DNA Repair Enzymes: Gold or Fool’s Gold?
This column first ran in Valerie Monroe’s newsletter, How Not to F*ck Up Your Face, which you can subscribe to on Substack.
Q: Can you weigh in on DNA repair enzymes? Do they help repair sun damage? If so, how many applications are needed? Is it an everyday type of thing? I am loath to add more to my routine — but as a fair Irish lass who had her share of sunburns in her youth, I’ll use it if it works!
A: A fair Irish lass — and a seeker of truth, at that! Surely some revelation is at hand! Or at least a poetic explanation. Here it is: DNA repair enzymes recognize skin cells damaged by sun exposure and other extrinsic factors and restore them to an undamaged condition, through a process supported in this robust review.
Okay, that’s not poetic. But it sounds like magic, right? Too good to be true?
It’s not too good to be true. “There are indeed bacterial and plant DNA enzymes that can penetrate skin cells to reduce ultraviolet (UV) induced damage,” says HNTFUYF “derm diva” Heidi Waldorf. By encapsulating these enzymes in liposomes (cells that work as a delivery system), they can penetrate the epidermis to the skin’s basal layer, she says. (In other words, yes, they do work.)
Dermatologist Ellen Gendler is an enthusiastic proponent of DNA repair products. She describes the three categories of enzymes on her website: “One comes from plankton extract and is often referred to as either a photosome, photolyase, or simply plankton extract in an ingredients list. It’s activated by light, so it’s best to use this one during the day. Another enzyme comes from bacteria (micrococcus luteus), and a third from the mustard plant (arabidopsis thaliana). These two can be applied at night as well as in the morning.”
Can you use a DNA repair product with a retinoid at night? “Absolutely,” says Gendler. “Apply one or the other first, allow it to dry, and then apply the next. The order is up to you, depending on how the formulas feel on your skin.”
“We know that with sun protection, some actinic keratoses — the red, rough, pre-cancerous lesions that can show up in severely sun-damaged skin — can disappear rather than turn into skin cancer. And the studies have found that photolyase has been shown to reduce the number of actinic keratoses compared with sunscreen alone,” says Waldorf. Gendler believes photolyase is the MVP of the enzymes because it works against UV radiation. More good news: “A smaller improvement in skin quality (wrinkles and texture) has also been found,” said Waldorf.
You can find photolyase in ISDIN Eryfotona Actinica (untinted) and Eryfotona Ageless (tinted) sunscreens. Waldorf uses the untinted version daily; it contains 11 percent zinc oxide (no chemical sunscreen ingredients), and she finds it cosmetically elegant: quick absorbing, light yet moisturizing, and ultrasheer. (A fair Irish lass may also be better off with the untinted formula.)
ISDIN Eryfotona Actinica Ultralight Emulsion Sunscreen SPF 50+
ISDIN Eryfotona Ageless Ultralight Tinted Mineral SPF 50 Sunscreen 50ml
On Gendler’s website, she recommends (and sells) these:
• Neova Total DNA Repair (all three kinds of enzymes)
• Photozyme MD DNA Youth Recovery Facial Serum (all three kinds—but I hate the name!)
• Photozyme MD Ultra Rich Facial Cream (all three kinds)
As a fair lass who’s had two basal-cell skin cancers, I’ve started using the ISDIN sunscreen with photolyase daily on my face and chest. (I completely agree with Waldorf’s review, though it has a faint scent I don’t love.)
For all you other HNTFUYF-ers, whether fair or melanin-rich, if you have sun damage or are keen to prevent it, it seems to me that DNA repair enzymes may be a fine tool to add to your skin-care kit.
Originally published on September 3.