Wrinkles. No one likes them and everyone notices them – at the latest when everyone else seems to look younger. For humans, the cosmetics industry has a cache of remedies, few of which work. Plastic surgery, the most radical approach, can provide only temporary relief. A solution may be at hand, though, if at first only for plastic film. To perform their best, composite films need to be wrinkle-free, and the new “plastic surgery” method developed by polymer scientists might make them feel better about themselves. Always working in the spotlight under stress, photo resists, for example, may need a beauty treatment, too.

In a project inspired by the microelectronics industry, a team led by Edwin Chan found that by heating polyhydroxystyrene (PHS) films it could study the depth and wavelength of the film, and, relating this to elasticity and viscosity, perhaps suppress the wrinkling process or eradicate wrinkles altogether. The approach has “far-reaching implications” for polymer thin films, says Chan. For humans, he has good news, too: “Our long-term goal is to translate what we know to beauty care.” As skin is also a composite material, the idea is “not far-fetched,” he says.

Could a real fountain of youth be within reach? Perhaps, but it looks as if plastic films will get their day in the spa first.