RoC Skincare is expanding a clinical research program that tests its Patented Clinical Retinol on identical female twins, pairing skin measurements with lifestyle data collected by Oura Ring wearables. The company frames the approach as a way to separate the effects of daily habits from those of genetics when assessing visible skin aging.
The first stage was a pilot study. RoC said it is now recruiting 30 pairs of identical twins — women aged 40 and older living in the United States — for a 12-week regimen, and expects results by mid-2027.
Twins as a natural control
Art Pellegrino, chief scientific officer at RoC Skincare, said the pilot was designed to establish whether the twin model could work at all, and that the company concluded it could. Because identical twins share DNA and much of their early environment, differences in how their skin ages are more likely to be explained by lifestyle, environment or product use than by genetics. Pellegrino described identical twins as about as close as researchers can get to a natural control.
In the pilot, according to Pellegrino, twins in the placebo group showed similar or worse signs of aging at the end of the study, while twins in the treatment group saw as much as or more than 20% improvement in four weeks. Those figures come from the company and cover the pilot cohort only.
Pellegrino said RoC kept this phase deliberately focused: at least 30 pairs of women aged 40 and over using the regimen for 12 weeks. A focused group, he said, gives cleaner data to build on.
Wearables alongside clinical grading
Participants are asked to wear an Oura Ring throughout the study. The device records biometric signals including:
- Sleep and stress levels
- Heart rate and heart rate variability
- Temperature trends
RoC's standard clinical skin measures run in parallel, covering expert grading, digital photography, corneometer readings and subject self-assessment. Pellegrino said wearables are opening an opportunity across the industry to factor in how people live when recommending skin care. Because external influences such as sun exposure and diet cannot be held identical, RoC is recruiting twins with similar levels of environmental damage where possible and tracking sleep and stress closely.
The combination is meant to allow comparisons between sisters during the study — whether weeks of poor sleep line up with lower hydration readings, for example, or whether the twin reporting less stress sees fine lines improve faster. RoC is also interested in the reverse question: whether participants who see visible skin improvement also feel less stressed.
What the expanded study will and will not show
The pilot did not attempt to quantify how much skin aging derives from genes versus lifestyle; the larger study is intended to address that question. Pellegrino said the goal is to see how much daily life, particularly sleep and stress, changes the picture when genetics is held constant.
RoC positions the program as one stage in a longer research effort on what it calls skin span — how long skin keeps looking its best. Pellegrino said the findings will shape how the company develops products for skin longevity and how it designs clinical studies going forward.