Cleansing Formulations That Respect Skin Barrier Integrity

Russel M Walters,Euen T Gunn,Guangru Mao,Sidney Hornby

doi:10.1155/2012/495917

Russel M Walters, Euen T Gunn + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/495917

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Abstract

Surfactants in skin cleansers interact with the skin in several manners. In addition to the desired benefit of providing skin hygiene, surfactants also extract skin components during cleansing and remain in the stratum corneum (SC) after rinsing. These side effects disrupt SC structure and degrade its barrier properties. Recent applications of vibrational spectroscopy and two-photon microscopy in skin research have provided molecular-level information to facilitate our understanding of the interaction between skin and surfactant. In the arena of commercial skin cleansers, technologies have been developed to produce cleansers that both cleanse and respect skin barrier. The main approach is to minimize surfactant interaction with skin through altering its solution properties. Recently, hydrophobically modified polymers (HMPs) have been introduced to create skin compatible cleansing systems. At the presence of HMP, surfactants assemble into larger, more stable structures. These structures are less likely to penetrate the skin, thereby resulting in less aggressive cleansers and the integrity of the skin barrier is maintained. In this paper, we reviewed our recent findings on surfactant and SC interactions at molecular level and provided an overview of the HM technology for developing cleansers that respect skin barrier.

Highlights

Introduction and HistoryThe general purpose for skin cleansing is to reduce sebum and exogenous contaminants and to control odors and the skin microbiome
This model was largely based on the observations that surfactant-induced irritation is positively correlated with the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of surfactant mixtures and the CMC is the upper limit of monomer concentration in a solution
stratum corneum (SC), the outermost layer of the skin, provides most of the skin’s barrier function. It is structured as stratified anucleated corneocytes embedded in an intercellular lipid matrix [20], which is mainly composed of ceramides, long-chain free fatty acids, cholesterol, and cholesterol sulfate [21,22,23,24]

Summary

Introduction and History

The general purpose for skin cleansing is to reduce sebum and exogenous contaminants and to control odors and the skin microbiome. It is desirable for a cleanser to remove unwanted exogenous lipophilic materials; the interaction between surfactants and skin is more complicated. As will be discussed later, surfactant molecules that remain in the SC likely insert into the SC lipid lamellae, which is schematically graphed in the inset of Figure 1. The inserted surfactants disrupt SC lipid structural order and cause the continual degradation of the skin barrier [4, 5]. The progress in cleansing technology has been marked by the creation of cleansing systems that better respect the skin barrier. As will be discussed later, the more recent introduction of hydrophobically modified polymers into surfactant systems allows for a new approach to creating cleansers with reduced impact to the skin barrier

Surfactant Penetration into Skin

Effects of Surfactants on Skin at Molecular Level

Creating Cleansers with Less Barrier Disruption

Findings

Conclusions