The development of beauty creams with good clinical results has been a goal of aesthetic doctors around the world. It is a little like the Holy Grail, always searching but unable to find.
We used to think that we could apply any cream onto our skin and the ingredients would be magically absorbed, creating the desired effect on the skin itself or the tissues directly beneath. Vitamin E was one such ingredient, being extremely popular in the seventies and eighties for all kinds of skin ailments, burns, scars etc until research in the nineties showed that skin actually has no receptors in it that allow the passage of the pure Vitamin E molecule directly into the cells. You see, for a medical ingredient to be effective the skin must have specific receptors in it for that particular ingredient, kind of like having a key to open the door. However some ingredients without receptors can still pass into the cell if they are tagged onto another ingredient which has one. This is like the Trojan Horse in the film “ Troy”.
We now know that Vitamin E can be effective in the skin if it is tagged on to a Vitamin C molecule as the latter has receptors for it. Other ingredients which have skin receptors are Vitamin A, alpha hydroxy acids, hormones such as progesterone, estrogen, testosterone and nicotine. This is why we have testosterone or nicotine patches.
In the case of bust creams, the premise is that these creams contain active ingredients that first pass through the skin directly into the breast tissues, are absorbed by the breast cells and then exerts its effects on these breast cells causing them to expand and multiply thus making the breasts bigger and firmer. Sounds like a lot for a cream to do. We know that estrogen can be absorbed through the skin but the effects are generalised and not confined specifically to the breast tissue itself. Estrogen also needs to be prescribed by a physician. Therefore the beauty industry has developed creams that contain phytoestrogens, estrogen like chemicals that are derived from certain plants and therefore not regulated by medical governance. The bust creams you mention may contain some of these phytoestrogens but there are some questions marks over the effectiveness and claims of these creams.
It would be wonderful if such creams could actually work but so far we haven’t seen any convincing scientific evidence that prove they do. Anecdotal reports from a handful of clients are usually not sufficient. These creams need to be examined in proper clinical trials involving large numbers of patients where they are compared to a placebo(a cream which is known to have no effect whatsoever). If in the group which uses the bust cream there is consistent and significant improvement in bust size and firmness then it is likely that the cream really works. If on the other hand both groups have some form of improvement, then we can surmise that it is not the creams but probably some other variable like the accompanying massage causing the improvement.
This in no way means that we may not one day develop such creams with excellent clinical results but as of now, we have not found the Holy Grail. If you have been using your creams for a few months with no improvement, then it’s probably alright to stop them now.
