Crépe Erase is an anti-aging skincare brand marketed to women, that's manufactured by a company called The Body Firm, LLC. The company claims their products are “clinically shown to work” because they developed a “breakthrough blend” of essential phytonutrients. The brand describes itself as "the science of ultra ageless skin."
But does Crépe Erase contain ingredients proven to reduce signs of skin aging? Does the brand use any unhealthy ingredients? Is Crépe Erase really "clinically proven" to work? And is the brand better or worse than popular anti-aging skincare brands like True Botanicals?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in two of Crépe Erase's most popular products (Advanced Body Repair Treatment and Restorative Facial Treatment to give our take on whether or not they're likely to be effective, and whether or not they're healthy.
We'll also share our concerns about the brand's clinical claims, feature a video from dermatologists on how to resolve "crepey" skin, and compare Crépe Erase to other popular anti-aging skincare brands to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- All products reviewed contained inactive ingredients we consider unhealthy
- Questionable clinical claims on brand website
- We do not currently recommend Crépe Erase
Advanced Body Repair Review
The ingredients in Crépe Erase Advanced Body Repair are shown below:
This is a body lotion that's intended to make skin smoother and firmer.
Olive fruit oil was shown in a medical review published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences to have a negative effect on skin barrier function.
We consider this an ineffective ingredient for a body lotion.
Cocoa butter was shown in a 2020 clinical trial to have "long-lasting" benefits on skin hydration.
Grape seed oil can reduce skin irritation and reduce pore size, as we documented in our Maelys Cosmetics review.
Dill extract was shown to have powerful effects on skin in a 2013 medical review:
"After treatment with the Dill (Peucedanum graveolens) extract, skin elasticity was improved, the skin felt more elastic, wrinkles appeared smoothed, and face contours appeared remodelled."
While this body lotion contains some research-backed active ingredients, it also includes two inactive ingredients that may be questionable from a health perspective.
Phenoxyethanol and ethylhexylglycerin are synthetic preservatives that were shown to have a synergistically toxic effect in a medical review published in the PLOS One journal.
Overall, we consider Crépe Erase Advanced Body Repair likely to improve skin hydration, but we don't currently recommend this product due to the inclusion of the synthetic preservatives highlighted above.
MBG Postbiotic Body Lotion is our top body lotion pick.
Squalene is an active ingredient in this lotion, and is clinically shown to hydrate the skin.
Shea butter was described as having moisturizing effects in a medical review published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
Restorative Facial Treatment Review
The ingredients in Crépe Erase Restorative Facial Treatment are shown below:
Coconut oil is an effective anti-aging ingredient as discussed in the previous Ingredient Analysis section.
Shea butter and beeswax naturally increase skin hydration.
Beeswax improved skin barrier function and skin hydration in a clinical trial published in the AAPS PharmSciTech journal.
Apple fruit extract was shown in a 2019 clinical trial to improve skin elasticity and skin moisture content.
While this anti-aging cream clearly contains a number of research-backed active ingredients, it also contains several inactive ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Phenoxyethanol and ethylhexylglycerin are synthetic preservatives with a documented negative synergistic effect that we discussed in the previous Ingredient Analysis section.
Chlorphenesin is a synthetic preservative that's toxic to human cells based on results from test tube (in vitro) studies, as we documented in our StriVectin reviews article.
BHT is another preservative ingredient, and one of its metabolites was described as a "tumor promotor" in animal studies.
Overall, we consider Crépe Erase Restorative Facial Treatment very likely to have an anti-aging effect, given its active ingredients. However, we don't currently recommend this product from a health perspective due to the preservatives highlighted above.
Questionable Clinical Claims
At the time of updating this article, the Crépe Erase website boldly claims that the product line is "clinically shown to work," and that the products are "clinically shown to instantly reduce the look of crepey skin on the body:"
However, there is currently no link to the the clinical studies backing these claims on the page containing them, nor does Crépe Erase appear to have been studied in any clinical trials published in peer-reviewed journals.
We strongly recommend that consumers disregard claims of clinical efficacy if the brand is unwilling to clearly publish the full study where they make the claim.
We think that this marketing practice is unfair to consumers.
If you're going to make a specific health claim, share the full data set to back it up, and don't force consumers to trust you.
In any case, the potential for bias is so much higher in company-funded, private clinical trials than clinical trials published in peer-reviewed journals that the conclusions are worthless in our opinion.
Dermatologists on Crepey Skin
One of the most popular YouTube reviews on the topic of crepey skin comes from a channel called "Doctorly" and features two dermatologists discussing what crepey skin is, what causes it, how to prevent it, and provide tips on treating it:
Crépe Erase vs. Popular Anti-Aging Brands
Here's how Crépe Erase compares to other popular anti-aging brands in terms of formulation quality, in our opinion:
Instantly Ageless
Contains synthetic dyes, which are clinically shown to be absorbed through the skin and have negative health effects.
Crépe Erase is the healthier option.
Winner: Crépe Erase
True Botanicals
True Botanicals leverages a large number of research-backed active ingredients, like Crépe Erase, so we consider the two brands equivalent from a potential efficacy perspective.
While True Botanicals uses some inactive ingredients we consider unhealthy, the formulations we reviewed didn't contain BHT or the preservative combination highlighted above, so we give the brand the edge from a healthiness perspective.
Winner: True Botanicals
RMS Beauty
Research-backed active ingredients and no unhealthy additives; one of the best-formulated cosmetic brands we've reviewed to date on Illuminate Health.
Winner: RMS Beauty
Our Clean Skincare Pick
MindBodyGreen Best Skin+ is our top anti-aging skin supplement.
It contains orange extract which is clinically shown to increase skin moisturization, skin elasticity and skin radiance.
This supplement also contains astaxanthin which is clinically shown to cause "wrinkle formation reduction."
This supplement is free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Crépe Erase Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Advanced Body Repair Treatment should hydrate skin
- Restorative Facial Treatment should have anti-aging effect
- Restorative Facial Treatment should hydrate skin
- Both products reviewed are fragrance-free
- Hydrating skin may be effective against crepey texture
Cons:
- Both products reviewed contain ethylhexylglycerin and phenoxyethanol combination
- Restorative Facial Treatment contains BHT
- Restorative Facial Treatment contains chlorphenesin
- Brand makes questionable clinical claims without clearly-published proof
