Miami MD is an anti-aging brand that describes its product line as “functional beauty.” The brand sells both dietary supplements and skincare products, and is co-founded by a dermatologist named Shevanti Jegasothy.
But do Miami MD products contain ingredients proven to reduce visible signs of aging? Does the brand use any questionable additive ingredients? How do real customers rate and describe the aesthetic effects of Miami MD products? And which retailer sells this brand for the best prices?
In this article we’ll answer these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in two of Miami MD’s most popular products based on clinical studies to give our take on whether or not they're likely to be effective.
We'll review Total Beauty Matrix (a dietary supplement) and Age Defying Lift & Firm Cream (an anti-aging serum).
We'll also highlight some questionable health claims on the Miami MD website, feature unsponsored customer reviews of the brand, and provide a cost comparison to show which retailer sells Miami MD for the best prices.
Key takeaways:
- We can't find anti-aging ingredients in Total Beauty Matrix
- Questionable health claims on brand's website
- We do not currently recommend Miami MD
Total Beauty Matrix Review
The vitamin and mineral ingredients in Miami MD Total Beauty Matrix are shown above.
This product is marketed for anti-aging, with the brand claiming it will make users “look and feel younger than your years.”
Vitamin C is included at a dosage of 225 milligrams (mg).
We haven’t come across any clinical studies suggesting that oral vitamin C has an anti-aging effect.
In fact, a medical review on vitamin C published in the Indian Dermatology Online Journal concluded the following: “bioavailability of Vit. C in the skin is inadequate when it is administered orally. The use of topical [Vitamin C] is therefore favored in the practice of dermatology.”
We can't find any clinical evidence that any of these vitamin and mineral ingredients have an anti-aging effect when taken orally, nor does the brand provide any such proof on their product page at the time of updating this article.
The ingredients in Total Beauty Matrix's proprietary (prop) blend are shown below:
Collagen is clinically shown to have an anti-aging effect when taken orally, but it may be underdosed in this supplement.
This blend has a total dose of 703 mg, which equates to an average ingredient dose of 141 mg per ingredient.
As we documented in our best collagen powder review article, a meta-study on collagen's anti-aging effect that we frequently cite on Illuminate Health analyzed data from 11 clinical trials.
The lowest collagen dose in any of the trials was 2,500 mg per day, or more than 10x the average ingredient dose in this blend.
PABA is a strange ingredient choice for an oral supplement, because we can't find any toxicity studies proving it to be safe in humans, and most of the clinical trials we came across while researching this article (like this one) related to its topical use in sunscreen products.
Bamboo extract was shown to inhibit melanin synthesis in a clinical trial published in the Molecules journal, which suggests it may have a skin brightening effect.
However, the above-linked clinical trial reviewed test tube studies, rather than trials with human participants, which is a weaker standard of evidence.
The good news about this supplement is that its inactive ingredients, shown below, should be safe and non-toxic:
Overall, we're unimpressed by the formulation of this supplement because we cannot identify one single active ingredient that we consider to be effectively dosed for anti-aging effects based on a review of existing clinical research.
We do not currently recommend this supplement, and we have concerns over the use of PABA.
A YouTube creator named "Auntie Sybil Makeup & Beauty" reviewed Miami MD Total Beauty Matrix:
Questionable Health Claims
There are a number of questionable health claims on the Miami MD website at the time of updating this article.
On the Total Beauty Matrix product page, the brand states the following, without any citation:
“Dr. J says the hydrolyzed collagen peptides are one of the only types of collagen proteins women should consider taking as they aren’t easily dissolved in the stomach.”
This appears to be inaccurate based on medical research. The entire purpose of using hydrolyzed collagen is that it’s more easily dissolvable and absorbable by the body.
A medical review on hydrolyzed collagen published in the Molecules journal details how hydrolyzed collagen has a lower molecular weight than whole collagen:
“The molecular weight of collagen peptides obtained from hydrolysis is very low (3–6 KDa) compared to that of its precursor native collagen (285–300 KDa).”
On the same page, the brand also suggests that biotin can improve skin quality:
There is no citation for this claim, and it represents a totally different dose than the biotin dose that's actually in the supplement.
As shown on the Supplement Facts panel cited in the previous section of this article, Total Beauty Matrix contains 150 micrograms (mcg) of biotin, which equates to 0.15 mg, or around 33x less than the amount highlighted in the brand's marketing material above.
We recommend that consumers be extremely wary purchasing from cosmetic brands that make bold and uncited health or function claims.
Age-Defying Lift & Firm Cream Review
We cannot republish an ingredient list for Miami MD Age-Defying Lift & Firm Cream, because the brand again fails to publish a clearly legible version on either their site or Amazon store.
