Skincare
Longevity skincare routines built on what the trials support: retinoids, sunscreen and little else.
Topic overview →Best longevity skincare routine to slow visible aging.
Only two skincare interventions have randomised human trials showing they slow visible ageing: daily broad-spectrum sunscreen, which cut measured skin ageing by 24% over four and a half years in a randomised trial of 903 adults, and topical retinoids (tretinoin by prescription, retinol or retinaldehyde over the counter), which have decades of controlled trials on wrinkles and photodamage. A second tier — vitamin C, niacinamide, alpha-hydroxy acids and the copper peptide GHK-Cu — has smaller trials with modest, real effects. Collagen drinks, most 'anti-ageing' peptides, stem-cell and growth-factor creams rest on thin or manufacturer-funded evidence. The routine that follows from this is three products, not twelve.
PharmD-reviewed · Updated
Best hair loss treatments, ranked by evidence.
Two treatments carry almost all of the randomised trial evidence for hereditary hair loss: topical minoxidil, which extends the growth phase of the follicle, and oral finasteride, which blocks the conversion of testosterone to DHT by inhibiting 5-alpha-reductase. Used together they are the standard non-surgical protocol, and starting them early — while follicles are miniaturising rather than gone — is the single biggest determinant of how much hair you keep. Low-level laser therapy has modest sham-controlled support, low-dose oral minoxidil has a fast-growing but younger evidence base, and ketoconazole shampoo has thin but real data as an adjunct. Microneedling and PRP rest on small, inconsistent trials. Biotin, collagen and 'hair vitamins' do nothing at all unless you are genuinely deficient, which is rare.
PharmD-reviewed · Updated
Best acne treatment, ranked by evidence.
Two over-the-counter ingredients have decades of randomised trial evidence for acne: benzoyl peroxide, which kills the bacteria implicated in acne and does not cause resistance the way antibiotics do, and adapalene, an OTC retinoid that normalises the shedding of skin cells that clogs pores. Salicylic acid and azelaic acid have smaller but real trial evidence as a second tier — salicylic acid for blackheads and mild acne, azelaic acid for inflammatory acne and the dark marks it leaves behind. Hydrocolloid patches have modest mechanical evidence: they do not treat the underlying acne, but they protect an active spot from picking and absorb fluid from popped ones. The routine that follows from this is two active ingredients, not a ten-step shelf.
PharmD-reviewed · Updated
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