RoC Skincare is using identical twins and wearable health data to study how its Patented Clinical Retinol affects visible skin aging, combining a twin-control design with sleep and stress tracking from Oura Rings.
The company has completed a pilot study and is recruiting at least 30 pairs of adult female identical twins aged 40 and older in the US for the next phase. Participants will follow a 12-week regimen. RoC expects results by mid-2027.
Why twins
According to Art Pellegrino, RoC’s chief scientific officer, identical twins offer a close approximation of a natural control. Because they share DNA and much of their early environment, differences in how their skin ages are more likely to be explained by lifestyle, environment or product use rather than genetic variation. That makes it easier to see what the retinol is doing on the skin, Pellegrino says.
Pellegrino says the pilot was designed to test whether the model could provide a more precise way to study the drivers of visible skin aging. He says the answer was yes.
Pilot signals
According to Pellegrino, twins in the placebo group showed similar or worse signs of aging by the end of the pilot, while those in the treatment group showed 20% or more improvement within four weeks. Those results come from the company’s pilot and are not presented as independent verification of retinol efficacy.
The pilot did not attempt to quantify how much skin aging is attributable to genetics versus lifestyle. The expanded study is intended to examine that question by holding genetics constant and tracking daily sleep and stress.
Wearables and clinical measures
Participants wear an Oura Ring, which tracks metrics such as sleep, stress, heart rate, heart rate variability and temperature trends. RoC will pair those biometric signals with standard clinical skin assessments: expert grading, digital photography, corneometer readings and participant self-assessment.
Pellegrino says wearables create an opportunity to account for how people live when recommending skin care. RoC cannot ensure that twins have identical sun exposure or diets, so it is seeking twins with similar levels of environmental damage where possible and monitoring lifestyle factors throughout the study.
The design allows comparisons between sisters. If one twin sleeps poorly or reports more stress, researchers can examine whether her skin responds differently to the regimen. RoC says the design will let it examine whether weeks of poor sleep line up with lower hydration readings, or whether the twin with lower stress sees fine lines improve faster. It is also interested in whether visible skin improvements are accompanied by lower stress.
Learnings are expected to inform product development for skin longevity and the design of future clinical studies. The expanded twin study is one stage in a longer research program on “skin span,” or how long skin keeps looking its best, according to Pellegrino.