Dr. Jessica Wu Talks Bogus Beauty Aids

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This column features weekly tips and advice from a revolving cast of industry leaders, on hand to discuss your beauty dilemmas, from blemishes to Botox. To submit a question, e-mail celia_ellenberg@condenast.com.

There are so many products making antiaging claims these days, it's hard to know what works and what's just hype. Any candid guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Peptides have proven to be disappointing compared to the initial hype. And creams that claim to work as well as Botox are highly suspect. Even if you rubbed pure Botox on your face, it wouldn't do a thing for wrinkles since the substance needs to be injected into the muscle to work effectively. As a heads-up, any nonprescription cream or lotion that implies or claims that it contains Botox either does not, or contains counterfeit ingredients. There is a topical gel that contains botulinum toxin, the active ingredient in Botox, that's being investigated in clinical trials at the moment. I've seen the initial data, and I do think this product works to an extent; however, even if this product becomes FDA approved, it will need to be applied in ...
... a doctor's office, not at home. Another ingredient that has been getting a lot of hype is Spatlauber, an extract found in a type of Swiss apple that has self-preservation capabilities.

It's a great story, and who doesn't like the idea of rubbing apple juice on your face—it's so natural, right? But observing that a type of apple stays fresh longer doesn't mean that applying it to your skin has any effect, and I haven't been able to find any published research on the topic. Just some things to keep in mind when making your skincare decisions.

f you feel like you've seen the super-sleek, side-parted hair that graced the runway at Narciso Rodriguez' Spring show before, it's because you have. He's referencing himself this season, and in a way, I'm referencing myself for him, hairstylist Eugene Souleiman told us backstage. Souleiman has his fair share of reference points to cull from, as he's been called on to create that classically Narciso, sophisticated, gorgeous, tough hair for the better part of this decade.

Prepping tresses with Wella's Velvet Amplifier and spritzing with water before blow-drying, Souleiman sculpted perfectly straight strands that were as simple as they were sexy. As for the makeup, face painter Dick Page opted to bring something new to the table. He really felt like color this season, Page told us of the designer's pre-show directive. But seeing as how this is Narciso we're talking about—a longtime minimalist stalwart—there was no poppy orange, bright yellow, or red.

Instead, Page did his envelope pushing with a warm, rusty eye to contrast with clean skin and a cool, soft mauve lip. We just want the girls to look pretty, he said, employing an interesting layering technique to lids that mixed concealers and blush—Shiseido Lumizining Satin Face Color in Tea Rose and Petal, to be exact. Page added a touch of highlighter to the inner corners of models' eyes to brighten things up a bit before treating pouts to a coating of Shiseido's new Perfect Rouge Glowing Matte Lipstick in Whisper, a neutral purple/brown. We'd never think to put blush on our eyes, but it worked well here. We plan on trying it out the next time we wear black and white.