You can’t scroll through TikTok or book a spa treatment without encountering longevity in some form—be it a supplement, an IV drip, or a smoothie. And now, the buzzword has landed on your top shelf, offering the same core promise—a longer, healthier stretch of time—but for your face instead of your body. In keeping with that, the latest face serums and creams are pivoting away from anti-aging and directly toward longevity.

While that might seem like a matter of semantics, experts say there’s more to it than that. Unlike other skin-care innovations, such as exosomes, spicules, PDRN, and stem cells, longevity is more of a change in mindset than a shift in ingredients. “Consumers are increasingly interested in things like health span, prevention, and maintaining function instead of just simply looking younger,” says Mamina Turegano, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New Orleans. “But I also think the concept of skin longevity represents a meaningful shift in how we’re thinking about skin aging.”

Just as compelling: Longevity-minded formulas may indeed offer something beyond your average retinoids and vitamin C serums, although their exact benefits—and efficacy—are still unclear. Here, experts share whether the formulas live up to the hype.

In This Story

• What does longevity skin care even entail?
• The ingredients at the helm
• Should you try longevity skincare?
• Meet the Experts

What does longevity skin care even entail?

At first glance, longevity skin-care products seem synonymous with the smoothing creams of the world—but that’s not quite right. They’re actually taking a brand-new approach to the concept of skin aging. Instead of focusing on addressing visible signs of aging, like wrinkles, dark spots, and sagging, skin longevity hinges on the question of: “How do we preserve the skin’s structure, function, resilience, and ability to repair itself over time?” posits Dr. Turegano.

That difference is subtle, but significant. “Anti-aging is repairing the roof after the leak starts,” says Mona Gohara, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Hamden, Connecticut. “Longevity is reinforcing the roof so it withstands the storm in the first place.” After all, she adds, aging isn’t just about the passage of time. The inevitable onslaught of factors, including chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and environmental aggressors, can all influence how skin ages. For that reason, “skin longevity isn't replacing anti-aging—it’s expanding the conversation from appearance alone to preserving skin health and function over time,” she says.

In order to do that, these longevity skin care products have new targets in sight. “Instead of simply moisturizing or exfoliating, newer ingredients are being developed to influence specific cellular pathways involved in inflammation, repair, oxidative stress, and cellular communication,” says Dr. Gohara. The ingredients are also being combined in strategic ways. Take inflammation, for example. Certain anti-inflammatory ingredients “may be different from a pharmacological aspect but the effect will be—for the most part—the same on the skin,” says Amanda Lam, a cosmetic chemist in Los Angeles. “Some actives can target inflammation through cooling the skin, like aloe vera, while others are like niacinamide, which target the inflammatory pathways.”

And while that all sounds great—less inflammation, more repair—it’s hard to tell how or if this translates to real-world results. “We're still learning whether modifying these pathways in the skin translates into meaningful long-term benefits,” says Dr. Turegano. “There’s still a lot we don't know.”

The ingredients at the helm

In order to target these biological mechanisms in skin, the ingredients have to look a little different—so instead of vitamin A, you may see postbiotics (byproducts produced by the microbiome) and actives thought to support production of NAD+ (which is involved in cellular processes, like energy production, DNA repair, and mitochondrial function). “Postbiotics, NAD+–related ingredients, and cellular signaling compounds are grounded in real scientific concepts,” says Dr. Gohara.

Unlike, say, hyaluronic acid, “what makes these newer longevity-focused ingredients interesting is that they’re trying to work further upstream by supporting cellular function and resilience,” says Dr. Turegano. In other words, they work earlier in the cellular-aging process to support healthy skin cells, with the aim of supporting more youthful-looking skin over time.

Some of the most promising ingredients include urolithin A, or Mitopure. Dr. Turegano finds it especially interesting since “it has been studied extensively for its role in mitochondrial health and mitophagy—the process by which cells clear out damaged mitochondria,” she says, pointing to studies that show topical application can improve wrinkles and skin barrier function.

It’s no question that the ways NAD+ supports energy production and DNA repair are important, says Dr. Turegano. What is still in doubt is “how much benefit we can achieve through a topical product and whether that translates into meaningful clinical outcomes,” she explains. Lam, for her part, has tried the serum. “I felt like my skin was more radiant and I had a more even skin tone overall,” she says, though she notes that it’s geared toward a more mature consumer.

The good news? Even though the hard evidence is yet to emerge, there’s usually some credibility to these formulations—thanks to their ingredients. “Ingredient suppliers conduct thorough research to ensure that the actives they are launching are efficacious,” says Lam. “Naturally, there is less data to support that blends like Miotopure work as well as something that is long-standing like peptides or retinol—but data still exists regardless,” says Lam.

Should you try longevity skin care?

If you’re hoping to prolong healthy, hydrated skin, there’s little harm in trying these products.

“My advice is to think of these products as potential additions, not replacements,” says Dr. Turegano. “I would not abandon a skin-care routine built around ingredients with strong long-term evidence, like sunscreen, retinoids, vitamin C, and moisturizers that support the skin barrier, in favor of the latest longevity ingredient.”

Keep in mind, however, that phrases like “works at the cellular level” are largely born in marketing meetings. “Every effective skin-care ingredient works at the cellular level—including retinoids, peptides, niacinamide, and vitamin C,” says Dr. Gohara. Similarly important is that these existing ingredients have time on their side. “Retinoids have decades of clinical studies showing improvements in collagen production, wrinkles, pigmentation, and skin texture,” she says. “Many longevity ingredients have intriguing laboratory data and promising early studies, but they have not yet accumulated the same depth of clinical evidence.”

This is all to say: Longevity skin care shows promise, but there’s no telling whether these products are actually better than what’s already on the shelf. And chances are, you might already own the best longevity skin-care product out there: sunscreen. After all, says Dr. Turegano, “no ingredient currently has more evidence for preserving skin function over time by helping prevent cumulative DNA damage, collagen breakdown, pigmentation changes, and photoaging.” Longevity-focused products might catch up—but you’ll have to wait and see.