RoC Skincare is testing its Patented Clinical Retinol in adult female identical twins, combining clinical skin measurements with lifestyle biometric data from Oura Rings. The company says the pilot study was designed to establish whether identical twins can provide a more precise way to study what drives visible skin aging.
The model relies on the fact that identical twins share DNA and much of their early environment. According to Art Pellegrino, RoC’s chief scientific officer, that shared genetic blueprint makes differences between twins harder to attribute to genetics and easier to connect to lifestyle, environment or product use. RoC describes identical twins as close to a natural control.
Pilot findings
In the pilot, RoC reports that twins in the treatment group had as much as or more than 20% improvement in four weeks, while twins in the placebo group had similar or worse signs of aging at the end of the study. The company says the pilot’s main purpose was to prove the twin model rather than to quantify how much skin aging comes from genes versus lifestyle.
That question is reserved for the expanded study. RoC is working to recruit 30 pairs of adult female identical twins aged 40 and older in the US for a 12-week regimen. The company expects results by mid-2027. Pellegrino says the focused group is intended to produce cleaner data and forms one stage in a longer research program on extending the period in which skin looks its best.
Wearables and skin measures
Participants are asked to wear an Oura Ring, a wearable device that tracks health and wellness metrics throughout the day. RoC is using it to capture variations in sleep, stress, heart rate, heart rate variability and temperature trends. The company says wearables create an opportunity to factor how people live into skincare recommendations.
Because twins cannot be guaranteed identical external influences such as sun exposure or diet, RoC says it is recruiting pairs with similar levels of environmental damage where possible and tracking sleep and stress closely during the study. With genetics held constant, the brand hopes to examine whether a twin who sleeps poorly or experiences more stress responds differently to the regimen than her sister. It also wants to see whether weeks of poor sleep line up with lower hydration readings, or whether the twin with lower stress sees fine lines improve faster. RoC is additionally interested in whether visible skin improvements might make participants feel less stressed.
The clinical skin measures include expert grading, digital photography, corneometer readings and participant self-assessment. RoC says what it learns will shape how it develops products for skin longevity and designs future clinical studies. The findings described so far are the company’s own; the larger twin study has not yet reported results.