before male grooming became a thing. And I have definitely never had a skin care routine – my face gets a splash of water at the sink and some gel in the shower, but no special products or even moisturisers. I do take care of it with regards to the sun, making sure I have some decent SPF cream on if going out in bright sun, but you may have already guessed that that’s an own-brand sun lotion and nothing special.

However, two things have made me think that maybe I should look after my skin. Firstly, people do judge a book by a cover, so perhaps it’s good to look my best. Especially as I’m promoting the prospect of radical life extension – people are probably less likely to believe that message coming from someone who doesn't look healthy. Secondly, as I’m reminded by many a podcast guest, the skin is the largest organ in the body, so trying to maintain its health is likely to affect the rest of the body too.

Rather than play around with the usual moisturisers that attempt to improve the look of the skin rather than its underlying health, I decided to try OneSkin’s products as they claim to tackle one of the root causes of ageing skin – senescent cells. The company certainly has the right credentials, being founded by four Brazilian scientists who between them have Masters degrees and PhDs in biochemistry, bioinformatics, immunology,  molecular biology, skin regeneration, stem cell biology and tissue engineering – wow!

NOTE: I purchased the body lotion through the company’s website as a normal consumer. Coincidentally, between my test and writing up this blog OneSkin contacted me about their affiliate program and offered me a free trial of their FACE product so I’ve been able to review that right at the end. However, with all of my blogs, everything is independent and OneSkin neither asked for, nor received, any editorial input.

DISCOUNT AVAILABLE: I’m pleased to say that OneSkin is offering 15% off the first order to Live Forever Club members – view the discount code on the discounts page.

Importance of skin health

People spend a lot of money on products to make their skin look better, but those products don’t necessarily make the skin any healthier. Does that matter? Yes, I think it does, it’s not just a superficial concern. The skin is the largest organ in the body, close to 2 square metres (roughly the size of a blanket) for an average adult, weighing approximately 5-10 kilograms (about 10-15% of total body weight). So, keeping it healthy will improve its function as well as impacting the rest of the body.

Probably the key function of the skin is as a protective barrier – so the better shape it’s in, the better it is at keeping harmful microorganisms and pollutants out. It’s also important for thermal regulation – helping to control body temperature with sweat glands and blood vessels. 

Also, the skin can affect the rest of the body. It synthesises vitamin D (essential for bone health and immune function), produces hormones involved in metabolic signalling (e.g. cortisol), and broken or unhealthy skin can lead to chronic inflammation – a leading cause of age-related diseases. On top of all that, skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, or acne can lead to stress, anxiety, and low self-esteem. So, makeup might make the skin look good, but it’s important to keep it working well, too.

The science behind OneSkin OS-01

OneSkin portrays OS‑01 as a science‑backed, senotherapeutic peptide that repairs DNA damage in senescent skin cells, halts the propagation of ageing signals, and reverses biological markers of skin age - leading to structural, functional, and visual improvements. One thing to highlight is that although the research referenced was published in reputable journals, often most (or all) of the authors are related to OneSkin so the studies can’t be considered independent. 

OneSkin’s magic component is the senotherapeutic peptide – two words which may well not mean much to most people. So, let’s break that down a bit…

What are peptides?

Peptides are short chains of amino acids – the same building blocks that make up proteins – and created in the same way from DNA-generated messenger RNA (mRNA). Being smaller molecules, peptides often act as messengers in the body (for example, the hormone insulin). They also take part in interactions between proteins, with an estimated third of all protein-protein interactions in human cells being mediated by peptides.

What are senescent cells?

Senotherapeutics are pharmaceutical drugs or supplements that target senescent cells – so what are they? If the name rings a bell, so will their common name… zombie cells! Called that because they’re half alive and half dead. Senescent cells are normal cells in the body that have come to the end of their useful life – either because they’ve divided enough times or due to some sort of stress. Usually, cells like this are killed off by the body’s maintenance program – a process called apoptosis. But senescent cells somehow avoid apoptosis and keep on hanging around, even though they’re not functioning as well as a healthy cells, and worse, spreading their downfall via SASP (senescence-associated secretory phenotype, as you asked).

So, what can we do about them? Drugs that target senescent cells are being developed, all under the umbrella term ‘senotherapeutic’ but this can be refined depending on how the drug works:

Senolytic – simply kill the senescent cells

• Senomorphic – prevent SASP release (to reduce spread)
• Senoreverser – revert the cell to its normal pre-senescent state
• Senoblocker – prevent cells become senescent in the first place

Note: these aren’t formal definitions and people use them with slightly different meanings.

Putting it all together

Looking at OneSkin’s science page, OS-01 is “preventing senescent cells from releasing pro-aging factors” – so, I assume, working as a senomorphic reducing the release of SASP. And it is feasible that the peptide approach works by interfering with the signalling pathways that drive SASP production.

But it’s not all about the senescent cells – they are what drives ageing, however, the final result (what you look like) is the important thing. According to OneSkin, use of its lotions results in improved skin, including increased epidermal thickness and more activity in genes produce collagen and hyaluronic acid. Their studies claim that that results in a 2.5 years reduction in biological age of the skin (based on their Skin-Specific DNA Methylation Clock, MolClock).

My trial

Having not really used moisturiser before (not a done thing for my generation!) I went for the body lotion as it was cheaper, and I can't really see what the difference would be. It also meant I could compare it to a standard body moisturiser as the control arm of my n=1 experiment.

OneSkin BODY*

Trial protocol

As I don’t usually use moisturiser or any sort of body lotions, I wanted to make sure that any potential improvements were above and beyond what might be expected from using any old product. 

