TAGS: Skin Care
Decorative Cosmetic
Kao Corporation’s Makeup Research Laboratory, Skin Care Research Laboratory, and Analytical Science Laboratory discovered that base makeup applied with "Fine Fiber Technology", which creates a light, soft, and natural layered ultra-thin membrane by spraying submicron fibers directly onto the skin surface, resulted in smoothened skin irregularities, providing coverage of spots naturally and beautifully.
Membrane Gives High Spot-covering Effect
After spraying the ultra-thin fine fiber onto skin, a cosmetic preparation is applied to it, which makes a transparent membrane that becomes integrated with the skin. This study examined in detail the structure of the coating film formed by layering a base makeup cosmetic preparation on top of that integrated membrane as well as it effects to conceal stains.
An ultra-thin fine fiber membrane was prepared on an artificial skin model with an uneven surface, then a base
makeup formulation was applied to it. The resultant coating film was then observed by SEM. It was revealed that the fine fiber membrane had a three-dimensional structure consisting of interfolded superfine fibers with a large number of small gaps between them. When applied, the powder contained in the base makeup formulation was laid over evenly and densely, and became fixed in the gaps. By use of this fine fiber membrane, a high covering effect can be achieved, even with a small amount of base makeup formulation.
A fine fiber membrane made from ultrafine fibers dyed red was formed on the model skin, then a base makeup formulation containing cosmetic powder that emits green fluorescence was applied and observations were performed with fluorescent microscopy. Those findings showed that the film covered depressions, such as skin grooves and pores, and functioned as a bridge to hold the powder in the gaps.
Coating Film Covers Skin Irregularities
As a result, when base makeup is applied to the fine fiber membrane, a coating film like a soft hammock is formed, which covers skin irregularities and keeps the powder from falling into skin grooves, providing a smooth appearance. When a base makeup cosmetic was applied onto the fine fiber membrane, spot boundaries became less conspicuous as compared to use of a base makeup formulation alone.
Furthermore, color brightness and texture were compared among bare skin, skin with only a base makeup formulation applied, and skin with the base makeup formulation applied onto a fine fiber membrane. With only the base makeup formulation, the difference in color between spots and surrounding areas was inconspicuous, while skin texture was more noticeable as compared to bare skin. This was because the base makeup accumulated in skin grooves, resulting in a large difference in amount of adhesion between the sulcus cutis and crista cutis associated with skin texture, causing an unevenness in the base makeup.
On the other hand, there was no noticeable difference in color or texture of the coating film when the base makeup was layered on the fine fiber membrane. This is considered to be because the membrane not only retains the base makeup powder uniformly but also conceals skin irregularities, thus negating differences in color and skin groove shape between spots and other areas.
In this study, Kao researchers found that a smooth skin appearance can be obtained by overlaying base makeup onto a fine fiber membrane, as the base makeup powder was shown to be evenly retained by the film to improve skin irregularities. This makes it possible to beautifully cover spots that conventional base makeup cosmetics do not conceal well. Kao intends to continue developing products that meet the needs of its customers.
Source: Kao