Science-Backed Skin Heroes

On the surface, beauty and science are strange bedfellows. Consider the words used to favorably describe a scientific facility: sterile, clinical, controlled, antiseptic. They’re antithetical to the glowy, dewy, plump, bouncy vocabulary of the beauty world. But this apparent tension is superficial; obviously, diligent, methodical research is responsible for some of our best-loved beauty innovations. And on a more meaningful level, beauty and science share a kind of utopian, futurist sensibility and fundamental belief that new solutions will work and look better than the old ones. “Let’s give it a try!” is the rallying cry of both cohorts.

It’s in this spirit that we assembled a list of products built off the back of mind-bendingly cool scientific research. Think serums informed by rocket science, supplements that extend a cell’s lifespan, and stem cell-activating moisturizers. Has there ever been a more persuasive argument for funding STEM education? It’s time to shed your preconceptions of nerds huddled around a microscope—beauty is nothing without science.