Science reveals common sense to be fact! A study conducted by Dr. Bahman Guyuron and published in The Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal researched the appearance of aging twins to determine why one half of the pair would be protected by time while the other would become wrinkled. While the side-by-side slide shows can be shocking, the reasons behind the wrinkles are exactly what your mama warned you about. Keep reading to find out how some of the twins stayed young-looking:

Being wrinkly makes you interesting? And here we’ve been obsessing about wrinkle creams and anti-aging beauty products, thinking that getting old is a big downer. This ad campaign, called “See The Person, Not The Age,” recently launched in Scotland and aims to fight ageism through wrinkled-up billboards that display slogans like these: “This is proof you can still have wrinkles and do a good job” and “Why don’t you notice people with wrinkles too?”

Could wrinkles ever really be thought of as “beautiful”? Why not? If this prevents just one person from feeling pressured to get Botox, it’s a very good thing. Why do wrinkles have to be so stigmatized anyway? What do you think of this campaign? Progressive? Or did you just wrinkle your nose? [StyleFrizz.com]

When I was a freshman in college, I developed a huge girl crush on a senior who lived in my dorm. I blindly soaked up everything she told me. So, when she said, “The one piece of advice I can give to you is start using eye cream now,” I ran out the next day and purchased an anti-wrinkle potion, and dutifully slathered it on every day. While I didn’t see any difference, it apparently has the potential to speed up aging in young women, reports the Daily Mail.

As rational, educated women, we know in our heads that when it comes to the often outlandish promises skincare companies make, applying a so-called wrinkle cure will not actually erase lines from our face. As people bombarded with airbrushed images of perfect, supernaturally youthful skin and famous idols who fight each skin fold with a double dose of Botox, it’s safe to say that we’re warily interested in aging and the lack thereof. And when it comes to beauty products in general, is it really so crazy to ask for something that does what it promises? According to a Daily Mail report, we may be getting closer to true product efficacy and real, not just promised, miracles in a jar.

“I have wrinkles here [points to her forehead], which are very evident, and I will particularly say when I look at movie posters, ‘You guys have airbrushed my forehead. Please can you change it back?’ I’d rather be the woman they’re saying ‘She’s looking older’ about than ‘She’s looking stoned.’”

— Kate Winslet in Harper’s Bazaar

My studio apartment isn’t exactly palatial, so I’ve had to do without certain things that people who live in larger places would never consider an extravagance, like an ironing board. If I iron any of my clothes (I tend to hang them in the bathroom while I shower and let the steam do its best to erase the wrinkles), it happens on my kitchen counter. Designer Aïssa Logerot created this combo ironing board-mirror concept, which would certainly help me to wear less wrinkled clothes to the office. Maybe one day Bed Bath & Beyond will be smart enough to carry them, but until then, the kitchen counter will have to suffice. [Toxel.com via Notcot.org]

Doctors have been using Efudex cream to treat actinic keratoses, a precancerous form of squamous cell carcinoma (also known as skin cancer), for four decades, but a new study has found that the medication could also improve skin and smooth wrinkles and rough spots. Dr. Dana Sachs of the University of Michigan, whose study appears in the Archives of Dermatology, said the cream seems to cause an increase in collagen production as it heals the skin wounds. But with every medication comes a downside. Patients experience reddened and inflamed skin soon after application. “Patients look really bad,” Sachs said in a telephone interview with Reuters. “Their skin is red. I’ve heard people describe it as looking like raw hamburger meat.” Then, their skin improves—the pre-cancers are gone and the skin remains youthful for years. Sachs said this knowledge could get patients to stick with their treatments through completion.

What kind of f**kery is this? A British company called Eat Yourself Beautiful is selling marshmallows made out of collagen peptides that promise to smooth wrinkles, reduce cellulite, firm the skin and reduce inflammation of joints. And they taste like pink grapefruit, too.

Usually, when I write about a beauty product I know whether I am hailing it as the greatest thing since sliced bread or as a WTF? With the copper-infused pillow cover, well, I just don’t know. Apparently you can get rid of wrinkles, fine lines and crow’s feet by sleeping on a copper-threaded pillow.

According to the peeps at Cupron, who make the copper infused pillow (as well as copper infused gloves and eye masks), copper has been used since ancient Egyptian times for its “antimicrobial properties.” How this translates to less wrinkles, I have no idea, but Cupron’s own clinical trials have shown that people who use the pillow are more likely to see a reduction in them.

