If you’ve been scrolling through the latest skincare trends lately, chances are you’ve come across an ingredient called PDRN aka “salmon DNA.” It sounds a little unusual at first (and definitely makes you stop and wonder what exactly you’re putting on your face!), but PDRN is quickly becoming one of the most talked about ingredients in beauty. From serums and creams to professional skin treatments, PDRN is popping up everywhere! Its claims to support the skin’s natural renewal process and leaving it looking healthier, smoother and more refreshed is very appealing. So, what exactly is PDRN, and is this the next big thing we should be using?
Margot Grant Witz is Vice President of Elizabeth Grant Skin Care and the third-generation steward of the brand founded by her grandmother, Elizabeth Grant. She’s been immersed in the skincare business since childhood being around her grandmother and mother and their conversations which eventually led her to be deeply involved in the family’s successful business. In fact, Margo champions the brand’s signature Torricelumn™ technology, and leads global brand strategy, product storytelling, and partnerships. She’s been a strong resource for us when it comes to skin health and aging well, with a focus on science-backed formulas that help people feel confident at every stage of life.
We checked in with Margot recently for more insight into PDRN especially after Elizabeth Grant launched its very own research and scienc-backed MarineDNA Collection.
So, let’s start here. What are some of the most common skincare concerns for women over 50? How do they differ from those of younger women?
Margot: When we’re younger, so many of our skin concerns tend to be about what’s happening on the surface: breakouts, oiliness, texture, maybe that first line that definitely wasn’t there last year.
After 50, the conversation changes. Skin can become drier, thinner-looking, less bouncy and sometimes more reactive to things it tolerated beautifully for years. We start to see changes in firmness, elasticity and density, and fine lines can become more established wrinkles. Hydration also becomes incredibly important because skin simply doesn’t hold onto moisture the way it once did, and when skin is dry, those lines and wrinkles can look even more pronounced.
But what I find really interesting is that women rarely say to me, “Make me look younger.” What I hear is, “My skin doesn’t feel like my skin anymore.”
That distinction matters. Wanting your wrinkles to look softer doesn’t mean you’re afraid of ageing. I don’t believe the goal of skincare should be to erase the years we’ve lived. It should be to help our skin look healthy, vibrant, smoother and cared for at every age. Growing older is inevitable. Feeling like we have to disappear while doing it absolutely should not be.
Lately, we’ve been hearing about the ingredient PDRN or salmon DNA and we’re very curious! What should consumers know?
Margot: First, let’s take away the slightly terrifying name! PDRN, or polydeoxyribonucleotide, is made up of purified DNA fragments and is commonly derived from salmon or trout sources.
The second thing consumers should understand is that topical PDRN and injectable PDRN are not the same thing. There is some really exciting research around PDRN, particularly in regenerative medicine and injectable treatments, but you cannot automatically take the results from an injection performed by a medical professional and assume a cream will produce the same result.
I think transparency is incredibly important here. PDRN is a fascinating ingredient and one I’m genuinely excited about, but skincare doesn’t need fairy tales to be exciting. A beautifully formulated topical product can help skin look smoother, more hydrated, more resilient and better supported. That is already a wonderful thing.
And because PDRN is often marine-derived, I would always encourage someone with a fish allergy, or anyone who avoids marine ingredients, to check the specific ingredient list before using it.
Oh definitely didn’t think about fish allergies. Good to know! So, can you tell us what PDRN can help with?
Margot: The easiest way I explain PDRN is to think of your skin as a construction site.
Hyaluronic acid brings the water. Vitamin C helps protect the building materials. Retinol tells the workers to pick up the pace. And PDRN is like the site manager. It helps send the message that support is needed and helps coordinate the skin-supporting response.
That is why I find it such an interesting ingredient for mature skin.
As skin changes, it can start to look thinner, drier, less plump and simply a little more tired. In topical skincare, PDRN can be incorporated into formulas designed to support the skin and improve the appearance of hydration, smoothness and resilience. And when skin looks more hydrated, plumper and smoother, lines and wrinkles can look softer and less pronounced.
