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This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they’re going to change your life. Opt in for Optimizer here.
While scrolling through my TikTok feed, I often find myself thinking of Elizabeth Báthory. Legend has it that Báthory, a powerful 16th-century Hungarian countess, would kill virgins and bathe in their blood to retain her youth. Historians have debated whether Báthory really was a serial killer, though most agree she probably didn’t actually bathe in blood. Still, she’s what I think of anytime I see how far vanity will take us: vampire facials, snail mucin, bird poop treatments, and now Rejuran — a Korean skincare serum with the hottest new ingredient, PDRN. In case you were unaware, PDRN comes from salmon sperm.
Usually, these ads show skinfluencers with bouncy, hydrated skin extracting a clear liquid from a silver bottle. This serum, they say, is a game changer. Rubbing it into your face will promote skin rejuvenation, elasticity, and collagen production. The result is enhanced healing, improved skin texture, and reduced wrinkles, and it’s all thanks to patented science. Rejuran’s PDRN molecule is 670 times smaller than your pores, meaning enhanced absorption.
You can be the most skeptical person on the planet, but it’s hard to argue with the human desire to be young and beautiful.
“PDRN stands for polydeoxyribonucleotide, which essentially is just a DNA fragment,” says Victoria Fu, a cosmetic chemist and one of the founders behind the Chemist Confessions skincare brand. “Super old-school PDRN treatments actually come from human placenta, but now salmon sperm PDRN has become the industry standard.”
According to Fu, beauty trends like injectables often stem from the medical field. Before it became a hot skincare ingredient, PDRN was studied as an injected therapeutic treatment for conditions like diabetic foot ulcers, and there are some promising studies for injectable PDRN that suggest it could be helpful for wound healing — though PDRN injectables haven’t been FDA-approved in the US. Generally speaking, injectables are considered more effective for rapid, dramatic, and structural changes, as they’re able to deliver ingredients deeper into the skin. Injectable hyaluronic acid, for instance, is more effective at restoring volume than topical hyaluronic acid.
Online, PDRN started gaining notoriety a few years ago as skinfluencers shuttled themselves to South Korea for salmon DNA facials. In the typical video, these beauty influencers would giggle. Come with me to get a salmon sperm facial! Usually, a doctor is shown injecting PDRN into the skin every few millimeters until the influencer’s face is riddled with tiny, swollen mounds. It hurts so much! Recovery takes so long! But just LOOK at this glow!!!
The painful treatment blew up once celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Aniston admitted to incorporating salmon sperm facials into their routines. And then, about a year ago, Rejuran — the company behind the injections — announced a topical version. No scary needles, no need to fly to Korea, and a bottle costs about $52, whereas the facial could run anywhere from $500 to $700. Now, you can find PDRN in all kinds of skincare products ranging from eye creams to sunscreen.
Despite authoring this newsletter, I’m not immune to wellness fads. I covet glass skin like any other vain 30-something afraid of the harsh ravages of time. I’ve bought the stupid TikTok skincare wand that influencers said was “clinically proven” and that Hailey Bieber uses. I reviewed its clinical studies on electroporation — microcurrents that supposedly tear tiny holes in your skin to help products absorb better — and knew it was dubious (if relatively harmless).
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