Skincare can be a vast and often confusing industry, saturated with serums, lotions and potions that promise a world of benefits. Previously, buying a new skincare product would involve selecting an overpriced bottle from the shelf and hoping for the best.
However, it’s clear to see there are big changes ahead, and leading the way is a company called GENEU. GENEU offers a revolutionary way of personalizing your skincare regime to ensure that your unique anti-ageing serum delivers exactly what your skin needs: a DNA test conducted in their very own, super-futuristic laboratory, with results delivered in just thirty minutes. We at TRULY couldn’t resist the opportunity to try it out for ourselves.
Upon my arrival at GENEU’s sleek store on New Bond Street, I am whisked downstairs to a plush waiting room and handed a green tea. A consultant is on hand to answer my questions, so I ask her whether GENEU consider themselves a part of the beauty or science industry, and I am told that they are bringing groundbreaking science to the public via the medium of cosmetics.
This is a theme that runs through the entire store; the downstairs waiting room is decorated with a striking, brightly coloured mural that, I am told, is in fact made up of microchips corresponding to various parts of the body. This is where science meets art; the microchips have been invented by Chris Toumazou, Regius Professor of Engineering and Chair in Biomedical Circuit Design at the Imperial College, while the artistic angle of the design is that of Nick Rhodes, of Duran Duran fame.
Upstairs, in our own personal pod, my consultant Maria fills me in on the science of GENEU. Using groundbreaking new technology – a microchip that won the award for Best European Invention in 2014 – they measure the exact levels of two key genotypes that define the rate at which your skin ages: collagen breakdown speed, and antioxidant protection levels. This allows for an exact concentration of product, designed to perfectly balance your skin and leave it brighter, younger and fresher.
The test itself is easy and unobtrusive; a swab from the inside of the mouth, executed discreetly by oneself while the consultant prepares the equipment. Your DNA, we are assured, is not kept on file or even seen by any human eye; it is extracted, read, and immediately destroyed.
While all this happens, Maria asks me a few questions about my lifestyle – how much time I spend in the sun, if I have ever smoked, and so on. Like all the advisors at GENEU, Maria is a PHD qualified doctor with an impressive background in medicine. GENEU’s technology, she predicts, is set to revolutionize not just the cosmetics industry but also medicine, as the DNA tests carried out at the GENEU lab in just thirty minutes can take up to four weeks in hospitals.
Thirty minutes later, I am presented with my results (on an iPad, naturally). I’m informed that my collagen levels are degenerating faster than most, and that I only have moderate levels of antioxidant. Not great news for me. But all is not lost, because my non-smoking, pale-skinned lifestyle goes a long way to counter this. Maria lets me know that UV exposure is the largest lifestyle component, closely followed by smoking – and these lifestyle choices, she assures me, are factored into the concentration each client receives.
The product itself has all the sleek, impressive aesthetic of a premium beauty brand. Pick from one of three case colours and your very own GENEU cartridges are provided, with each cartridge lasting approximately two weeks. There are two separate serums, AOX (antioxidant) and COL (collagen), and both are light and easily absorbed into the skin, applied using a special massage technique detailed in the product’s information pack. The cartridges lock into position within their holder and are small and light enough to travel extremely well; with each cartridge holding 10ml of product, they are even flight-safe. GENEU, it seems, have thought of everything.
In my early twenties, I have to say that anti-ageing treatments have not yet been on my radar. But the team at GENEU has informed me that it is never too early to start. I won’t see a reduction in wrinkles, but I will see an improvement in texture, pigmentation, and general brightness. Most importantly, now that I know the exact rate that my skin is degenerating, I will be able to counter nature.
GENEU says that twelve weeks is the optimum time to see real results in your skin, with some women seeing up to a 30% decrease in wrinkles during that time*. Our trial lasts for six, but after only one, I can already feel improvements in my complexion.
*Clinical Trial, 2012, Imperial College
Experience Anti-Ageing at Geneu and discover new ways to look young and feel young through our other Spa and Pampering Experiences.