What We’re Learning from the Man Who Refuses to Age

Depending on what news you watch or what your social media algorithms look like, you might or might not be familiar with Bryan Johnson. Johnson is an American entrepreneur who has embarked on a mission over the past few years (and ongoing) called Project Blueprint to essentially turn himself into a human experiment for anti-aging. His ultimate goal is to see how long he can extend his life, and he’s pulling out all the stops to do it.

Johnson has built a cutting-edge team of multidisciplinary scientists who analyze numerous biomarkers and have worked with him to build an extremely rigid and ever-evolving health and wellness protocol to de-age him in every way, covering every body system and aspect of his health. That includes his skin, and of course, that’s the area I’m most interested in. Johnson started this project in the fall of 2021, and now that he’s nearly four years in, let’s take a look at what he and his team have learned so far.

How is Bryan Johnson’s Skin De-Aging Going?

When Johnson began his Blueprint journey, his skin had the worst score among all of his biomarker tests. Though he was 44 at the time, his biomarkers showed that his skin’s biological age was 64, and he was in the 98^th percentile when it came to skin damage (in other words, he had more damaged skin than 97% of people). Now, nearly four years later, he has de-aged his skin to a biological age of 37-42.

So, What Has Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint Found for Skin De-Aging?

This is the question you really want to know – how did Johnson take more than 20 years off of his skin, and can you do the same? Fortunately for us, Johnson documents his habits and his protocols thoroughly, and these are the key takeaways and strategies he uses. It’s a combination of lifestyle habits, a daily skin care regimen, and on the more niche or extensive side, some prescriptions and professional skin treatments. Here’s a look at what he’s done to save his skin in the past few years.

Daily Skin Care Routine

One of the most fascinating things about Bryan Johnson’s skin care with Project Blueprint is that frankly, most of it is pretty simple and common sense. But unlike most of us (myself included), Johnson is extremely consistent and regimented with his skin care because it’s all tracked by his team. If nothing else, Project Blueprint shows us what a powerful difference it makes when you’re consistent.

Johnson’s daily skin care includes rather commonplace products:

• Body skin care:
  • Body wash
  • Body moisturizer
  • Sunscreen
• Facial skin care:
  • Face wash
  • Vitamin C serum
  • Retinol
  • Moisturizer
  • Sunscreen
  • Face cream

A key takeaway from Project Blueprint is that you don’t need a lineup of a dozen skin care products to revitalize your skin and optimize your skin health. The key is quality products and consistent use. Find essentials that work well for your particular skin, like a gentle facial cleanser, a rich vitamin C serum, or a niacinamide cream.

Lifestyle Habits

Like Johnson’s skin care routine, his lifestyle habits to rejuvenate and protect his skin are largely common-sense measures that dermatologists and skin care experts have long recommended. They include:

• Get some sunlight in the early mornings and late afternoons or early evenings, but keep out of the sun when the UV index is at its highest, which is between 10am and 4pm.
• For times when you are outside during those peak UV hours, protect your skin with mineral sunscreen, clothing, a hat, or a UV-blocking umbrella. You can also use UV window tint which blocks 99% of UV light.
• Get plenty of sleep, which gives your body time to refresh and repair your skin.
• Eat a healthy diet that has richly balanced nutrients and steer clear of junk food and foods that are fried or highly processed.

None of these habits are revolutionary, but you might not have realized how much your skin is affected by things like diet and sleep. Regardless, all of these are things that nearly everyone can follow easily.

There is one additional habit Johnson uses for his skin that isn’t quite as easily accessible: red light therapy. He does daily six-minute sessions for his full body, which is meant to improve collagen production, mitochondrial health, and healing.

Supplements and Medications

Bryan Johnson’s protocol makes it clear that your skin’s health is about so much more than what you put on your skin. It’s affected by what you take in as well, and in addition to having a very curated and intentional diet, Johnson takes a few supplements to enhance his skin’s health:

• Collagen peptides: Johnson takes in 20 to 30 grams daily
• Niacinamide: there are 15mg per day in Johnson’s protocol
• Hyaluronic acid: Johnson takes in 120mg per day

In addition to these supplements, Johnson also microdoses Accutane, a prescription medication that’s typically used for acne. He takes 40mg per week (the typical dose is 40 to 80mg per day). He does note, though, that a retinol serum can have many of the same benefits.

Skin Treatments

On Johnson’s quest to turn back time on his skin, he has also used certain professional skin treatments and therapies. These include:

• Tixel, a minimally invasive treatment that delivers targeted warmth into your skin to stimulate collagen production
• Sofwave, a noninvasive skin firming treatment that uses ultrasound energy
• Injections of Sculptra, a dermal filler that stimulates collagen production
• Platelet-rich fibrin or PRF, which uses growth factors within your own blood to stimulate collagen and rejuvenation

A Blueprint That Continues to Grow

Project Blueprint is a fascinating endeavor that’s still ongoing. While Johnson’s team has already found evidence of how to better revitalize your skin and repair skin damage and aging, the quest for the perfect skin care routine continues, and I’ll be watching to see what the team finds. In the meantime, though, the takeaways above are a fantastic place to start if you’re looking to take a few years off your own skin.