Here’s what’s certain:

Traditionally there are no firming or tightening products whose results are even remotely similar to what you get from medical procedures such as dermal fillers, lasers, or cosmetic surgery.

Knowing the truth about existing firming creams does matter, otherwise you’re wasting money and time on ineffective products that don’t deliver.

Elastin is the support fibre in the body that allows skin to “bounce” back into place. You can think of elastin as the springs in a mattress, and collagen, along with fat, cartilage and muscle, as the stuffing between the springs. When elastin is damaged, the skin begins to sag, just like when mattress springs get old and damaged, the mattress begins to sag. This sagging, combined with sun damage, can cause your skin to become crepe paper-like.

Some products claim to contain “re-engineered” collagen or elastin, with molecules small enough to be absorbed into the skin. But such claims are not supported by independent, peer-reviewed research. These ingredients, even if nano-sized, will not fuse with the collagen and elastin in your skin. Even if they could, how would the collagen and elastin you apply to your face know what collagen and elastin in your skin to attach to and which to leave alone?