Dear Lauren Science Series · Vol. 02
The hidden truth about EGF
Containing EGF and working EGF are two completely different things. If it is not delivered, none of it matters.
From a customer
I've used an EGF cream faithfully,
but the dramatic change the ads promise?
Honestly, I can't tell.
Putting EGF into a cosmetic and having EGF work on your skin are entirely different stories.
EGF is linked to four kinds of change in skin
A Nobel Prize–winning discovery: a signalling protein the skin already uses. In cosmetics it is associated with four things people notice.
Renewal
Supports the look of healthy cell turnover, for fresher-looking skin.
Firmness
Associated with collagen and elastin support, for firmer-looking skin.
Hydration
Helps skin hold moisture, reinforcing its own hydration for a plumper look.
Comfort
Helps support the barrier and keep sensitive skin looking calm.
So why doesn't EGF skincare deliver the results you would expect?
Three reasons most EGF skincare falls flat
It breaks down easily
EGF is a protein, so heat, light and air deactivate it quickly. Even storage at room temperature can cause its potency to fall sharply.
It cannot get into the skin on its own
At 6.2 kDa, EGF is more than twelve times the ~500 Da limit for passive penetration. Applying it cannot get it past the outer barrier.
Raw-material quality varies by tens of times
Even labelled “EGF,” material activity differs enormously between products. Low-grade EGF is EGF in name only.
Which means the question is not whether EGF is in the bottle. It is what grade it is, and whether anything carries it in.
Not the same EGF
Dear Lauren specifies EGF at ten times the industry-standard activity — the difference between a material that is nominally EGF and one that is worth protecting in the first place.
Raw-material bioactivity index, supplier assay
A stronger material still has to survive the journey.
Dear Lauren's answer
Ten times the activity — and something to carry it.
Grade alone changes nothing if the molecule is destroyed on the shelf or stopped at the surface. SNV® technology answers both.
Shield it from its own fragility
Sealed in the 200 nm triple-layer capsule, EGF is protected from thermal, photo and oxidative loss.
Carry a molecule that cannot walk in
At more than twelve times the passive-penetration limit, EGF needs a vehicle. The capsule is that vehicle.
Release it still active
The point is not that EGF is in the formula. It is that it is still working when it arrives.
Franz diffusion cell · human skin · 37 °C. HYMA poster, 2019.
Measured on human skin
The platform is what we test — on people.
Ingredient science explains why a formula should work. These are the numbers it produced on human skin, in IRB-reviewed trials of the finished products this ingredient runs in.
Efficacy testing under IRB approval ASC-IRB-25-707. Cosmetic measurements of skin appearance, moisture and comfort. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Individual results vary.
Not that EGF is “in there,” but that EGF actually works.
Dear Lauren Science Series — three lies your skincare tells you Behind the formulas →
[1] Cohen S. J Biol Chem, 1962. [2] Carpenter G, Cohen S. Annu Rev Biochem, 1979. [3] Pastore S et al. J Invest Dermatol, 2008. [4] Tiaka EK et al. Int Wound J, 2012. [5] Bodnar RJ. Adv Wound Care, 2013.
This content is provided for skin-science education and does not describe drug effects. Individual results vary.