Apple Cheeks

This autumn, in the interest of seeing more of Canada – and, truth be told, avoiding the punishing euro – S and I decided to take a trip “down East” to Nova Scotia. So, this year, the flush in my cheeks rose not from long, boozy lunches in Parisian boîtes and shopping the Marais boutiques but from long walks on misty Maritime beaches.

Of course, all that wholesome air makes a girl hungry. The local markets offered freshly harvested scallops, lobsters and other ocean life. While stocking up at Pete’s Frootique in Halifax on the way to our cottage-by-the-sea in Kingsburg, I left S alone (tall and handsome with his seafarer’s salt ’n’ pepper stubble) but for a moment at the fish counter, where he was immediately set upon by a horny local who asked him for his “scollop” recipe. (Scollop indeed, you tweedy trollop!) Not having much of an appetite for seafood, I was charmed by the road signs for “Drop Apples: $5/bag.” The large bags were filled with hundreds of knocked-about apples intended for equines, but one could only dream about their skin-care possibilities!

Now that everyone has gone back to the basics (chicken soup, jumping jacks, gold bullion), it’s no wonder that the newest beauty trend is old school – that school being the Bible. A few years ago, high-maintenance girls like Gwyneth were raving about the skin-smoothing properties of snake venom. The venom contains a toxin that gives Botox-like effects, paralyzing certain facial muscles, thus reducing the formation of wrinkles. Mining the Garden of Eden yet again for the elixir of youth, we now offer you the apple. And wouldn’t you know it? Gwyneth named her firstborn “Apple.” And, do tell, doesn’t Gwyneth herself look as bright, shiny and tart as a Honeycrisp apple?

While various fruit extracts, including that of the apple, have been long used in skin care for their components such as flavonoids, quercetin, malic acid and vitamin C to help exfoliate dead skin cells, calm inflammation or nourish the skin, now the beauty buzz is all about apple stem cells. As reported recently in Women’s Wear Daily and American Vogue, the stem cells found in the Uttwiler Spätlauber, a rare Swiss apple, have the ability to repair not only their own skin but, in an act of extraordinary generosity, human stem cells as well. This is very helpful because, as we age, our stem cells get worn down and can’t keep up with their job, causing our skin to lose elasticity and gain wrinkles. Hence, we wake up one morning, look in the mirror, get a fright, get depressed and start drinking earlier in the day than we should.

Scientists – not just any scientists but Swiss scientists – were able to replicate the stem cells of this very important apple in a laboratory and dubbed them PhytoCellTec Malus Domestica (patent pending). These cells are high in what dermatologists call “epigenetic factors” and metabolites. Both of these seem to extend the life of a cell, delaying its senescence – that time in a cell’s life when it prefers to nap instead of repair and build collagen. Many high-end beauty companies now include this hard-working ingredient in their products: It’s in 3Lab’s “M” Cream and Super “h” Serum and Lancôme’s Absolue Precious Cells cream; indie darling Clark’s Botanicals has it in its Cellular Lifting Serum; and Emerge Organic Lab employs it in its Swiss Apple Stem Cell Protection Cream with SPF30 and its Swiss Apple Stem Cell Serum. Expect these apple stem cells to find their way into lotions and potions at all price points. Isn’t this just the perfect excuse to eat some nice warm strudel? Now, if only scientists could back me up on the beauty benefits of whipped cream...