But even the best site manager needs a team. That is where formulation really matters. I never believe one ingredient should have to do all the heavy lifting. PDRN becomes much more interesting when it is surrounded by ingredients that address the other things mature skin is asking for: hydration, peptides, barrier support and nourishment.
And I think we have to be careful with words like “repair” when we’re talking about cosmetics. A topical PDRN cream is not repairing your DNA. What great skincare can do is help create an environment where skin looks and feels healthier, stronger, smoother and beautifully supported.
Why is PDRN suddenly everywhere in skincare?
Margot: Beauty loves a discovery, and it loves a nickname even more!
PDRN first gained enormous attention through Korean aesthetic medicine and the popularity of injectable polynucleotide and PDRN treatments. Then social media discovered “salmon DNA,” celebrities started talking about it, and suddenly everybody wanted to know what it was.
From there, it was inevitable that the conversation would move into topical skincare.
There is real science behind PDRN, which is what makes it more interesting than a trend for trend’s sake. But the beauty industry also has a habit of finding a new hero ingredient and making it sound as though everything we used before it has suddenly stopped working.
It hasn’t.
I’m much more interested in how a new ingredient fits into a great formulation than whether it happens to be the ingredient everyone is talking about this month. Trends can introduce us to incredible ingredients. Formulation is what determines whether they actually belong in our bathroom.
Are there any issues with combining it with other active ingredients?
Margot: One of the lovely things about PDRN in topical skincare is that it can fit quite comfortably into a well-rounded routine. It can be formulated alongside ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, peptides, niacinamide and ceramides.
Where I think people get into trouble is not necessarily PDRN. It’s the idea that if one active is good, seven must be better.
We have somehow turned our bathrooms into chemistry labs! A retinoid, an acid, another exfoliant, three serums, a peel, and then we wonder why our skin is unhappy.
More is not always more in skincare. Especially as our skin changes, sometimes the smartest thing we can do is give it effective ingredients, hydration and consistency without constantly challenging it. And, again, if you have a fish allergy or avoid marine-derived ingredients, check the ingredient list of the particular PDRN product you’re considering.
How does Elizabeth Grant Skin Care incorporate PDRN into the Torricelumn line, and what makes the products stand out?
Margot: For us, PDRN was never about chasing a trend. The question was: how do we take this exciting ingredient and formulate it within what we already know about mature skin?
We use Sodium DNA, our cosmetic form of PDRN, in our Collagen Re-Inforce 3D MarineDNA Day Cream and Night Cream and in our Professional Institute DNA Booster Drops.
But PDRN isn’t standing alone. That is really important to me.
Our formulas are built around Torricelumn™, the proprietary complex that has been at the heart of Elizabeth Grant Skin Care since 1948. We then layer in complementary ingredients including peptides, hydrolyzed collagen and sodium hyaluronate. The Day Cream also includes niacinamide and has a lighter daytime texture, while the Night Cream is richer and more nourishing with ingredients including shea butter, jojoba esters and olive fruit oil. The formulas are fragrance free.
And this actually goes right back to my site-manager analogy. PDRN may be helping to direct the conversation, but it still needs the right team around it. That is what formulation is.
What makes these products stand out to me is not simply that there is PDRN on the ingredient list. Anyone can put the ingredient of the moment into a jar. It is understanding what you surround it with, why each ingredient is there, and who you are formulating it for.
For someone looking in the mirror and seeing deeper lines, wrinkles, dryness or a loss of that bounce their skin once had, the goal is to help the skin look more hydrated, plumper, smoother and more resilient, so those visible signs of ageing look softened too.
We have been listening to women and making skincare for nearly 80 years. We formulate and manufacture our products in our own facility in Toronto. So when an exciting new ingredient comes along, we don’t abandon everything we know. We ask how we can make it work harder within a formula that understands the skin we’re actually making it for.
That, to me, is the difference between following a skincare trend and actually formulating skincare.
Thank you so much again Margot! Such a treasure trove of knowledge!
*****