How safe is Authentically Ageless™?Used as a topical skin cream, the product is very safe. In fact, an astute person may notice from the ingredient label that, with the exceptions of the primary active ingredient TeloMore™ and possibly the apricot kernel oil, all of the other ingredients are so safe they are actually edible. However to be clear, we do NOT recommend ingesting the product as the safety profile of TeloMore™ as an ingestible has not yet been established. We ultimately hope to conduct clinical trials with TeloMore™ to demonstrate its safety as an ingestible drug.
Is TeloMore™ safe?As noted above, TeloMore™ is very safe when used topically in a skin cream. We have tested this ingredient on human cell lines in vitro (fibroblasts and keratinocytes), and we have performed in vivo dermatological testing with human volunteers. Both the cell lines and the human volunteers responded favorably to the TeloMore™ compound, with no adverse reactions. A small number of human volunteers noticed mild irritation (potentially from the citric acid), but not to a significant degree.
Do/did you test on animals?Thus far, no, we have not conducted any animal testing. However, we eventually hope to conduct clinical trials with TeloMore™ as an ingestible drug. In order to comply with various national and international regulatory agencies, we would first be required to perform pre-clinical animal testing.
Is Authentically Ageless™ compatible with my existing skin care regimen?During the day you can continue to use your normal skin care regimen. However, due to the wide variety of ingredients used in other skin care products, it is impossible to know if any of these other ingredients may inhibit or react with TeloMore™. Therefore, at the time you are applying Authentically Ageless™, for best results we recommend using it by itself without mixing it with any other products. We recommend applying it in the evening before bed, after washing your face. The Q&A regarding how to use the product is below.
How do I use it?We recommend applying a thin layer of Authentically Ageless™ to the target area (usually the face) in the evening at least 15 minutes before bed – to allow time for it to absorb. We recommend washing your face appropriately prior to applying Authentically Ageless™ so that it is applied to clean skin. For best results we recommend that all other product residuals are removed before applying Authentically Ageless™. Unlike many other products, it is not necessary to use Authentically Ageless™ all the time, year round. Some people will prefer to do that. But for those who are cost conscious, we recommend using the product for at least three to four months out of the year, preferably in at least one month increments. In other words, for best results, use it nightly for at least one month at a time without breaks in use. Also note: you may notice that the cream is slightly sticky or tacky. The cream is intentionally formulated this way to keep the compound in place until it is thoroughly absorbed.
Can I also use it during the day to achieve faster results?We primarily recommend you use the product at night. However you can also use the product during the day, with the following caveats: 1. You do not use other products at the same time. 2. Realize that sunlight may reduce the efficacy of TeloMore™, the primary active ingredient. 3. Although we use a very small amount of citric acid in the product, some people may experience photosensitization from the citric acid. Therefore it is important to minimize sun exposure while using the product.
Will using a thicker layer make it work better or faster?A thin layer is all that is necessary, and using a thick coating will provide minimal additional benefit. There are limits to the rates at which skin and skin cells can absorb the product. (In transdermal drug delivery this is referred to as “flux”.) A thicker coating of product will likely remain on the surface of the skin and will not be properly or fully absorbed. If you want faster results it would be more effective to apply a thin layer twice per day, and minimize sun exposure (and use of other skin products) as explained in the FAQ on daytime use.
When should I expect to see results?Most people will see substantial improvements after two weeks of nightly use. However we strongly recommend using the product nightly for at least one month to see greater benefit. Long term improvement in skin aging takes a little time. Just as wounds take time to heal, so does aged skin. Authentically Ageless™ does not produce immediate results, but it does produce impressive results over days, weeks, and months. During testing, volunteers noticed reductions in “age spots” in just three to seven days, and substantial reduction by 14 days. Fine lines and crows feet were greatly reduced at 10-14 days, and were nearly unrecognizable at 30 days. Deeper more substantial wrinkles were improved at 14 days, and were dramatically reduced at 30 days, although they were still recognizable. Longer term use should continue to produce improvements. Individual results may vary. How long you will need to use the product will depend on the biological age of your skin, and the degree of results you wish to produce.
What is the pH of your products?Authentically Ageless™ and Authenticity™ both have a pH around 5.0 (+/-0.1), which falls within the ideal pH range for skin care products.
What should I do if I experience mild redness or irritation?In the unlikely event that you experience redness or irritation, discontinue use and contact us about the circumstances. In the highly unlikely event that you experience a more severe reaction, discontinue use, seek medical attention, and notify us of the circumstances. A small percentage of people may be sensitive to the citric acid used in the product.
How long does a jar last?This will depend on how much surface area you intend to treat. If you are only using the product on your face, a 30 g jar (about 1oz) is intended to last one month. A 15 g jar (about 1/2oz) is intended to last two weeks.
Is your packaging BPA free?Yes. We use glass packaging. In addition, all of our ingredients are carefully sourced from reliable producers around the world, to ensure that we use only the purest ingredients and avoid any contamination with undesirable impurities.
Why is Authentically Ageless™ so expensive?The price of Authentically Ageless™ is largely determined by the cost of the active ingredient TeloMore™, which is expensive to produce. The chemistry involved in synthesizing TeloMore™ is moderately complicated which raises costs. We hope to bring down the cost of Telomore™ production through economies of scale, and in turn lower the price of Authentically Ageless™. Despite the price, Authentically Ageless™ offers excellent results, unlike anything else available on the market.
Why do you offer cryptocurrency/Bitcoin as a payment option?Essentially two reasons: 1. To give our customers more flexible and convenient payment options. 2. Because the US Government has decided to “weaponize” the US Dollar and “sanction everyone” in countries that don’t abide what the US Government wants; this makes it much more difficult for non-US companies to accept payments in US Dollars.
