Environmental dew point and skin and lip weathering

Abstract

Xerosis represents a physiological response of the stratum corneum (SC) to environmental threats. The influence of the environmental dew point (DP) is not fully understood. This parameter is the air temperature at which the relative humidity is maximum. This study aimed to assess the relationship between the environmental DP and the water-holding capacity of the skin and lower lip vermilion. For comparison, SC property was evaluated after occlusive application of cooled and uncooled hydrogel pads. Electrometric measurements using a dermal phase meter (DPM) device were performed on the back of the hands, the cheeks and the lower lip of 40 healthy menopausal women. Assessments were performed in the outdoor conditions during winter and spring. The same measurements were recorded after hydrogel pads, at room temperature or cooled to 4 degrees C, were placed for 15 min on the test sites. The environmental DP was recorded at each evaluation time. The SC water-holding capacity was discretely influenced by the DP. In the open-air environmental conditions, a positive linear relationship was found on the cheeks between the DP and DPM values. The relationship was weaker on the lips. Conversely, a consistent increase in DPM values was recorded immediately after removal of the cooled and uncooled hydrogel pads. The observations made in the open-air testing conditions are consistent with the predicted events following the Arrhenius law. By contrast, the combination of cooling and occlusion by the hydrogel pads is responsible for the reverse effect on the SC.