Remedy or Rip Off Strivectin

A lot of us would like to look younger and get rid of our imperfections. There are tried and true ways to do that--ways that have been proven to work with sound research. But is the data there to show strivectin works? It’s a line of products that claims to help get rid of stretch marks and wrinkles! In fact, it raises the question, is it better than botox? We had the same question.

“We came up with essentially a blend of three functional ingredients. They were all involved in basically helping to repair the skin and helping to heal and preserve tissue,” says Louis Rinaldi, Managing Director of Cosmetic Product Development, Klein Becker. But what’s the evidence strivectin--the entire product--works? Rinaldi says, “We do have the studies, they are on file.”

We asked him, “Are there journal articles on these studies?” His response: “Well I know the, obviously this is proprietary information. We obviously have the docier of all the clinical work and we could certainly make it available to you, we don’t, um, give it out.” The docier he sent us had blacked out words on the bulk of the pages. The reason, they say, is to protect their proprietary recipe.

They offered to let me see everything, what’s behind these black marks, whether or not it’s really significant, if I signed a non-disclosure. But they told me, I couldn’t share it with anyone else. Dr. Steven fallek, an expert--he’s a cosmetic plastic and reconstructive surgeon, says, “Even the website doesn’t tell you what is in it, it doesn’t give you the data, it just goes on and on telling you about glowing results.”

In the end, we didn’t want to see details of the secret recipe. We just wanted to see proof the product itself, strivectin, does what it claims to do. I asked him, “How many patients have been studied who have used the true strivectin product, not necessarily the ingredients that go into the product?” Rinaldi answered, “Uh I can’t answer that. You know I just don’t know numbers.” Dr. Fallek says, “I am a big fan of trying new products, but again there has to be some research and data that justify using the products that show that it does work.”

 Now, some experts do argue that one of the ingredients, PAL KTTKS, has been shown in some studies to be effective at reducing wrinkles. So it’s possible strivectin does work… But is there really enough data to say that? Oh, and what about the original question: is it better than botox? “Really to be better than botox would be quite impressive, this is not even close, in fact I would certainly never recommended it, and I do tell my patients when they do ask about strivectin that it is a total waste of money,” states Dr. Fallek.

While that’s Dr. Fallek’s opinion, it might be worthwhile. A lawyer for Klein Becker, who called me, says each of the key ingredients were carefully investigated with respect to mode of action, and then verified clinically. But many experts say there has to be better data to make these kinds of claims. And you have to decide if 135 bucks a tube is worth what many consider a still-unproven product.