HYGIENE
Moisturising care and hygiene go hand in hand
Dr Dominik Imfeld, Guillaume Laurent, Dr Volker Rosenberger, Silke Adamietz – DSM, Switzerland Fabrice Guillemard, Anson Zhang – DSM, Singapore
Hand hygiene is, arguably, one of the most significant aspects of consumer behaviour to have been affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Regular and thorough hand cleansing, using soap and water or an alcohol- based sanitiser, is well-known to be one of the most effective ways of protecting against viruses and infections1
and the new routine of
“Wash, Rinse, Repeat” is now widely accepted in everyday life. However, while scrupulous hand hygiene
is clearly essential in helping to control the spread of infections, it does come with some side effects, because repeated hand washing and excessive use of hand sanitiser can impair skin barrier function, resulting in dry, cracked and sore skin. This phenomenon has long been known to affect specific groups such as healthcare workers.2
However, with frequent
hand cleansing becoming an established habit throughout the population, dry skin conditions are becoming more widespread. According to Google Trends, in March 2020, there was a 5000% increase in Internet searches relating to “dry, cracked hands”, “red and dry hands” and “dry hands from over washing”.3
Moving
forward therefore, in order to maintain skin health as people adapt to new hand hygiene practices, there is going to be a growing need for cleansing and sanitising products that can also keep moisture in the skin balanced.
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Frequent hand sanitising and cleansing affects the skin barrier The balance of moisture in the skin is carefully regulated by the epidermis – in particular by its upper-most layer, the stratum corneum which protects the body against dehydration by controlling water flux and retention. The stratum corneum’s ability to maintain hydration depends on three key factors: intercellular lipids, the integrity and stacking arrangement of the corneocytes, and, just as importantly, the skin’s natural moisturising factor, or NMF. NMF is a highly effective humectant,
found exclusively in the stratum corneum and representing 20-30% of its dry weight. It both retains existing water in the skin and absorbs water from the atmosphere, allowing the outmost layers of the skin to remain hydrated despite the drying effect of the environment. However, natural moisturising factor is greatly reduced by frequent cleansing such as daily washing or hand sanitiser use. And without sufficient NMF, the skin barrier can become stiff and brittle which can interfere with the cell renewal process (up to 28 days in a healthy epidermis). Once the balance of moisture is lost, the skin is prone to developing typical signs of dryness such as scaliness, roughness, itching, stinging, and burning.
ABSTRACT
Dry skin conditions caused by regular use of alcohol-based hand sanitisers have become a widespread skin care concern for consumers in the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic. To address this, DSM has tested the efficacy of its proven moisturising skin bioactive Pentavitin® (INCI - Saccharide Isomerate) in a hand sanitiser formula with a 70% alcohol concentration. Saccharide Isomerate mimics essential molecules that are part of the skin’s natural moisturising factor, or NMF, which is significantly reduced by frequent hand cleansing and sanitising. This new study shows that when this ingredient is added to a hand sanitiser, skin hydration improves instantly.
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A skin bioactive proven to boost skin hydration Because skin’s NMF is composed of water- soluble components, it is easily washed out from the skin barrier through water contact. This is why repeated cleansing makes the skin drier. DSM’s 100% natural skin bioactive, Saccharide isomerate, has a carbohydrate complex which closely resembles that of NMF. This gives it a unique binding mechanism to the stratum corneum which ensures that it is not washed off and instead continues to strengthen the skin barrier and boost skin hydration until removed by the natural process of desquamation. In in vivo tests, 1% Saccharide Isomerate in an aqueous solution has been demonstrated to improve and strengthen skin barrier function (as shown by a 20% reduction in transepidermal water loss before and after 20 successive tape strippings following 28 days of application). As the graph in Figure 1 shows, 1%
10 0 4 week treatment
72 hours after treatment
6 days after last treatment
Figure 1: Graph illustrates the lasting improvement in signs of dry skin after four weeks of treatment with Pentavitin
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Saccharide Isomerate has also been proven to reduce the signs of dry skin by 20% after four weeks and to deliver deep skin hydration that lasts for up to 72 hours from the final application. Additionally, consumer test panels have
confirmed that the bioactive reduces flakiness and itchiness caused by dry skin and that skin becomes visibly smoother. This is best illustrated by the ‘before and after’ photos in Figure 2.
January 2021 PERSONAL CARE
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Improvement vs. control (%)
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