Can Your Skin Actually Go Back in Time?

Inside a hexagonal dome in New York City’s West Village, Gwyneth Paltrow-approved facialist Pietro Simone is offering a new method of youthful transformation. Enter the Exosome Dome, a gigantic, room-filling bubble holding a treatment bed. The device promises to merge light therapy, environmental purification, “energetic healing,” and exosome biotechnology to harness your skin’s cellular communication pathways and, ultimately, accelerate the skin’s natural regeneration.

The Exosome Dome is not the only new gadget or treatment hinting at literal skin renewal. From the German-made Human Regenerator—a space age-looking machine using Cold Atmospheric Plasma to stimulate cellular repair and boost ATP production—to a slew of high-end, clinical trial-backed topical releases from brands like Augustinus Bader and Westman Atelier, the latest beauty innovations combine biotechnology, functional medicine, and futuristic gadgetry to allude to not just smaller pores or frozen wrinkles, but new skin entirely. We’ve always strived for maintenance, but why focus on the status quo if your skin can go back in time? The new buzzwords in cutting-edge skincare are all about renewal: Exosomes, epigenetic reprogramming, and regenerative technologies are game-changing gateways to youthful skin and a truly fresh glow.

The promise of noticeable skin regeneration is alluring—but is there any veracity to a claim that sounds too good to be true? If you ask experts in the rapidly growing longevity sphere, reversing our skin’s age is very much a possibility. “The human body has immense healing, repair, and regenerative capacity,” says Dr. Mark Hyman, a leading functional medicine doctor and the founder of RoseBar, the destination biohacking clinic at the Six Senses Ibiza in the island’s quiet northern end. “There are a number of practices that help activate longevity switches,” he explains, listing off “Vampire” exosome facials, the aforementioned Human Regenerator, and Ozone Therapy (he also added he’s managed to reduce his own biological age by four years in the last two). A tool like the Human Regenerator, Dr. Hyman explains, is one cutting-edge mechanism that, when paired with the basics (a balanced diet, proper sleep, regular exercise, etc.), has the potential to slow and even reverse signs of aging. Exosomes—the extracellular vesicles that facilitate intercellular communication and carry lipids, proteins and RNA—are increasingly utilized to optimize regeneration. (See: the PRP Exosome facial.) Log a few rejuvenating days at the Six Senses’s heavenly spa and biohacking facilities in between floats in the infinity pool, and regeneration of all sorts begins to feel inevitable. Of course, much of the science Hyman references is very much emerging, with no long-term clinical trials, much less applied peer-reviewed research or FDA approval, to date.

The founders of some of our favorite skincare brands are apt to agree with the potential of exosome and biotech-fueled skin regeneration, if in more tempered terms. “Advances in biotech are allowing us to support skin regeneration in ways that are both sophisticated and gentle,” says Professor Augustinus Bader, the stem cell scientist behind the eponymous skincare line beloved by everyone from Kate Moss to Sandra Oh and Margot Robbie. “The focus is shifting toward understanding cellular communication and the microenvironment—how to create the right conditions for the body to heal and renew itself,” he says. “We’re also seeing progress in personalized diagnostics, which I believe will soon allow treatments to be tailored in real time to each individual’s biology.”

The brand’s latest and most luxurious launch, The Elixir, is a serum that works by creating the “ideal environment” for skin cells to regenerate. The serum delivers a proprietary phytopeptide blend deep in anti-inflammatory ingredients into your skin cells. Exosome science enhances natural communication pathways while low-water content and a high concentration of actives allows for maximum absorption. “[This] is the key to accelerating cellular turnover and restoring optimal function,” Professor Bader adds. “What makes it so impactful is not just the potency of the actives, but the precision with which they’re delivered.”

The makeup artist Gucci Westman—known for her clean, radiant aesthetic and a near supernatural ability to create dewy, luminescent skin—has long been on the forefront of emerging skincare science. “Exosomes are one of the most powerful ways to deliver actives to the skin,” she says, noting that her new Westman Atelier release, The Eye Activator, uses the emerging tech to deliver the brand’s just-developed Supreme Skin Bio-Complex. “Think of them as tiny messengers between cells, delivering the actives and helping our skin to repair and renew,” Westman explains. “With Eye Activator, we encapsulated a proprietary peptide and niacinamide blend in exosome technology. We can actually control where our exosome goes within the skin.”

Westman and Bader are not alone. Dr. Barbara Sturm has explored exosome science for over twenty years. Her Exosometic End Level collection is the synthesis of this work; the anti-aging solutions are aimed to make your skin function more like it did in its youth, regenerating with enhanced skin strength and elasticity.

Biotech skincare brand Noble Panacea (which was founded by a Nobel Prize-winning chemist) is known for its embrace of vanguard skincare science. Dr. Benjie Limketkai PhD, the brand’s chief technology officer, encourages consumers to exercise caution as they seek out treatments accelerating the natural skin cycle. “There are a lot of formulations that aim to stimulate skin renewal,” he says. “However, the proliferation of products, often accompanied by unsubstantiated claims, poses challenges for consumers seeking scientifically validated solutions. Throwing in ingredients with the hope they will deliver the expected skin benefits is unrealistic when you understand the interactions between molecules.”

Evidence-based research-backed in-clinic treatments still remain the gold standard approach. Dr Georgina Williams, consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon and co-founder of London’s discrete, highly sought-out clinic Montrose London, stresses the need for expert consultation alongside increased research on each of these emerging skincare sciences. “These are exciting developments, but it’s essential to separate well-founded innovation from premature marketing,” she says, suggesting current regenerative tools like “biostimulatory injectables, platelet-rich plasma, and laser/light therapies like HALO and BBL” as highly efficacious treatments for addressing pigmentation, fine lines, and other signs of aging. Well-formulated topicals are recommended in combination with more impactful in-office treatments as a part of a broader treatment plan.

“The notion of ‘bringing skin back in time’ through cell renewal is compelling, but expectations must be realistic,” says Dr. Williams. “While we can meaningfully improve skin tone, elasticity, and texture through a number of treatments, there is no intervention—topical or procedural—that truly resets the biological age of the skin.”

That said, we are just at the forefront of these spaces. “Regenerative aesthetics is a thrilling frontier—but one that needs to be navigated with caution,” Dr. Williams adds.