Amatokin

Amatokin At-A-Glance
   Strengths: None--even without the stem cell talk, this is a very boring moisturizer formula.

   Weaknesses: Expensive; stem cell technology has not been proven as a helpful aid for aging skin; grossly inflated claims that cannot be proven.

   This heavily-advertised skin-care products is marketed by Voss Laboratories, another umbrella company that is headed by Klein-Becker, which markets StriVectin-SD, Hylexin, and Idebenol, all products that use questionable marketing tactics to make their formulas sound like miracles (the FDA has been trying with little success to curtail their advertising). The only miracle about these products is the number of women who buy into the hype, a response that only encourages other companies to continue their own misleading advertising campaigns. After all, if StriVectin-SD is the antiwrinkle breakthrough of the decade that is supposed to replace Botox (that’s how Klein-Becker advertises their product), how do they explain away the claim that Amatokin is “the most profound advancement in the skin-care sciences in more than three decades”? Clearly they hope you won’t notice that these two companies are distorting the same information in several different products.

   The attention-getting concept with this product is the use of stem cells. Amatokin is supposed to enhance the expression of stem cells in the skin, which the company claims will reduce deep and superficial wrinkles and discolorations from sun damage. The problem is that there is no published, independent research to prove that claim.

   Here’s how Amatokin explains their formula: “Skin is the largest reservoir of stem cells in the human body. Amatokin is the first and only topical compound shown to highlight the expression of stem cell markers in skin.… Amatokin’s functional isolates have been clinically shown to dramatically reduce the appearance of both deep and superficial wrinkles, as well as skin coloration associated with photo-aging.” Give me a break! The phrase “highlights expression of stem cell markers in skin” has no meaning. What does highlighting mean anyway? The ad copy is so vague that it nicely gets around any risk of FDA attention because there is no medical or structural change in the body termed “highlighting.” “Functional isolates” also has no meaning. What isolates are they referring to? Isolates can refer to any number of substances—they’re not a specific group of ingredients. So the claim just alludes to the product’s effects on stem cells without actually saying that it does or contains anything that can affect them. For more information about Amatokin, visit www.amatokin.com.