Beauty trends come and go, but a product claim that has snuck onto store shelves in recent years is a little unusual: face creams that are supposed to protect skin from pollution.
Anti-pollution products hinge on the idea that the fossil fuel and manufacturing particles lingering in the air damages skin, and that certain formulas carry ingredients that block or even reverse said harm. But do pollutants actually change our skin? And if so, do anti-pollution claims have any merit? “The first question is really easy, because there’s a lot of evidence,” says Thierry Passeron, a dermatologist at the University of Côte d'Azur in Nice, France. But whether or not these products live up to claims — and actually protect someone's skin from pollution-related damage — is more complicated.
