Skincare After 45 • Sponsored Content
At 51 I Caught My Own Jawline in the Front Camera and Nearly Dropped the Phone. Then I Found Out What My Skin Was Running Out Of.
Updated: September 2026 · 9 min read
My daughter FaceTimed me while I was unloading the dishwasher. I grabbed the phone off the counter with the camera pointing up at my chin, and for a second I saw my own jawline from underneath.
I finished the call and went straight to the bathroom mirror. The soft edge under my chin. A crease beside my mouth that stayed put after I stopped smiling. Crow's feet that used to show up only when I laughed. My neck, which I decided to deal with another day.
I was 51 with a cabinet full of creams, and a couple of them cost more than my phone bill. They made my face feel lovely for about an hour, and by lunch I looked tired again.
What finally explained it was a molecule I had never heard of. Your skin cells use it to run their daily repair work, and after about 25 your levels start dropping. With less of it, that repair work slows down and skin slowly loses its firmness and bounce.
So I went looking for a serum that puts it straight back onto the skin. The one I landed on comes in a 30 ml dropper bottle, and I use three drops on my face morning and night, plus one more for my neck.
I've used it every morning and every night for two months now, and I kept notes.
The Molecule My Skin Started Losing at 25 Was Printed Right on the Bottle
That molecule is NAD+. It's on the front of the label, and the ingredient list spells it out in full: Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide.
I checked every jar in my cabinet that night. Eleven products, eleven ingredient lists, zero NAD+.
The serum is thin and soaks in fast, which matters at 6:45 in the morning when I'm also hunting for my car keys.
Next to the NAD+ on that list are Collagen Extract and Glycerin. The whole ingredient list is seven items long, and I read it in about ten seconds.
I started the next morning and haven't skipped a day since.
I Pressed It Into My Jawline and Neck, Right Where the Softening Had Started
This was the part I cared about most.
For me the softening showed up along my jaw first, then my neck. The front camera found it every single time.
Collagen Extract handles this part. It helps bring back the look of the volume and density your skin loses a little more of every year.
With consistent use, the areas that have started to look deflated look lifted and fuller again. For me that was the corners of my jaw, somewhere around week three.
The directions say face and neck, so my fourth drop always goes on my neck.
In a consumer self-assessment study on the serum, users reported a 33.1% improvement in skin elasticity and firmness after 2 weeks.
The Lines That Stayed After I Stopped Smiling Were the Ones I Watched
I did a test in the mirror first. Smile big, relax your face, and watch what stays behind.
For me it was the crow's feet, plus one line between my eyebrows that made me look annoyed in every photo from my niece's wedding.
One review I read put it simply: "Vitro's NAD+ Serum smoothed my crow's feet, plumped my eyes, and gave my skin a glow."
Those two lines became my test.
NAD+ fuels the renewal work your skin cells do every day, and that work slows down with age. Used morning and night, the serum visibly softens the look of expression lines, crow's feet and forehead creases.
In the same consumer study, users reported a 29.4% visible reduction in fine lines and wrinkles and 27.6% smoother skin texture, both after 2 weeks.
Of all my lines, the one between my brows changed first. Somewhere in the second week it stopped looking carved in.
My sister asked if I'd switched foundations.
My 3pm Mirror Check Got a Lot Less Depressing
Dry skin makes every line look deeper.
By mid-afternoon my face used to look tired and a little papery, even on days I felt fine. Concealer settled into the creases under my eyes and stayed there.
The last of the three is the plain one: Glycerin. It pulls moisture into the skin and holds on to it, so you get that plump, dewy look and it lasts through the day.
In the consumer study, users reported a 36.8% improvement in skin hydration after the first application. One application.
I felt it the first morning. My face still felt comfortable at lunchtime, which hadn't happened in years.
Fine lines look softer on well-hydrated skin.
These days I switch the front camera on in the car park at 3pm, on purpose.
It Took Less Time Than Brushing My Teeth, So I Actually Kept Doing It
Every routine I ever quit was too long.
The seven-step one from a magazine lasted nine days. The one with the jade roller lasted a weekend.
This one is four drops after I wash my face in the morning and four more before bed, pressed in with my fingertips. It takes under a minute, and it works as the last step or layered with a serum you already like.
The results build on each other the longer you keep going, which only helps if you actually keep going.
Firmness and fine lines usually start to look different somewhere between weeks 2 and 4, and the glow comes along with them.
In the consumer study, users also reported a 24.9% improvement in overall skin radiance after 2 weeks.
It's rated 4.8 out of 5, and after two months of using it myself, I get why.
* Sunscreen and a gentle cleanser still come first. This is the serum I add on top, and the one I keep recommending to friends.
Three Drops, Morning and Night. This Is Everything in the Bottle.
Vitro EGF NAD+ Firming Serum is one bottle for women who want firmer, smoother-looking skin from a simple routine.
How to use it:
Wash your face, press 3 to 4 drops into your face and neck, and massage until it's fully absorbed. Do it morning and night.
❌ No ten-step routine.
❌ No rollers, devices or extra tools.
❌ No harsh or irritating ingredients.
❌ No rinsing off.
Seven ingredients in total. Three of them do most of the work:
NAD+, listed as Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide, helps crow's feet and forehead creases look softer.
Collagen Extract helps bring back the look of lost volume and plumpness, so softened areas look lifted and fuller with consistent use.
Glycerin draws moisture into the skin and keeps it there, so skin stays soft and dewy all day.
The rest of the list is Aqua, 1,2-Hexanediol, Carbomer and Arginine.
✔ Three drops for your face, one more for your neck.
✔ Morning and night.
✔ Works alone or layered with your other serums.
✔ Rated 4.8 out of 5.
✔ Tracked shipping on every order.
Give it a few weeks.
After the first application, skin feels more hydrated. The consumer study measured a 36.8% improvement at that point.
By the end of week one, many users notice their skin feels softer.
Around week two, fine lines and firmness start to look different. The other study numbers above were measured at the two-week mark.
Between weeks 2 and 4, the changes in firmness, fine lines and glow get easy to see in the mirror, and the front camera gets a lot less scary.
It has sold out several times, so order it straight from the official Vitro shop below. Buying there is the only way to be sure you're getting the genuine serum.
This product is a cosmetic. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Individual results may vary. Percentages come from a consumer self-perception study.
For external use only. If you use prescription skincare or have very sensitive skin, check with your dermatologist before adding a new serum, and stop using it if irritation occurs.