For the control product, I chose Nivea Creme Moisturiser for Face Body & Hands 400ml, a run-of-the-mill, definitely not premium, moisturiser. I’ve checked the ingredients and there’s nothing fancy in it – no collagen, hyaluronic acid, or anything like that.

So, for the duration of the trial, I applied OS-01 to the left half of my face/head and left hand, and Nivea Crème to the other side of my face/head and right hand.

I did this for 6 weeks, with photos taken before I started, then at weekly time points, just before applying the lotions. Photos were a mixture of normal distance and with a microscope camera for close-up images of the head (forehead) and hand (between thumb and finger).

Price comparison

Nivea Crème = 400ml £5.15 = £1.30/100ml

OneSkin BODY = £92 (about US$120) for 250ml = £37/100ml 

The OneSkin lotion costs about 30x the price – though it definitely goes further when applying, so, to be fair, let’s say only 10x the price!

Trial notes

I applied the lotions daily, after breakfast, making sure not to mix them up – using the right hand to apply OS-01 to my left hand and left-side of my face, then applying Nivea to the opposite parts with my left hand. Doesn’t sound complicated but I did have to focus!

A squirt of OneSkin OS-01 body lotion

Nivea Crème was very thick

Initial assessment was the difference in textures. OneSkin OS-01 was quite runny, but really went a long way, and was easy to apply. Whereas Nivea was very thick and had to be pasted on – more time consuming and not something I’d like to do on the hairier parts of my body.

Results

Well, you be the judge. Below are before and after photos of my face and hands.

OneSkin comparison trial - before and after face photos

OneSkin comparison trial - before and after hand photos

In reality, I can’t really see an obvious difference in my face. The wrinkles around my eyes look similar and the spots and blemishes are basically the same. At the time, I didn’t note any difference in the texture or feel of the skin either.

That’s not to say there’s no difference in appearance – but if there is, it’s within the margin of error and, more importantly, lighting differences. In case I messed up the autofocus or anything when taking the photos, I generally took two photos of each shot required. And here’s an example of a pair of images taken just a few seconds apart – it shows how much even the slightest change in angle of the camera (not even the lighting as that wouldn’t have changed between the two snapshots) can make a difference to the photo. To me, when zoomed in, the hand on the right appears drier and more creased, even though it’s the same hand, in the same place, at the same time.

Affect of tiny changes in camera angle on skin photos

Affect of OneSkin OS-01 on warts

However, beauty appearance aside, what was quite dramatic was the impact on a rather large wart I started with on the top of my head. Coincidentally, I’d been to see my GP about a month before starting this trial, and she diagnosed it as a seborrhoeic keratoses (SK, also known as basal cell papillomas). As they are benign, the NHS doesn’t fund their removal anymore, with private options including laser surgery or the more basic cryotherapy which costs about £100. I hadn’t got round to doing anything about it when I started this OneSkin test.

By the end of the trial, the large wart had disappeared entirely. In addition, a tiny blemish was also no longer visible. By comparison, a similar looking blemish on the right side of my head was still there after applying Nivea for the same amount of time.

OneSkin comparison trial - before and after head photos

To be honest, I’ve had warts come and go before, but they’ve usually lasted a while, and this one was particularly big. So, no firm conclusion from an n=1 trial, but at least a good sign that the wart was cleared entirely.

Of course, I can’t see deep within the skin, so perhaps the side of me that I applied OneSkin to is healthier and a bit younger biologically, which would be more important to me than any visual improvement, but it would have been nice to suddenly appear a few years younger.  

Microscopic photos of skin

I recently purchased a cheap handheld microscope camera, so thought I’d have a play with that during this trial too. These images were very dependent on how I was holding the camera, so more for fun than scientific evidence.

OneSkin comparison trial – microscope before and after face photos

OneSkin comparison trial – microscope before and after hand photos

OS-01 FACE

Although all based on the OS-01 peptide, OneSkin sells a range of products, each focusing on different parts of the body – general body, face, scalp and lips. These have various complementary ingredients, for example FACE contains niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, BODY contains genistein and ceramides, and LIP SPF contains bisabolol and sea buckthorn oil. And, I assume, they also have different concentrations of OS-01 (peptide 14).

I received a free sample of OS-01 FACE – though haven’t used for long enough to comment on its efficacy.

But I can say it’s even easier to apply than the body lotion and comes in a stylish bottle.

OS-01 LIP Mask

Similarly, and a prompt to get this blog written up, to complement their lip SPF product, OneSkin have just launched a new lip mask product (OneSkin OS-01 LIP Mask) with microalgae, ceramides and squalane, as well as the key OS-01 peptide. It comes in a fancy pot with a metal applicator 😊

Conclusion

Perhaps I was expecting too much from a skin product, hoping for a noticeable effect of almost six decades of ageing in only six weeks. Maybe the benefit was there, but only at the important cellular level, or masked by the variation in photo quality and lighting.

One day, somebody (which could be OneSkin OS-02!) will develop a skincare treatment that not only rejuvenates the skin, making it biologically younger, but radically changes its appearance too. Not only would this be a commercial success to the inventor, but it would also be a great demonstration of why targeting ageing - the underlying cause of death as well as wrinkles – is the best approach for a wide range of diseases, and could really drive investment into other longevity biotechnology companies.

In summary, if spending £50-100 on skincare is the norm for you, then it certainly makes sense to give OneSkin OS-01 (in all its forms) a go. It’s better to use a product based on real research into the underlying cause of ageing skin, such as targeting senescent cells, rather than one that just temporarily improves appearance. 

PS don't forget, OneSkin is offering 15% off the first order to Live Forever Club members – view the discount code on the discounts page.