“Forever young, I want to be forever young…” says the song and it is easy to believe that most people feel like that! Being and feeling young besides having good health means looking young. That is where the whole anti-aging industry kicks in. Discovering and inventing new creams and facial treatments has become a real business.
Basics:
A wrinkle is a fold, ridge or crease in the skin. Skin wrinkles typically appear as a result of aging processes such as glycation or, temporarily, as the result of prolonged (more than a few minutes) immersion in water. [1]
Anti-aging creams are predominantly moisturiser based cosmeceutical skin care products marketed with the promise of making the consumer look younger by reducing visible wrinkles, expression lines, blemishes, pigmentation changes, discolourations and other environmentally (especially from the sun) related conditions of the skin. A comprehensive grading scale for anti-aging of the skin has been validated and categorizes skin aging as: laxity (sagging), rhytids (wrinkles), and the various categories of photoaging, including erythema (redness), dyspigmentation (brown discolorations), solar elastosis (yellowing), keratoses (abnormal growths), and poor texture. [2]
Wrinkles now have a greater social impact because people live longer. Science and hedonism overlap in the search for causes, treatments and prevention of wrinkles.
The cosmetic approach to wrinkles includes:
i
Cleansing
ii
Photoprotection
iii
Active ingredients
Active ingredients go well beyond simple moisturisers and exert a more complex activity in protecting skin from external injuries, nourishing it and removing its superficial layers. Transport systems and excipients are increasingly effective. Functional agents currently include alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), poly-AHAs, complex poly-AHAs, retinoids, fish polysaccharides, anti-enzymatic agents, antioxidants (including ascorbic acid, pycnogenol, ursolic acid, vegetable isoflavones, vitamin E, coenzyme Q10, lipoic acid, resveratorol, l-carnosine and taurine) as well as agaricic acid and various plant extracts. All are reviewed in this text. Most are topical, some can be given by mouth, even as food supplements.
Cosmetics are becoming closer to drugs in preventing and treating wrinkles. Included amongst the cosmeceuticals are the anti-wrinkle agents described herein. [3]
Oat beta-glucan is a water soluble, linear polymer of glucose consisting of 1,4 (70%) and 1,3 (30%) linkages with an average molecular weight of 1 × 106 Da. Scientific reports indicate beta-glucan is a film-forming moisturizer, a biological response modifier, and a promoter of wound healing. Our objective was to study the penetration of oat (1,4:1,3) beta-glucan in human skin models and to evaluate clinically its efficacy for reducing fine-lines and wrinkles. Penetration studies performed on human abdominal skin used a single application of 0.5% beta-glucan solution at a dose of 5 mg per cm2. The results showed that beta-glucan, despite its large molecular size, deeply penetrated the skin into the epidermis and dermis. A clinical study of 27 subjects was performed to evaluate the effects of beta-glucan on facial fine-lines and wrinkles. After 8 weeks of treatment, digital image analysis of silicone replicas indicated a significant reduction of wrinkle depth and height, and overall roughness.
This work is the first ex vivo and in vivo demonstration of the physiological effects of beta-glucan in the penetration and restructuring of human tissue. The study supports the use of oat beta-glucan in the care and maintenance of healthy skin and the cosmetic treatment of the signs of aging. [4]
Niacinamide (B3 vitamine) is known to have effectiveness on sallowness, wrinkling, red blotchiness and hyperpigmented spots in aging skin. In this study, we have evaluated the anti-wrinkle effects of a new cosmetic containing niacinamide. A randomized, placebo-controlled, split face study was performed in 30 healthy Japanese females who had wrinkles in the eye areas. The tested cosmetic containing 4% niacinamide was applied on wrinkles of one side for 8 weeks, and a control cosmetic without niacinamide on another site. Anti-wrinkle effects were evaluated with two methods: (i) doctors’ observation and photographs based on the guideline of the Japan Cosmetic Industry Association; and (ii) average roughness of skin surface (Ra value) using skin replica. This cosmetic showed marked and moderate improvement in 64% of the subjects with a significant difference as compared with the control site (P < 0.001). Wrinkle grades in the tested area significantly reduced more than pre-application (P < 0.001) and the control (P < 0.001). Reduction in Ra value on the tested area was more than pre-application (P < 0.01) and the control site (P < 0.05) with significant differences Only one subject stopped the study with minimal irritation. These results indicated that the tested lotion was well tolerated and may be an optional preparation for the treatment of wrinkles in the eye areas. [5]
The great interest in eternal youth has developed a large market for skin care products claiming anti-wrinkle effects. A high-priced luxurious anti-wrinkle cream dispensed in its original packaging and in a neutral jar, were compared with the effects from a regular moisturizing face cream in a luxurious jar.
