Retinol Has a Skin Dehydrating Effect That Can Be Improved by a Mixture of Water-Soluble Polysaccharides

James V Gruber,Jed Riemer,Venera Stojkoska

doi:10.3390/cosmetics7040080

Abstract

It is common that retinoids used in skincare can cause skin dryness, irritation and redness which is a complaint for the use of these molecules in skincare formulations. Objective: to investigate the influence of a mixture of polysaccharides to improve retinol-based formulations in a 12-day inner volar forearm study. Methods: in total, 22 inner volar forearms were treated over a 12-day topical application of a Placebo formulation containing 0.5% retinol verses a formulation containing 0.5% retinol and 3.0% of a complex of polysaccharides. Application occurred 2X/day in the morning and evening. Skin testing included barrier disruption, erythema, and skin hydration. After a 3-day regression of treatment, skin hydration was measured again. Results: the 0.5% retinol Placebo formulation showed a significant impact on skin dehydration compared to untreated control or polysaccharide-treated areas. The formulation containing retinol and 3.0% of the polysaccharides, maintained skin hydration levels comparable to the untreated control. Neither formulation had a statistically significant impact on skin erythema or barrier disruption. After the 3-day regression, the polysaccharide mixture continued to demonstrate significant moisturization benefits superior to the untreated and active-treated sites. Conclusions: a mixture of polysaccharides was able to mitigate the short-term skin drying effects of retinol and continued to moisturize the skin after a 3-Day regression.

Highlights

Trans-retinoic acid, known as tretinoin, is a staple ingredient for people suffering from severe acne and other skin-related maladies [1,2,3]
This study examined the impact of formulations containing 0.5% retinol to see how the formulations impacted skin hydration, skin barrier function and skin redness over a 12-day application timeframe with product application 2X/day
Retinol did prove to be very drying to the skin, a condition which upon longer application periods might begin to lead to some barrier disruption and skin irritation

Summary

Introduction

Trans-retinoic acid, known as tretinoin, is a staple ingredient for people suffering from severe acne and other skin-related maladies [1,2,3]. As the acid form, retinoic acid is a very aggressive skin exfoliating agent that has interesting skin-improving benefits. These include smoothing of the skin’s stratum corneum and thickening of the skin’s epidermis as well as effective restructuring of the underlying dermal and epidermal matrix proteins such as elastin and collagen. Because retinoic acid is a known teratogen, its use is tightly controlled, and it can only be purchased with a doctor’s prescription. Even milder forms of retinol are known, such as retinol esters like the very popular retinyl palmitate, that are much milder, do not share the teratogenic aspects of retinoic acid and can be sold in basic skin care products without a doctor’s prescription. As one moves from retinoic acid, to retinol and to more milder forms such as retinyl

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