Already big news in Europe and the US, the latest talked about anti-ageing ingredient has a somewhat unusual source.

It is called ‘Synake’ and it mimics the paralysing effect of the venomous Temple Viper bite to freeze expression contractions and prevent wrinkles forming.

But if you think basing an anti-ageing innovation on a paralysing snakebite sounds like the beauty industry gone mad – think again! Synake is not the venomous part of the snake at all but a harmless protein intelligently designed to safely replicate its success. And far from being just a fad, Synake is so well respected and recognised for its benefits that it even won the Swiss Technology Award for innovation.

Researchers from top cosmeceutical specialist Skin Doctors honed in on Synake’s success and it has been included at the optimum dose in Skin Doctors latest anti-ageing formulation ‘Vipertox’.

“When we saw the scientific data and realised it could be topically applied to help stop wrinkle formation with a similar mechanism to cosmetic injections, we knew it was something we had to formulate with,” explains Skin Doctors’ marketing manager Catherine Gair.

And indeed the scientific trials have been more than impressive. In vitro studies confirmed that the protein could help stop 82 per cent of contractions for up to two hours after application. That’s 14 hours a week your face is NOT creating wrinkles. Imagine, that means fewer wrinkles by next weekend, even fewer next month, and what about next year.

And what’s more, the studies confirmed a long-term reduction of existing wrinkles by 52 per cent in just 28 days.

“For Skin Doctors,” Ms Gair adds, “this means we not only treat wrinkles, the biggest anti-ageing problem, but now we can also help in their prevention.”