Plexaderm is a skincare brand manufactured by a company called Sheer Science. The manufacturer claims that Plexaderm "reduces under eyebags, dark circles and wrinkles from view."
But can topical creams really reduce wrinkles and improve skin appearance? Is Plexaderm proven to work in clinical resarch? Does it contain any questionable additive ingredients? And how do real users respond to this treatment?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more as we review the ingredients in Plexaderm's most popular products: Rapid Reduction Serum (their eye cream), Reset & Replenish Pads (a cleansing and moisturizing product), and Daily Moisturizer. We'll share real user reviews of their products, highlight some questionable company-funded research, and give our take on whether Plexaderm is likely to be effective.
Plexaderm Rapid Reduction Serum Review
Rapid Reduction Serum is Plexaderm’s most popular product, with nearly 10,000 reviews on Amazon. The brand claims that Rapid Reduction Serum “works in minutes” to reduce eye bags and smooth fine lines and wrinkles.
Collagen is an effective anti-aging skincare ingredient, however Plexaderm uses soluble collagen which may be a less effective form than the more commonly-used hydrolyzed collagen. Soluble collagen is larger than hydrolyzed collagen, which is broken down into amino acids and may be better able to penetrate the skin.
A medical review published in the Antioxidants journal found that hydrolyzed collagen was effective for improving skin hydration and elasticity when applied topically, but there was no mention of soluble collagen. We'll consider this ingredient potentially effective.
Hexapeptide-8 is an effective anti-aging ingredient. As we documented in our Miami MD reviews article, there is clinical research proving that this peptide reduces the appearance of wrinkles when applied topically.
While this cream contains some effective ingredients, it also contains some additive ingredients we recommend avoiding.
The preservative phenoxyethanol may be a skin and eye irritant based on medical studies. Rapid Reduction Serum contains another preservative called ethylhexylglycerin which we consider to have a better safety profile. However we do not recommend using topical skincare products with preservatives, especially around the eyes.
This product may be effective for reducing the apperance of eye bags and smoothing fine lines and wrinkles because it contains two science-backed ingreidents. However, we don't recommend the product overall due to the inclusion of two separate preservatives.
We also believe that hydrolyzed collagen would be a more effective choice than soluble collagen for wrinkle reduction.
Plexaderm Real User Review
One of the most popular reviews of Plexaderm on YouTube is published by a channel called "DBeauty." The video appears unsponsored and the creator does a product demonstration, shares before-and-after images and explains whether she considers Plexaderm to be effective. She appears to be using the Rapid Reduction Serum:
Where to Buy Plexaderm
Plexaderm is available at various online retailers, and the cost varies, so we wanted to help point users to the cheapest price:
Walmart: $61.98
Amazon: $58.81
CVS: $39.99
Walgreens: Not available
CVS currently has the best price for Plexaderm but at the time of updating this article, it's not available online so it would need to be purchased in-store. Walmart has the best online price when servings are considered.
Walmart's Plexaderm product costs $61.98 and contains 18 servings, which equates to a per-serving cost of $3.44. Plexaderm on Amazon costs $58.81 but only contains 15 servings, which equates to a per-serving cost of $3.92.
How Long Does Plexaderm Last?
Consumers are often curious about how long Plexaderm lasts, because the use instructions provided by the brand fail to describe how long each tube lasts.
Plexaderm's Rapid Reduction Cream is sold in a box of 15 to 18 resealable tubes. Each tube contains 0.5 milliliters (mL) of product. 0.5 mL is equivalent to around 0.1 teaspoons.
Plexaderm instructs to only use an amount "about half the size of a pea" which we would estimate to be around 0.15 mL. This means that we would estimate each resealable tube to last four uses, which makes the $61.98 Plexaderm on Walmart containing 18 individual tubes last for 72 days. This brings the price of the product under $1 per day which is quite reasonable.
We urge Plexaderm to publish information on how long each tube lasts.
Low-Quality Product Research
Plexaderm's website features results from a clinical trial that the brand uses to make health claims. We cannot find any link to a full study, or any information on whether this trial was published in a legitimate medical journal.
This "Clinical Study" section states: "We tested a group of 43 people."
We urge consumers to entirely disregard claims of clinical efficacy based on studies funded by skincare brands. This is especially the case when the brand fails to even share the full study, and the study appears to not be published in any medical journals.
We only consider clinical trials published in peer-reviewed scientific journals to be worth considering when evaluating a brand, because the risk of bias is so high with manufacturer-funded studies to make the results worthless in our opinion. When we cite clinical trials on Illuminate Health, we're citing clinical trials published in peer-reviewed scientific and medical journals as this is the gold standard of product research.
Plexaderm Reset and Replenish Pads Review
Plexaderm sells pads to cleanse the skin prior to application of their Rapid Reduction Serum. The main active ingredient is sodium hyaluronate, which is the sodium salt of hyaluronic acid.
Hyaluronic acid has been shown in medical research to improve skin hydration and elasticity, even at as low a concentration as 0.1% of a formula. The linked study found that low molecular weight hyaluronic acid also caused a significant reduction in wrinkles.
This product also contains the preservative phenoxyethanol that we referenced in the previous Plexaderm product review and recommend avoiding, as well as the preservative sodium benzoate which may have a skin-sensitizing effect in some individuals as we documented in our review of Frownies.
Overall we do not recommend this product due to the inclusion of the preservatives.Plexaderm Daily Moisturizer Review
Plexaderm sells a moisturizer called "Plex-Perfect Daily Moisturizer" that contains a number of naturally moisturizing ingredients. Glycerin, hydrolyzed jojoba esters, cucumber fruit extract and beeswax are all naturally-derived ingredients that are shown in medical studies to increase skin hydration.
This product also contains sodium hyaluronate, which we already established improves skin hydration and reduces wrinkles.
A clinical trial published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology found that the combination of hydrolyzed jojoba esters and glycerin had a synergistic effect and significantly increased skin moisturization for at least 24 hours. The reseachers described this combination as having "unique moisturizing potential."
We consider Plex-Perfect Daily Moisturizer likely to be effective for moisturizing the skin and reducing wrinkles due to its effective ingredients. This is the best-formulated Plexaderm product in our opinion. However we don't recommend it overall due to the same two preservatives included in both of the other Plexaderm products.
Our Skincare Recommendations
There are skincare products that contain ingredients proven in clinical trials to be effective for reducing wrinkles and improving skin quality generally.
Annie Mak Vitamin C Serum is our top skin cream pick because of its effective and clean formulation. 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. We consider this to be the most powerful topical skincare ingredient. Most importantly, this serum is entirely free of questionable additives like preservatives or fragrance.
Interested consumers can check out Annie Mak Vitamin C Serum at this link.
HydraGlow is our top moisturizer pick. It features bakuchiol as an active ingredient which was described in a 2014 clinical trial as "clinically proven to have anti-aging effects." In the linked trial, topical bakuchiol reduced wrinkles, improved skin elasticity and firmness, and reduced photodamage (damage from UV rays). There are no questionable additive ingredients in this product.
Interested consumers can check out HydraGlow at this link.
The only oral supplement we recommend for skin quality improvement is Bulletproof Collagen Powder. Oral collagen supplementation was shown in a medical review published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology to improve visible signs of skin aging as well as improve skin elasticity and skin hydration. The only ingredient in Bulletproof collagen is collagen peptides sourced from grass-fed animals. We recommend a dose of 10 grams per day.
Interested consumers can check out Bulletproof Collagen Powder at this link.
