LifeCell is an anti-aging skincare brand. The company describes their most popular product as “6 skincare products now fit into one,” and it costs an unbelievable $189 for under 3 ounces.

But does LifeCell contain ingredients proven in research studies to have an anti-aging effect, or is this just a marketing claim? Is it really worth nearly $1,000 per pound, or is it overpriced compared to similar products? Does LifeCell contain any unhealthy additive ingredients? And how do real users rate and describe the anti-aging effects of this brand?

In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more as we analyze the ingredients in LifeCell’s most popular anti-aging cream based on medical studies to give our take on whether or not it’s likely to be effective.

We’ll explain the most cost-effective way to buy LifeCell, and share real, unsponsored user reviews of the product.

Ingredient Analysis

The ingredients in LifeCell All-In-One Skin-Tightening Treatment are shown above. This is the anti-aging cream that’s the brand’s most popular product.

This cream does contain a number of research-backed ingredients.

Retinol has been shown in a meta-review published in the Advances in Dermatology and Allergology journal to both reduce wrinkles and hydrate the skin.

Shea butter is clinically shown to repair the skin barrier.

Soybean oil was shown in a 2015 medical review to both stimulate collagen production and provide natural protection against damaging UV rays when applied topically.

Ceramide 2 should have an anti-aging effect, because as we referenced in our review of another skincare brand called DRMTLGY, ceramides have a wide range of positive effects on skin as shown in various research studies.

Palmitoyl tripeptide-5 and Acetyl hexapeptide-3 are two of the five peptide ingredients in this product. Peptides have been shown in a medical review published in the Pharmaceuticals journal to have anti-aging effects, and to be especially effective for sensitive skin.

Clearly there are many effective ingredients in this formulation. There is also one ingredient we consider questionable from a health perspective.

Phenoxyethanol is a synthetic preservative shown in a 2020 clinical trial to be toxic to human cells. We don’t consider it to be a particularly risky ingredient, but it seems logical to avoid it in our opinion.

Overall we consider LifeCell All-In-One Skin-Tightening Treatment to be likely effective for anti-aging, for skin hydration and for skin barrier repair. We do believe that the formulation holds up to the extremely luxury price, but we don’t currently recommend this product due to the inclusion of a synthetic preservative.

But how do real users rate LifeCell cream? We’ll review in the next section.

Real, Unsponsored LifeCell Skin Reviews

A YouTube creator named “V Roberts” reviewed LifeCell’s cream and included before-and-after images of the effects on her skin:

Another YouTube creator named Sarah Pineda calls the company a scam due to their billing practices. She forgot to upload a thumbnail so it appears as though the video is broken, but it works as soon as you press play:

Where to Buy LifeCell for the Best Price

LifeCell is sold at a variety of online retailers. Here’s a price breakdown at the time of publishing this article:

Brand website: $189 (link)

Amazon: $108.15 (pack of 2 – link to official Amazon listing)

Walmart: $16.76 (link)

We would recommend the Amazon listing over the Walmart listing, even though it’s more expensive, because it’s been reviewed many times and ships from Amazon. The Walmart listing is from a third-party seller with zero reviews, which greatly increases the chance of a counterfeit product or scam in our opinion.

LifeCell costs only $54.08 per product on Amazon, making it 71% cheaper on Amazon than on the brand’s official website. We’ve never seen a price discrepancy that high between authorized retailers of a product.

Real Customer Reviews of LifeCell

Amazon reviews offer a more honest take on a product than a brand’s website in our opinion. LifeCell’s All-In-One skin cream has been reviewed over 120 times on Amazon with an average review rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

The top positive review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “Donald Boyer” who claims the product is effective:

“This product is GREAT. It fills in an soothes wrinkles on the face and eyes. A GREAT WORTH IT BUY!”

The top negative review comes from a verified purchaser named “Lucy VanPelt” who claims to not have experienced an anti-aging effect:

“Not sure why there are complementary reviews. This product does nothing noticeable. I’ve been using it twice a day for the past month, each morning and night. Will not be repurchasing.”

LifeCell has several negative reviews on the Better Business Bureau website.

Several customers allege that the company is a scam including a customer named “V.S.”:

“This company ***** people! DO NOT TRY THEIR PRODUCT! They sucker you into a trial tube for $4.99 and then charge you $189 if you do not return the tube and sign up for their subscription.”

The complaints about auto-renewals suggests that it makes more sense for those interested in this product to purchase it on Amazon, where you can simply make a one-time purchase.

Our Clean Anti-Aging 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.

HYDRAGLOW by CLEARSTEM is our top anti-aging moisturizer.

It features bakuchiol as an active ingredient which was described in a 2014 clinical trial as "clinically proven to have anti-aging effects." 

Bulletproof Collagen Powder is our top anti-aging skin supplement.

Collagen supplementation was shown in a medical review published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology to reduce visible signs of skin aging as well as improve skin elasticity and skin hydration.

All of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy or unsafe.

Pros and Cons of LifeCell

Here’s our take on the pros and cons of LifeCell as a brand:

Pros:

• Highly effective formulation
• Decent price on Amazon and Walmart
• Some users describe potent anti-aging effects

Cons:

• Contains a synthetic preservative
• Very expensive on brand website
• Some users allege scammy pricing from brand website
• Questionable Walmart sellers

Conclusion

LifeCell’s anti-aging cream has one of the best formulations of any anti-aging cream we’ve reviewed on Illuminate Health. If it weren’t for the inclusion of one synthetic preservative, we would likely recommend it.

Some of the ingredients in LifeCell’s All-In-One Skin-Tightening Cream have been shown to reduce wrinkles, improve the skin barrier, increase skin hydration and protect the skin from UV rays.

This cream is incredibly expensive on the brand’s website but somewhat reasonable on Amazon. We don’t recommend purchasing it on Walmart because it’s shipped by a third-party seller with zero reviews.

Some online users claim that LifeCell significantly reduced their wrinkles, while some customers complain about manipulative auto-renewal pricing on the brand’s website.