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Anti-aging solutions have continued to advance through the years. From natural skin care to chemical products, to technology treatments, and now, the application of science. Stem cells have been the talk about anti-aging solution for the past years, but only with apple stem cell have science, beauty and technology had a breakthrough.

1. What are stem cells?

We often have the vague idea that stem cells are not natural due to how the media describes them as a scientific process of reversing youth. Remember your biology classes? Stem cells are actually plant cells extracted from its stems. They are all natural, and have the properties of dividing and renewing itself continually for as long as the host is still alive. It can still be considered as a natural beauty product for as long as there are no added preservatives, and other chemical ingredients.

2. Why apple?

Stem cell products are not widely distributed in the world, as it could be expensive and at the same time very methodical to produce. The same goes with apple stem cell; the apple ingredient used for the stem cell process is very rare. It comes from an 18 th century tree from Switzerland, in which its apples take a very long time to decay as compared to regular apples. In which, this rare Swiss apple's long-living tissue is the very source of the products' anti-aging solution.

3. How can apple stem cell help against aging?

When extraction and culturing process of apple stem cells are finished, these are is mixed with serums, creams, drinks, and supplements for skin.

4. What are the benefits of apple stem cell?

The perfect skin glow can be achieved with apple stem cell being mixed with human cells. It helps to boost cell production and increase its lifespan, making the ageing process slower. As cells are renewed, skin and health are improved. Some of the skin benefits are inhibiting the melanin production in the skin, lightening of skin complexion, and making the skin feel smoother and moisturized. The apple stem cell health benefits focus on strengthening the immune system and cell regeneration.

5. How to take Total Image Apple Stem Cell drink?

Total Image offers their very own stem cell product, the Total Image Apple Stem Cell drink with added Salmon and Silk Peptide for beauty skin care and aging prevention. It is best to chill the drink and shake well first before consuming. Take one every alternate day before breakfast and keep doing so until desired results are achieved. Adding in Salmon Roe Peptide activates dormant cells and stimulates cell proliferation and tissue growth, while Silk Peptide aids in improving and nourishing the moisture retaining ability of the skin.

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5 Things To Know About Apple Stem Cell | Total Image

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Anti-aging solutions have continued to advance through the years. From natural skin care to chemical products, to technology treatments, and now, the application of science. Stem cells have been the talk about anti-aging solution for the past years, but only with apple stem cell have science, beauty and technology had a breakthrough.

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PhytoCellTec™ Malus Domestica is a patented liposomal preparation of apple stem cells derived from the 'Uttwiler Spätlauber', a rare Swiss apple variety. These apple stem cells are rich in epigenetic factors and metabolites, which ensures the longevity of skin cells. PhytoCellTec™ Malus Domestica has been shown to protect skin stem cells while also delaying the senescence of hair follicles.

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A year ago I predicted that stem cells from fruits and vegetables would start to appear in anti-wrinkle potions. Capturing human stem cells is controversial and those from animals are somehow unappealing (and carry risk of infection). Enter vegetal stem cells. In particular, stem cells derived from apples have just started to appear in commercially available creams.

Of course, they don't come from any old apple. No, these stem cells come from a very rare Swiss apple tree that we are told was cultivated over 300 hundred years ago for the long storage life of the fruit. So rare is it, that it was practically extinct. One day, a few trees were spotted somewhere in an isolated corner of the Alps. Scientists were all of a dither, seeing the possibilities immediately: stem cells could be extracted from this long living apple and be used to make other things live long - like my aging skin cells.

I was actually falling for all of this whilst reading a lengthy article penned by a Dr Goldfaden. That is, until I came across Goldfaden Stem Cell Serum and the sweet aroma of life-giving fruit began to smell a bit fishy. Dr G's article is very detailed and it goes so far as to give us the name of this rare species of tannin-rich apple: Uttwiler Spätlauber.

By now, I was on the alert. A Google search of Uttwiler Spätlauber threw up over 30o references and not one of them was botanical. In fact, they ALL refer to the invention of a new skincare ingredient. Uttwiler Spätlauber lives only in the imagination of Dr Goldfaden and the cosmetic industry.

Interestingly, searching on terms such as 'vegetal stem cells', 'fruit' stem cells or 'apple stem cells' is even less, ahem, fruitful. And, once more, references go back to cosmetics and a company called Emerge that supposedly invented a process for extracting stem cells from "rare Swiss apples" called PhytoCellTec.

The whole thing is hooey and has as about as much basis in reality as that other Swiss apple myth, the legend of William Tell.

Ingredients in Emerge Stem Cell Swiss Apple Serum ($120)

Purified Water, (PhytoCellTec™ Stem Cell) Malus Domestica, Glycerin, Lecithin, Phenoxyethanol Collagen, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-3, (Matrixyl 3000), Squalane, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Propylene Glycol, Benzylalcohol, Dehydroacetic Acid.