Methods: Eighty Swedish women aged 35–64 years were randomly divided into three groups; group A treated their facial skin for 6 weeks with the expensive cream in its luxury jar, B used a regular moisturiser filled in the luxury jar, and C used the expensive cream filled in a neutral jar. Evaluation was made by the subjects, clinical evaluation by a trained observer, and measurement of skin surface relief by optical profilometry.
Results: Participants using jars A and B consumed more product than participants using jar C, and the luxury jar thus resulted in better compliance. There were no significant differences between the three groups relating to the effects on wrinkles and smoothness, nor in subject assessment of their skin feeling younger or more beautiful. Facial appearance was the same. Profilometry showed reduced surface microrelief with all products.
Conclusions: The present study conducted as a formal trial could not verify a claim of anti-wrinkle effect of a known prestigious product. Surprisingly, there was no systematic effect on subjective and objective cosmetic parameters of the luxury packaging, except a better compliance. Product appreciation by consumers may, however, be different in spontaneous use not biased by study conditions. [6]
Image analysis provides a practical method for studying the cutaneous relief and better understanding of the formation of wrinkles during ageing and their regression induced by an anti-wrinkle product. Quantimet 900° allows a fully automated analysis of 40 replicas of skin surface per cycle of 6 h. The basic principle consists of measuring shadows, generated by incident lighting at the surface of Silflo replicas. Incident light of 38° was selected for analysing crow’s feet wrinkles and 26° for the microrelief when crow’s feet were absent (slight furrows less than 50 μ-m). The following parameters were recorded: the number of wrinkles, their mean depth, and the coefficient of developed skin surface (CDSS).
An O/W emulsion containing 30% biological ingredients was applied daily on the face of 140 female subjects, aged from 20 to 57 years, during 4 weeks. Replicas were made before the first application (t0) and 24 h after the last one (t0). Data obtained with the image analysis method showed a decrease in number and depth of crow’s feet from t0, to t4 of 16% and a sharp decrease of the CDSS (30%). No modification of the microrelief was observed. These results were confirmed by measuring forehead casts with the Anaglyphographc® apparatus (a profilometric method) on the same subjects: a decrease of 40% in number and 23% in depth were recorded for the forehead wrinkles, with no modification of the microrelief.
Both image analysis and profilometry measured the effects provoked by this treatment. The CDSS, which might measure the reservoir of extensibility of the surface of the skin, should be the best parameter to demonstrate the efficiency of anti-wrinkle products. [7]
Conclusion:
Using vitamins, minerals, proteins, plant extracts and many other ingredients scientists and dermatologysts have joined to find the product which will keep us young as long as possible. Maybe the expensive products packed in their pricey containters with a luxurious design work as well as the cheap ones do, but facial products will not loose their growing popularity and interest among women and some men.
References:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrinkle
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-aging_cream
[3] ”The cosmetic treatment of wrinkles” by: C Rona, F Vailati, E Berardesca
[4] ”Anti-Wrinkle Therapy: Significant New Findings in the Non-Invasive Cosmetic Treatment of Skin Wrinkles with Beta-Glucan” by: R. Pillai, M. Redmond, J. Röding
[5] ”Evaluation of anti-wrinkle effects of a novel cosmetic containing niacinamide” by: Akira KAWADA1, Natsuko KONISHI1, Naoki OISO1, Shigeru KAWARA1, Akira DATE
[6] ”Facial anti-wrinkle cream: influence of product presentation on effectiveness: a randomized and controlled study” by: Marie Lodén, Izabela Buraczewska, Karin Halvarsson
[7] ”Evaluation of anti-wrinkle effects on humans” by: P. Corcuff, F. Chatenay, A. Brun
Special thanks goes to http://www.cosmosclinic.com.au/ for topic “Anti-Wrinkle treatments” suggestion