The brand only publishes the ingredient list in barely-legible product images and not a plain-text ingredient list, which is a consumer safety issue.
Consumers deserve to be able to clearly access the ingredients in cosmetics they use.
This anti-aging cream contains a number of research-backed active ingredients.
Palmitoyl tripeptide-1, palmitoyl tripeptide-5 and trifluoroacetyl tripeptide-2 are topical peptides.
A 2017 medical review found that topical peptides can be effective dermatological ingredients.
Jojoba seed oil is used as the base oil for this formulation, and this botanical oil is clinically shown to improve skin hydration, as we detailed in our Curology review article.
Sodium hyaluronate is the sodium salt of a compound called hyaluronic acid, which was described as possessing “remarkable anti-wrinkle...anti-aging, space-filling, and face rejuvenating properties” in a 2018 medical review.
Sweet almond oil was shown to have anti-inflammatory effects, to improve skin complexion and to improve skin tone in a medical review published in the Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice journal.
This cream also contains two inactive ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Methylparaben and propylparaben are part of a class of compounds called parabens, and a 2023 medical review on parabens concluded the following:
"Parabens could disturb the endocrine system by activating the [estrogen receptors] and disrupting the steroid hormone synthesis and secretion, suggesting their potential deleterious risks to the environment and human health."
Overall, we consider Miami MD Age-Defying Lift & Firm Cream likely to have an anti-aging effect, and to support optimal skin quality and appearance due to its active ingredients.
We don't currently recommend this product due to the use of parabens.
In our opinion, Miami MD actually made this formulation less healthy since our initial review, because we didn't note the inclusion of any parabens when we first analyzed this formulation over one year ago.
A YouTube channel called "Ratings & Reviews Channel !" has a review of Lift & Firm Cream:
Miami MD Before-and-Afters
One of the most popular YouTube reviews of Miami MD comes from a creator named "mszkinni TV" who uses various Miami MD products for four weeks and shares her results.
She trials the Age-Defying Lift & Firm Cream, Instant Wrinkle Eraser, Dark Spot Corrector, Intense Eye Repair, and also shares before-and-after images:
Real Customers Review Miami MD
Amazon is a better resource for honest customer reviews than a brand's website in our opinion.
Age-Defying Lift & Firm Cream is Miami MD's most-reviewed product on Amazon at the time of updating this article, with over 1,100 total reviews and an average review rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars.
The top positive review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named "Nicole" who gives the product a 5/5 star rating, and who likes both the experience and product effects:
"I like the non greasy, light cream. Mades my skin glow and goes well under my makeup. My skin is smooth and feels soft and clear. Love the healthy glow."
The top negative review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named "Jana" who gives the product a 1/5 star rating, and claims it had no effect:
"I used the whole jar and didn't notice any difference in my skin. No lift, fine wrinkles look the same and the price was ridiculous for no results. I could've used a $5 face cream and got the same results: None."
Our Clean Skincare Picks
There are skincare products containing ingredients shown in clinical trials to be effective for reducing wrinkles and improving skin quality.
Annie Mak Vitamin C Serum is our top anti-aging serum.
It contains hyaluronic acid which was described as a "skin-rejuvenating biomedicine" in a medical review due to its ability to reduce wrinkles and signs of facial aging.
Ritual HyaCera is our top skin supplement.
It contains wheat oil extract which is clinically shown to "improve skin damages induced by aging."
Both of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Where to Get the Best Price
Miami MD products are sold at a variety of online retailers.
Here's a price breakdown for a one-time purchase of the products reviewed in this article, at the time of updating this article:
Total Beauty Matrix
Brand website: $69 (free shipping, link)
Walmart: $59.95 (plus shipping, third-party seller, link)
Amazon: $69.95 plus 20% off with coupon (free shipping, link to official Amazon listing)
Age-Defying Lift & Firm Cream
Walmart: $88.59 (free shipping, third-party seller, link)
Brand website: $69 (free shipping, link)
Amazon: $69.95 plus 20% off with coupon (free shipping, link to official Amazon listing)
At the time of updating this article, Amazon has the best prices on these two Miami MD products, because the 20% coupon offer reduces the overall price to under $57.
Miami MD Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of Miami MD in our opinion:
Pros:
- Total Beauty Matrix has safe inactive ingredients
- Age-Defying Lift & Firm Cream has research-backed active ingredients
- Age-Defying Lift & Firm Cream should have anti-aging effect
- Co-founded by dermatologist
- Free shipping on brand's website
Cons:
- We can't identify any effectively dosed ingredients in Total Beauty Matrix
- Age-Defying Lift & Firm Cream contains parabens
- Questionable health claims on brand's website
- We can't find any safety data on one ingredient in Total Beauty Matrix
- Mediocre Amazon reviews