Bottom line: it might not work, but if you need a new pillow anyway you might as well try and be a beauty pioneer. [$37.99, Cupron Cosmetic Skin Appearance-Enhancing Satin Pillowcase,CupronSales.com]

If there were ever two words that shouldn’t go together in a sentence, it’s home and laser. But Johnson & Johnson and their hair removal medical supply partners, Palomar, are teaming up to turn out home laser wrinkle treatments for consumers. The FDA has just approved their skin-smoothing machine, but it sounds more like a plot for world domination. While the companies are keeping the product info plans top secret, and they won’t describe the device or even the release date, they do admit the price will be high.

Each ray gun wrinkle remover is going to cost hundreds of dollars, but the equipment won’t require that hard-to-get dermatological appointment or even a prescription. That’s right, let’s just put lasers right into people’s hands! With the popularity of the Snuggie proving that millions of Americans can’t work a simple blanket, is this head zapper really a safe idea?  Well, we bet it would at least make an awesome sci-fi movie plot. [Boston Globe]

Do you want to get rid of wrinkles while simultaneously looking like a NASA astronaut? If you answered yes, then we have the product for you! Introducing “The Face Trainer,” is a mask-helmet that you put over your whole head which creates resistance so when you move your facial muscles or make an expression, you are “exercising” your face, making your skin toned and tighter. Flabby cheeks are a thing of the past!

Valerie Bertinelli is on the cover of People showing off her new bikini body just a couple of weeks shy of her 49th birthday. She has the body of a 20-year-old, but her face looks much older. In fact, she looks older than she did when she started losing weight two years ago. It turns out that being too thin ages women over 40 more than smoking, heavy drinking, or sun exposure, according to a new study published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal. The reverse is true for women who haven’t reached the big 4-0.

Fox News had two women on “America’s Newsroom” to discuss the extreme close-up photograph of Sarah Palin on this week’s cover of Newsweek. Andrea Tantaros, a Republican media consultant, said it is “a clear slap in the face in the face at Sarah Palin. Why? Because it’s unretouched. It highlights every imperfection that every human being has. We’re talking unwanted facial hair, pores,  wrinkles.” Julia Piscitelli of the Women and Politics Institute at American University disagreed, saying that it’s nice to see a beautiful woman in her natural state for once. Watching the video segment is painful. At once point, Tantaros starts speaking over Piscitelli: “This is mortifying, Julia! This is mortifying!” What the program didn’t discuss is that the article’s headline is “The Palin Problem,” and magazines actually use photos to convey the message of the accompanying article. The cover photo is reminiscent of a microscope’s close inspection, and the article attempts to investigate Palin in a similar way. Another factor not discussed: News magazines try to stay away from the Frankenstein photo retouching that fashion magazines do on models.

Honestly, Tantaros’ rant only makes me want to go out and buy the issue so I can see what a pretty face like Palin’s looks like with all its imperfections.

The Harvard Women’s Health Watch reports that dermal fillers are becoming more popular for women looking to erase wrinkles. Is it just me, or did we know that collagen and Restylane were popular a few years ago? What’s really news (ha) is that some celebs are using other methods to prevent wrinkles and keep their bodies youthful and fit. Victoria Beckham has been using a $110 “natural Botox” face cream, in addition to following a low carb diet to prevent her skin from sagging and eating nuts and seeds to help her skin glow. And Madonna’s sick figure is the product of hard work. “There’s no easy way,” she told British Elle. “If you want to know how I look like I do, it’s diet and exercise and constantly being careful.” I think I’d rather eat an ice cream Snickers. [Medical News Today, AHN, and PopSugar]

If you smoke, drink a little too much, or don’t wear sunscreen, you’re going to have a few more wrinkles than you would otherwise. But you knew that because you’ve heard it a million times. What you need is a time machine that will take you into the future and show you what a hot 60-year-old you would be if you gave up your bad habits. At least two companies have technologies available or in the works that illustrate your future self. And the results might scare you into becoming a healthy eater, a non-smoker, and a religious wearer of SPF 30. Unless, of course, you want your mouth to look like a cat’s anus. [Good Morning America]

Magazines tamper with photos to make women appear skinnier, more busty, and wrinkle-free. That’s a given. But in movies, you can sometimes see a little breakout or some crow’s feet on an actor’s face when there’s a closeup shot. It might be a little mean or insensitive, but I find it reassuring to know that even really attractive people get zits every now and again. Sadly, though, these minor blemishes in movies will be going the way of the double-chin in magazines. With Photoshop-like programs, post-production companies can correct or change colors, erasing frown lines, and shave off 5-o’clock shadows, and it’s happening more often now that the cost has gone down. Digital coloring specialist Stefan Sonnenfeld told NPR that he had touched up Tom Cruise’s face in Mission Impossible: III and Johnny Depp’s in Sweeney Todd, and some stars even have digital coloring written into their contracts. Perhaps this will negate the need for Botox? [NPR]