If my memory serves me properly, Your Best Face Defend ($130 in the shop) was a day cream and anti-aging treatment for the breakout prone. I am sure that’s oversimplifying things, but I really want to focus on the newly formulated Defend, which is intriguingly far from simple. I’d go so far as to say YBF has rethought the day cream.

You see, a day cream is typically about hydration, it may have an SPF thrown in and care will be taken to ensure it plays nice under makeup. Your Best Face has, however, taken some very novel ingredients and upped the ante to protect from and prevent the UV damage that leads to aging.

The first of these is Preventhelia, a tetrapeptide that protects the skin from UV light. It works very specifically by neutralizing 4-HNE, a nasty free radical that is known for causing oxidative stress. Actually, it is amongst the most prolific and cytotoxic of the free radicals. The cool thing about Preventhelia is that it prevents future damage and, therefore, may guard against future aging.

While not exactly a substitute for sunscreen, this ingredient is said to be photoprotective and, in particular, protect DNA from UVA-induced damage by 69% (source) and promote its own repair system. I think this is pretty exciting.

Next up is Juveleven. This is a peptide that mimics something called FOXO3a (it’s full name is Forkhead Box 03, goodness knows why). It has a complex role in regulating different cell activities in everything from stem cells to mature cells. And it seems to prevent oxidative stress by upregulating antioxidants. Furthermore, a variant of FOXO3 has been associated with longevity in humans (source). By using UV radiation to cause damage to cells, researchers have shown that FOXO3 comes to the rescue and prevents cell death. The maker if Juveleven says that its peptide diminishes UV-mediated DNA damage by 16.6% in 24 hours.

From rice protein is another exciting ingredient. It goes by the name of Colhibin and it prevents collagenase (also known as MMP), one of the main culprits in early aging. When collagenases are triggered by sun (UV) light, they break down collagen. Enter Colhibin to stop them in their tracks and prevent premature skin aging.

All of the ingredients (there’s some of YBF’s standards as well) make for a great preventative and protecting cream. It would be great for 30-somethings and 40-somethings looking stave off the ravages of sun damage. For those of us with some damage, it is a great boost to our repairing serums and gives a cutting edge arsenal to our sunscreens.

Defend is a lightweight cream that can be worn on its own, or — as I do — layered over serums and under makeup or additional (conventional) sun protection. Try it and rethink the day cream.