ANTI-AGEING 167


Analysis of ‘The trilogy of lifting’


n Stefan Hettwer, Emina Besic Gyenge, Barbara Obermayer – Rahn, Switzerland


Wrinkle minimisation is the Holy Grail of cosmetic actives development. Since the creation of the first anti-aging formulations, the topic has been explored from every angle. The easiest way is of course to cover the skin with foundations to hide those unattractive features of skin ageing. But besides this use of camouflage, there is more which can be done. To understand how to improve or preserve the youthful appearance of the skin we need to know about its underlying biology. The skin is composed basically of three layers: the subcutaneous adipose tissue, the dermis and the epidermis, which protects the body from the environment. Wrinkles only develop in the dermis and epidermis. Because of this, it is important to keep these tissues in a juvenile state. The dermis is a very strong and resilient tissue, which is responsible for the skin’s firmness and elasticity as well as its hydration. You can think of it in terms of a piece of leather as that is what it actually is; a tightly packed protein mesh consisting mainly of collagen,1 which is responsible for the firmness together with elastin, which is responsible for the elasticity. This tissue is supplemented by moisture-retaining molecules such as hyaluronic acid and proteoglycans. The epidermis is even stronger than the


dermis and is held together by a huge network of keratin that forms interconnections between the cells of the upper epidermis. It is easy to understand that the firm and elastic skin we had in our childhood


Young skin


Epidermis Basal lamina


Collagen IV/VII Dermal


collagen fibres (collagen I/III)


Figure 1: Liftonin-Xpress gives uplift to wrinkled skin using tensile forces created by a sophisticated polysaccharide film composed of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, pullulan and phycocolloids obtained from red algae. Wrinkles disappear within seconds. As this is a mechanical effect, signs of visible rejuvenation are not permanent but do last for a couple of hours.


April 2020


requires sufficient quantities of the important components and that any decrease in these, e.g. in collagen and elastin, will affect the restoring potential of the skin. You can readily observe this in real life: if you pinch the skin of a child on the back of their hand, you will see that the skin retracts immediately when you let it go. In contrast, when you do the same to a person aged 80 years and older, this can take up to a minute or even longer. Wrinkles appear at regions where the


dermal proteins collagen and elastin are less dense and where the connectivity of the dermis with the epidermis is weakened. This does not happen by chance but is the result of continuous repeated mechanical forces acting on the skin. The first mechanical forces that do this are involved in movement and as a result, the very first wrinkles we have are on the joints of our fingers and palms that are already there when we are born. So, whatever moves will cause wrinkles to develop and therefore our facial expressions will make wrinkles appear on our face sooner or later. Rahn has developed three solutions in its range to fight wrinkles using


Liftonin®


completely different approaches: 1. Liftonin-Xpress, the instant wrinkle minimiser that employs a surface-acting biopolymer blend. 2. Liftonin for alabaster-like skin is an epidermal astringent thanks to the tannins it contains while it also stabilises the dermal


Aged skin


structure by providing bioavailable silicon. 3. Liftonin-Xpert Eco, the smart and ecological collagen manager improves dermal density by delivering the perfect amount of additional youth collagen.


Instant wrinkle minimiser Instant cosmetic lifting is an attractive way of achieving fast and visible results. Liftonin- Xpress (now referred to as ‘the wrinkle minimiser’) acts on the epidermis, the outer cell layers of the skin, where wrinkles become apparent. The active ingredients are hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, pullulan and Porphyridium Cruentum Extract. The carefully adjusted blend of these polymers in the wrinkle minimiser generates a physical tightening and smoothing effect. The polymers form a three-dimensional network on the skin with powerful adhesion and cohesion effects. The result is an immediately noticeable tightening effect that lasts for hours as well as a quick and significant smoothing of wrinkles (Fig 1).2 Application of the wrinkle minimiser resulted in a significant reduction of nearly all types of wrinkles in tests. The microrelief of the skin of the hands and arms is markedly improved, the prominence of fine lines on the face is reduced and the wrinkles in the eye area and forehead are significantly minimised.


Functional ingredients and efficacy Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) HPMC is used in the cosmetics industry in emulsions, toothpastes, shampoos, soaps, creams and lotions. During the development of the wrinkle minimiser, it was a particular challenge to select the type with the best tightening properties from the various kinds of HPMCs.3


The variant


employed in the polymer matrix provides the wrinkle minimiser with outstanding performance as a wrinkle-smoothing rapid dermo-tensor.


Pullulan


Pullulan is a natural polysaccharide made of maltotriose units.4


Its chemical structure


with the α–(1→6) bonds provides pullulan PERSONAL CARE EUROPE


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