Why are the jars black/dark purple?The jars are a dark color to protect the product contents from light. This helps to promote product stability and therefore efficacy. The dark jars serve a practical/functional purpose.
Where do you ship?We ship on a worldwide basis, but at our discretion. We do not ship to countries in which delivery is problematic, or which are prohibited by international law. Examples include North Korea, Somalia, Iran, Syria, etc. PLEASE NOTE: Flat rate shipping only applies to North America, Central America, and Europe. For locations outside of these regions, please contact us with your address for a shipping quote. For more information about our shipping policy, please see our Terms and Conditions.
Where are you located?We have business offices located in Managua, Nicaragua and Houston Texas. We source raw materials primarily from the US. For laboratory facilities, we have agreements with lab facilities in Nicaragua, the US, and India.
Are you affiliated with Mike Fossel or Telocyte?No. But we happen to agree with most of his analysis of the science. We just disagree with focusing on a gene therapy approach.
Why do you favor a small molecule strategy instead of a gene therapy approach?There are several reasons for this. 1. Gene therapy is very expensive, and we are not convinced that the cost will be reduced to an affordable level any time soon. Can you afford $500,000 (up to 1.5 million dollars) every ten years for a gene therapy? Neither can we. Even if the price drops by 50% the cost will still be prohibitive for most people. The small molecule approach will be affordable to most people. 2. Performing gene therapy on grown organisms is difficult to achieve the desired gene expression in a sufficiently large percentage of cells. Typically you cannot get as broad of expression as you would want. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve the full benefit that full body expression would provide. 3. While the AAV delivery vector is probably safe, there may be unknown safety risks that have yet to be identified. Each gene therapy needs to be assessed on a case by case basis. UPDATE: recent evidence suggests that using AAV for gene therapy may not be as safe as once thought. A recent study found that a gene delivered by AAV has ended up getting integrated into the host genome (this was previously thought not to occur). This could pose potential cancer risk if the gene is inserted in a critical site. 4. Regulatory approval. Small molecules are generally easier to get regulatory approval than gene therapies. 5. Convenience of an oral drug vs an IV infusion.
Why don't you use CRISPR?We actually investigated using CRISPR. However, in our view, CRISPR as it currently exists produces too many off target effects to be used safely for our clinical application – at the organism wide level. (Modification of cells ex vivo and reintroduced may be another matter.) This does not mean that the technique could not be improved to reduce off target effects to acceptable levels. In fact we expect that talented scientists and engineers will do exactly that, and we look forward to it. But that is not here now, and since it is not, we certainly aren’t going to wait around for the technology to develop adequately when we have other methods at our disposal to advance our goal.
Have you patented these molecules yet?Not yet, for a few reasons. 1. Once we file a patent it will be a public record and we are not yet ready to have such information become public knowledge. 2. Patent attorneys are expensive. 3. At this time, only three trusted people know the structures of our compounds, so for now we will call them “trade secrets”. We do intend to patent these molecules in the near future.
We may be interested in licensing a compound for use, what do we do?Contact us for licensing information.
Can you send us samples of TeloMore™ for testing?That depends. Who are you and what do you plan to do with it? Are you willing to sign and adhere to an NDA? Contact us.
Why does your research approach operate on a shoestring budget?Because few people are willing to fund telomerase and life extension research. There also seems to be an unjustified bias against telomerase therapies in the research and investment communities. If investors interested in life extension sciences would like to put their research funds to excellent use, we would be glad to speak with them.
What is your opinion of senolytic drugs?We believe senolytic drugs will provide short to medium term benefit (by reducing SASP signaling and inflammation, and potentially cancer rates), but that they will likely also accelerate aging in the longer term by stimulating non-senescent cells to divide more frequently, thus accelerating the rate at which their telomeres shorten (and thus senesce). Or to state it more aphoristically, the longer term problem with senolytics drugs is that eventually you run out of cells to eliminate. A better solution would be treat senescent cells with a therapy that will actually reverse their senescence – assuming they are not otherwise damaged.
Why do adult stem cells become senescent?
The research evidence is mixed regarding the degree to which adult stem cells produce telomerase to maintain their telomeres. Our review of the literature indicates that adult stem cells produce some telomerase some of the time (under certain conditions), but not to a sufficient degree to offset the telomere loss that results from replacing cell populations. Thus they too become senescent. See [23] and [31] in our References. This obviously does not apply to embryonic stem cells and cancer stem cells which do express telomerase. In addition, it also appears that iPSC stem cells do express telomerase. See [32] and [33] in our References.
Is there some concern about telomerase and cancer?The short answer is no. The slightly longer answer is that the exact opposite is likely closer to reality, which we explain here. Also see entry 39 on our references page.
Do you view telomerase therapy as a 'cure all' for age related pathologies?Likely not. While we think that telomerase therapies will likely resolve many age related pathologies as a result of resetting gene expression, it is likely that some problems will need to be treated separately. If we look at the model of the lobster, whose cells do express telomerase,
they still develop lipofuscin deposits which would need to be treated independently. Alternately, we think it is likely that certain genetic and/or mitochondrial damage may need to be repaired separately from a telomerase therapy. So while we see telomerase therapy as a necessary first step toward substantially extending maximal human lifespan, we do not see it as being fully sufficient by itself. Please see number [34] in our References. However the reality is that no one truly knows which problems will be corrected by telomerase therapies and which ones will not (at the organismal level) – until we actually try it (at the organismal level) and find out. Until we actually do that, the discussion is largely (educated) speculation and hand waving. The best answer is, let’s try it and find out.
