How to Stop or Reverse Skin Aging (2026)

#82

Hello,

I don’t understand why the concentration of topical rapamycin for skin (>=0.1%) is insanely higher than for scalp (2 μM ≈ 0.00018%). It is about 1,000 times difference in concentration.

I don’t see any reason why topical rapamycin shows such a huge difference depending on skin and scalp. You know that scalp is skin too.

And, I found papers showing that low concentration of rapamycin also shows skin improvements too.

rapamycin (10 μM, or 0.001%):

“This prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, exploratory study was conducted to test the hypothesis that a topical application of rapamycin (10 μM) would decrease the number of senescent cells in the skin”
“A notable aspect of this study is the use of such a low dose of rapamycin (10 μM, or 0.001%) for topical application.”
“In summary, we present the first evidence that rapamycin treatment improves function and reduces markers of aging in human tissue.”
Topical rapamycin reduces markers of senescence and aging in human skin: an exploratory, prospective, randomized trial - PMC

rapamycin (0.003–0.015%):

" Conclusion: The application of low-dose topical rapamycin (0.003–0.015%) to the face can safely decrease the appearance of facial angiofibromas in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex."
Topical Rapamycin Therapy to Alleviate the Cutaneous Manifestations of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex | Drugs in R&D | Springer Nature Link

They show that rapamycin low-dose (10 μM(0.001%)~150 μM(0.015%)) can be effective in anti-aging in skin.

My guess is that rapamycin in high-dose (>=0.1%) has been mainly used for treatments of severe skin diseases rather than anti-aging.

In case of oral intake of rapamycin, high-dose has been used for patients of organ transplant. and low-dose is for people who want anti-aging.

In the same way, I started to think that high-dose topical treatment is for treatment of severe skin diseases, and low-dose could be for anti-aging purpose.

This issue is important to determine whether I can cut down the cost of rapamycin to make topical cream. I gave up making rapamycin cream after I saw the required amount of rapamycin pills and their cost. But, I would like to try to make it if low-dose is effective. The cost is pretty cheap to make low-dose cream.

Please let me know if you have any idea about this issue. Thanks in advance.

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#83

I see so much going on in this thread and am genuinely curious how many people actually execute and on what? So many interventions, so little time and money in the grand scheme of things. I think anyone who isn’t doing tretinoin, sunscreen, estradiol cream, and amlactin for at least the body but trying to optimize the potency of his homemade rapamycin cream is wasting time and brain cells.

#84

This is a great thread for me to read because I don’t know much about skin care, and from the science I can see that sunscreen is good enough and tretinoin is the most effective treatment for aged skin.

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#85

Yes it seems like tret, sunscreen, and a good moisturizer will get you 80 to 90 percent of the way to optimization

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#86

I’m not talking percentages but they’re definitely the low hanging fruit. Estradiol cream is huge after a certain age for women too. Then there’s injectables and devices. And to me it would be about pruning this list to the highest ROI items not looking for the next shiny object.

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#87

I’m a long time tret and spf devotee.

I was occasionally using retinol on my body with acids (not daily out of laziness) and just replaced it with a touch of low dose tret mixed into a lotion.

I use a body wash with enzymes which works well to soften with no effort, but I just learned here that 12% lactic acid (or equivalent) is key to skin thickening. You could read a newspaper through my skin,even when I was young, so I’m intrigued by this. I always say if this longevity shtick works, I might outlive my skin!

After reading Relaxed Meatball’s review, I started using One Skin two months ago and adore it. Their lip mask is now my favorite thing to put on before bed. I have no idea if their cream is doing anything magical, but I love using it and my skin is very happy. I will be repurchasing.

I’ve made one batch of rapa serum but have been too lazy to make it again. Partially, it’s because I never know which things I can mix together without deactivating the active ingredients… one skin peptides, rapa, tret, acids, etc. I was all ready to buy ghk-cu powder to mix in, but once again, paralysis by analysis.

Recently, instead of washing right after applying my estradiol gel, I’ll wipe any excess on my face (thanks to the discussion here). I’m only doing part of my face so if I have any kind of result, I’ll eventually notice… not expecting anything, but ??

On some mornings I’ll put a cheap vit c on my face (Timeless) as insurance.

A few months ago I stopped using my very expensive exosome serum that contained many steps in one… my skin is no worse.

Oh, and red light therapy a few days per week… again, no idea if it’s doing anything but I enjoy it.

@medaura ha, I just saw your last comment… well, I’m turning 60 this month… when you are my age, you’ll start looking for all the shinny objects you can find :)!

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#88

Hahaha shiny object tip: Sculptra!

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#89

No kidding! My face used to be more toxic than Chernobyl, and I looked great until I realized I over did it!! I let all of it dissolve (and paid to have some of it taken out… talk about insult to injury!)

My face currently only has worn off Botox at the moment… I’m in desperate need of some volume but I’ve been procrastinating going down that rabbit hole again… the puffy face sorta creeps up on you!

#90

How do you dissolve Hesperine effectively for topical use? Pure Hesperidin has very poor solubility in both water and oil. In its raw form, it tends to precipitate out, which can feel “gritty” or simply sit on top of the skin without penetrating.

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#91

I dissolve it in a few drops of Tanscutol and then mix with HA toner.

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#92

Yeah lactic acid is totally under-rated, the best one is from Korea called Anua 10+ recommended by Doctorly of youtube. It does a great job for giving you an overall polished look.

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#93

I need to start using lactic acid. I’ve put glycolic acid from the brand The Ordinary in a spray bottle and spray this all over my body (minus the face) 2-3x a week after I shower.

Topical estradiol and estriol cream/gel on the face for men is also fine. The amount needed to apply to the face to increase collagen production isn’t enough to throw hormone balance out for most guys. I do it occasionally. It’s alternative active to retinoids.

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#94

There you go. It is definitely not systemically absorbed. But I didn’t know whether men’s skin was responsive. I wouldn’t use it as an alternative to retinoids. Use them together for really good results.

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#95

I don’t understand this because absorption is the exact goal of my gel (hrt).

#96

I can’t use retinoids every night as my skin is quite sensitive. I can alternate and use other actives like estradiol gel, estriol cream, azeliac acid, urea cream, etc.

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#97

Some good news on Ginseng for skin health and fertility… New Evidence Links Ferroptosis to Ovarian / Fertility Decline but Ginseng Defends

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#98

https://x.com/davidasinclair/status/2052724890441019629?s=46&t=ujBXvjsf5sfNM8J1qi8RfQ

DHM compound could be found on Amazon and added to DIY formulations.

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#99

Full details on paper here: Reversing the Clock: Epigenetic Serum Slashes Skin Age by Two Years Across All Skin Tones

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#100

Looks pretty subtle to me but Am thinking of making a DIY serum and dissolve a bunch of goods in transcutol then water. So adding this to my shopping list.

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#101

A lot of things seem to influence gene expression and epigenetic profile of skin – lasers, heat, copper peptides, etc. Maybe even just something like Amlactin and/or retinols over time can do it.