Ingredients in Goldfaden Stem Cell Serum ($75)

Chondrus Crispus (Seaweed) Extract, Purified Water, Hyaluronic Acid, Malus Domestica Fruit Cell Culture, Xanthan Gum, Clycerin, Lecithin, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Red Tea Extract.

Updates: Five Best with plant stem cells

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A year ago I predicted that stem cells from fruits and vegetables would start to appear in anti-wrinkle potions. Capturing human stem cells is controversial and those from animals are somehow unappealing (and carry risk of infection). Enter vegetal stem cells.

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Surprisingly, it all started with an apple. A dull, sour apple, almost extinct, living quietly on a rare tree in a remote part of Switzerland.

Now, that humble apple is a big celebrity, with fans such as Michelle Obama, Helen Mirren and Jennifer Lopez.

It spends its time among beautiful people in swanky department stores. Why? Because this Swiss fruit is at the centre of what's being described as a 'revolution' in anti-ageing treatments.

It's claimed this ingredient can reverse skin ageing, increase the lifespan of human cells, and may even make it possible to grow back lost hair.

I'm used to hyperbole in the beauty world, but this new development is really getting the cosmetics companies excited.

They believe they have the science to prove that plant stem cells can be incorporated in skin creams, will interact with human skin stem cells, and can eliminate wrinkles and make skin look younger.

Human stem cells can turn into any part of the body and so are big news in medical research, but the law bans the use of embryonic stem cells in cosmetics.

So, instead, researchers turned their attention to plants. These also produce stem cells throughout their lives, both to grow, as a response to an injury.

The biggest 'star' in the stem cell world is called PhytoCellTec Malus Domestica.

Derived from a rare 18th-century species of apple tree, the Uttwiler Spatlauber, it first attracted attention, as it could be kept for months without withering.

In a paper published in the cosmetics industry journal, the Journal Of Applied Sciences, Swiss scientists noted: 'These apples must have especially long-living tissue stem cells. Could we profit from these stem cells?

'What would be the effect of an extract of such long-living stem cells on the skin?'

To find out, scientists cut pieces of the apple, which responded by forming a protective 'callous' made of plant stem cells on the surface.

These cells were grown in a liquid culture and put to the test. A solution containing one per cent apple stem cells seemed to boost cell production of human stem cells by a staggering 80per cent.

The human cells were irradiated with UV light, which killed 50 per cent of those grown in a normal liquid culture, but hardly any of those protected by the apple stem cells.

Also, hair follicles kept in a solution of Uttwiler Spatlauber continued to grow for 18 days, while those kept in a typical solution died after 14.

And, in tests on 20 women, applying a cream enriched with 2 per cent PhytoCell-Tec Malus Domestica twice a day reduced crows feet by eight per cent after a fortnight, and 15 per cent after four weeks.

Skincare companies rushed to include it in their ranges. But it doesn't come cheap. 3Lab, from Urban Retreat in Harrods and Selfridges, offers its Super 'h' Serum, £215, and M cream, £185.

Both contain apple stem cells, as does the company's £70 skin firming and lifting Super C Serum. Lancome has Absolue Precious Cells, £145 for 50ml, an anti-ageing cream it claims will 'help restore the potential of skin stem cells and bring back the skin of youth'.

Emerge Swiss Apple Stem Cell Serum (available online for £72), allegedly 'promotes the selfrenewal capacity of the skin' and in the U.S., youth-hungry celebs such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Julianne Moore all feted the launch of Cellular Lifting Serum from Clark's Botanicals, is £355 for just 30ml.

But, Professor Liam Dolan, the Sheradian Professor of Botany at Oxford University, who specialises in studying plant cells, is sceptical about the new ingredient. 'I don't see how plant stem cells could interact with human stem cells in this way,' he says.

But Dr Daniel Schmid, research director of Mibelle Biochemistry, the Swiss lab which developed PhytoCellTec Malus Domestica, insists that his study shows his apple stem cell extracts have been 'shown to improve the maintenance of the stem cells characteristics of epidermal stem cells.'

He admits: 'The anti-ageing benefit for the skin after topical application could not be confirmed in a clinical trial.'

But, he adds: 'The extract offers a promise of real skin rejuvenation.'

Further studies would be needed to prove that plant stem cells truly are as effective on faces as they are in the lab, but in our search for the elixir of youth, a new cream that can peel away the years, dreams tend to win over doubts, and this little apple looks as if it's going to bask in the limelight a little longer yet.

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Could the extract from a rare Swiss apple REALLY get rid of your wrinkles?

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Surprisingly, it all started with an apple. A dull, sour apple, almost extinct, living quietly on a rare tree in a remote part of Switzerland. Now, that humble apple is a big celebrity, with fans such as Michelle Obama, Helen Mirren and Jennifer Lopez. It spends its time among beautiful people in swanky department stores.