Elm Biosciences Review: Martha Stewart’s Retinoid Night Cream, on Trial
If I don't age like Mother Martha Stewart, I'm suing the universe. She's 85 and serving porcelain. And her skincare brand, Elm Biosciences, co-founded with dermatologist Dr. Dhaval Bhanusali, just sent me her lineup.
EXHIBIT ZERO · @MARTHASTEWART48 · JULY 2020The pool selfie. She was 78.See it on Instagram →Gifted: Elm sent these for me to try. The links are affiliate. Not sponsored.
Y'all know I don't care about celebrity hype. I care about INCI lists. So before anything touched my face, I flipped the box. And my jaw dropped. Two ingredients got me: the retinoid, and polypodium leucotomos, which I already take from another brand, Duette.
Consider this the case file.
Exhibit A: the retinoid in Elm's night cream
Second to last on the A3O Elemental Night Cream: trifarotenyl caprylate. Elm calls it "a selective retinoid derivative." The name tells you the family. It's built on trifarotene, a fourth-generation retinoid that's prescription-only in the US.
The receipt: it's ingredient 41 of 43, so it's a low dose. That's less scary than it sounds. Prescription trifarotene cream is only 0.005%. Retinoids don't need big numbers. Low dose doesn't scare me. Low dose, nightly, beats high dose, peeling.
Exhibit B: why a 4th-gen retinoid skips the ladder
Everyone knows the ladder. Retinol converts to retinal. Retinal converts to retinoic acid. Only that last one is what your skin actually uses, and you lose strength at every step.
Trifarotene doesn't climb. It's already the active form. The ester on this box most likely needs one quick step first (your skin clips off the caprylate), which is why I call it trifarotene's cousin, not its twin.
Exhibit C: one receptor, less peeling
Older retinoids like tretinoin hit all three retinoic acid receptors in your skin: alpha, beta and gamma. That's the scattershot that leaves you peeling like a snake.
Trifarotene is selective for RAR-gamma, the one that dominates your outer skin. The pitch: renewal and firmness without the full barrier freakout. Elm's own study (16 people, 8 weeks, twice a day) had 100% report smoother texture. Small, brand-run study. I'll trust my own face more. I start it this week. Peeling report to follow.
Exhibit D: Elm A3O Elemental Night Cream
Retinoid plus Elm's A3O antioxidant complex, ectoin for the barrier and carnosine for firmness, in a rich cream. Elm says start every other night for the first week, then nightly.
Exhibit E: Elm Inner Dose, the inside job
Pairing smart topicals with smart internals is the real cheat code. I'm militant about sunscreen, but skin cancer runs in my family, so I'll consider any extra measure I can take. I already take polypodium leucotomos and astaxanthin religiously.
Plot twist: Elm's Inner Dose has both. Per serving: 280 mg polypodium leucotomos and 6 mg astaxanthin, plus turmeric, vitamin D3 and holy basil. Polypodium is studied for helping skin defend against UV damage from the inside. It is not sunscreen. Wear the SPF.
The nerdy part: a fern and a pink pigment
Polypodium leucotomos
- It's a tropical fern from Central and South America. Yes, a fern is doing sun defense.
- Its power is polyphenols: caffeic, chlorogenic, ferulic and p-coumaric acids. Ferulic acid, as in the ingredient famous for stabilizing vitamin C serums.
- In a Henry Ford Hospital study, 22 people took 480 mg before a UVB test. A marker of sunburn DNA damage dropped about a third, and the redness score fell 19%.
- Inner Dose has 280 mg a day, so it's not the same dose as that study. Still not sunscreen.
Astaxanthin
- It's the pigment that makes salmon and flamingos pink. Farmed salmon and zoo flamingos only go pink when their feed has it.
- It comes from a green microalga, Haematococcus pluvialis. Stress it with intense light and it turns blood red. The red is its own sunscreen.
- In a Fujifilm-run, double-blind trial, 23 adults took 4 mg a day for 9 weeks. Versus placebo, their skin needed more UV to burn and lost less moisture. Inner Dose has 6 mg.
- In a 2007 lab comparison, astaxanthin was the strongest singlet-oxygen quencher among common antioxidants. Singlet oxygen is one of the reactive molecules sunlight creates in skin.
Sources: polypodium study (JAAD, 2017) · astaxanthin trial (Nutrients, 2018) · the algae that turns red
Not a derm, and supplements aren't for everyone. Check with your doctor first, especially if you take medication or are pregnant.
How I'm running the trial
- Morning: Inner Dose (2 capsules with food), my Sweet Chemistry Hydra Serum with vitamin C (code Brian20), then SPF.
- Night: INVO exosomes (code BRIAN10) as my serum, then the A3O Night Cream: every other night for week one, then nightly.
- Off nights: acids go on different nights, per Elm. I'm pausing my Dieux retinal so this gets a fair trial.
The verdict: pending
Retinoids take time. Elm says 4 to 6 weeks to see results and 8 to 12 to judge. I'll report back with receipts. My next skin scan is an Aura3D in December, when I'm back in Houston.
And I know what you're thinking: "Do I really need a $165 night cream with a low-dose retinoid?" Need? No. Curious? Yes. A non-prescription cousin of trifarotene is new, and I'd rather test it than guess.
Elm Biosciences FAQ
- What retinoid is in Elm Biosciences' night cream?
- Trifarotenyl caprylate, ingredient 41 of 43 in the A3O Elemental Night Cream. Elm calls it a selective retinoid derivative.
- Is trifarotenyl caprylate the same as trifarotene?
- No. It's an ester built on trifarotene, the fourth-generation retinoid that's prescription-only in the US. Think cousin, not twin.
- What's in Elm Inner Dose?
- Per serving: polypodium leucotomos 280 mg, organic turmeric 500 mg, vitamin D3 2,500 IU, astaxanthin 6 mg and holy basil 250 mg. Two capsules a day with food.
- How much does Elm Biosciences cost?
- The A3O Night Cream is $165 and Inner Dose is $50.
- Who founded Elm Biosciences?
- Martha Stewart and board-certified dermatologist Dr. Dhaval Bhanusali.
Gifted by Elm Biosciences. Affiliate links: I may earn a commission at no cost to you. Not sponsored. Product images: Elm Biosciences. INVO is sold by The Piazza Center, where I do marketing work. I'm not a dermatologist, and this isn't medical advice.
