Skin Care Review: Perricone MD Cold Plasma

On a recent trip to Sephora, I caught sight of several kits and products from the Perricone MD line. I'd heard a lot about the products (both positive and negative), and had been wanting to try it for a long time. The primary reason I hadn't gotten around to it was twofold: the mixed reviews and the price. It's a very expensive line, and I hadn't been willing to make a commitment to such an investment, especially given many less-than-stellar reviews. However, it was the annual Friends and Family sale at Sephora, which afforded me a 20% discount. I also visited the Perricone MD website and found that they had a limited-time discount going on which was even better at 25%. So, being the skin care junkie that I am, I decided to take the plunge and purchase several products, at the heart of which was the infamous Cold Plasma treatment. 

Before getting into my review, I'm going to tell you about Perricone MD and Dr. Perricone. A board certified clinical and research dermatologist, Perricone takes a holistic approach to skin care. As a pioneer in the field of the inflammation theory of aging, in which microscopic inflammation is thought to be the primary reason for premature aging. He takes a 3-pronged approach which includes diet, neutraceutical supplements, and skin care to tackle the issue. According to Dr. Perricone, following his antioxidant and DMAE-rich program will decrease inflammation, return skin to its healthy state, and diminish and prevent signs of aging. 

One thing to note is that the Perricone line relies very, very heavily on the use of DMAE, a firming compound found in fish oil. Thus, his approach advocates eating a lot of fish, particularly salmon, as well as taking fish oil capsules and using his DMAE-rich topical products. The issue at hand here is that DMAE is a controversial product. Although its ability to firm skin goes back to the 1990's, a recent (2007) study showed the potential for DMAE to actually cause skin cell damage. Essentially, short-term use of DMAE was deemed beneficial, whereas long-term use had the potential to result in even worse skin problems. Nonetheless, Perricone stands behind his love for DMAE, as do his followers, touting it as the end-all and be-all of skin care ingredients. 

Cold Plasma is another of the intensive DMAE products in the Perricone line. Cold Plasma is an interesting product in theory. A relatively thin gel-cream, it is to be applied as the very first step in your skin care routine. According to the literature, Cold Plasma not only carries its own very substantial power as an age-fighting machine, but also prepares the skin to absorb any other products you use on top of it. It's used as a serum, as a base for everything else, a product that delivers highly concentrated ingredients with known wrinkle-fighting benefits while also complementing the efficacy of your other products. 

Here's a shot of the consistency of Cold Plasma: 

As a matter of fact, Perricone makes some pretty intensive claims for the benefits of his Cold Plasma, claiming that it fights the 10 primary signs of aging, including: 

• Wrinkles
• Enlarged Pores
• Discoloration
• Dryness
• Redness
• Uneven skin tone
• Impurities
• Loss of firmness
• Loss of smoothness
• Loss of radiance

Now, that's a pretty major claim. As a matter of fact, it's one of the loftiest claims I've seen for any single skin care product, and I've read a LOT of lofty claims! Given the claims, I was really looking forward to giving Cold Plasma a try. At $150 a jar, I figured it had to do something, right? 

Now, one major issue that I was prepared to deal with when using Cold Plasma is the smell. Due to the heavy use of DMAE derived from fish in the Perricone product line, I had read (over and over and over) that Cold Plasma had a seriously fishy smell. Reviews ranged from "slightly fishy" to "smells like a dead fish that's been lying in the heat for a day or two." Ewwwwww. But since I'm a sucker for miracles, and in an effort to take one for the team for you guys, I decided to give it a try. And it was fishy. My jar wasn't exceptionally bad, but it was distinctly fishy. In my case, the Cold Plasma smelled like clean, fresh fish or a fish-oil capsule. It definitely wasn't rotten, but it wasn't pretty, either. I found the fragrance, for the most part, diminished after a few moments, although I still got a whiff here and there throughout the day. My husband hasn't commented on it, and adding other scented moisturizers over it seems to solve the problem, but if you are sensitive to scents (especially less-than-pleasant ones), Cold Plasma is not for you. 

As for how it worked on my skin...wellllll. Hmmmm. It was okay, I guess. Sorry for the not-so-scientific description there, but honestly, okay is about all it was. I didn't experience any sensitivity, but I didn't experience too much in the way of benefits, either. I especially didn't experience the overwhelming improvement I expected in a $150 cream. I suppose there was some brightening and evening of my skin tone, and it seemed as if the small broken capillaries on my cheeks diminished a bit, but overall I can't say I had an "aha!" moment with this. There was never a day when I looked in the mirror and saw the perfect skin I'd hoped for. I still had some redness, some unevenness, some texture issues, and my fine lines were exactly as they were before I began using Cold Plasma. If anything, I had issues with flakiness around my mouth and chin, which has never happened to me in the past, so at the very least I can assure you that Cold Plasma is in no way moisturizing. 

Aside from my lack of results (and I used it for 6 weeks just to give it a fair shake), I have issues with the packaging on this one. I'm not a jar-phobe, and I fully believe that if you make a point of thoroughly washing your hands before dipping your fingers in a jar...or better yet, use the enclosed spatula...your product will not be contaminated beyond all belief. However, there are some creams that need to be in jars due to their thickness. They simply can't be housed in pumps. Cold Plasma is not such a product. In fact, every time I dipped into the Cold Plasma jar, I was reminded of just how thin it is and how much more effective it would be if housed in a measured pump. It seemed I was always getting too much product, which you do NOT WANT to have happen with such an expensive treatment. I feel I wasted a great deal of mine due to getting too much out at a time. 

Bottom Line: Cold Plasma is a nice enough product, but I don't feel it really did that much for my skin. Perhaps if I had more obvious signs of aging I would have seen more improvement. Then again, it's listed as part of Perricone's "Rx 1--Prevent" program, which means it's designed for people like me who have minimal signs of aging. As a preventative, it's far, far overpriced, in my opinion. Add to that the unpleasant fragrance and faulty packaging, as well as the controversial star ingredient, and I'm giving this one a no-go.