Juliet is the sun, according to Shakespeare’s Romeo, who also tells us that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. He might have agreed that it also would look as beautiful—and as the adage goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty also is said to only be skin deep, and to come from within.
It seems to be fitting to tie together the well-known natural symbol of love—the rose—with the idea of beauty during the same month as St. Valentine’s Day. This issue of Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine looks at several of the elements described by this historic play—the sun, the rose, nature and love.
The sun: Juliet may have been the sun in Romeo’s eyes, but at that time she probably did not know the importance of UVA protection. Recent studies have focused toward the effects of UVA on the skin. In Wakefield et al.’s, “UVA Skin Protection: Issues and New Developments,” the authors consider the instability of commonly used UV-absorbing components and describe how new materials allow better protection against UVA exposure over extended periods of use.
As a special premiere in this issue, Robert Holtz’s new testing column, “Testing Tactics,” also focuses on the sun and describes, “In Vitro Methods to Test Materials for UV Protective Capabilities.”
The rose: Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine strays from strictly topical applications of the past with an article focused on the beauty-from-within concept. “Systemic Evening Primrose Oil for Irritated Skin Care,” by Reto Muggli, PhD, examines the effects of orally administered evening primrose oil on various skin parameters. The results recommend evening primrose oil for supplemental beauty care.
Nature: Beauty often is found in or derived from nature—from a spritz of a floral fragrance on the body, to actives to reduce inflammation or pigments that enhance with color. Chaudhuri et al. have found that an extract of Phyllanthus emblica can be used in ethnic skin care formulating to inhibit melanin synthesis. In addition, Herrmann et al. look to ginger and its synergistic effects with bisabolol to produce anti-irritant effects.
Love: Love incites feelings of happiness and satisfaction, and in many ways is an essential component to well-being. The personal care industry, taking a page from the spa industry, recently has begun formulating products to this end—to induce feelings of happiness and well-being. However, in an industry focused on claims substantiation, devising methods of measuring an emotional response is a difficult task.
In the research of Eisfeld et al., however, new models are being developed to measure wellness effects. In the article, “Objective Emotional Assessment of Perceivable Wellness Effects,” the authors describe an approach based on psycho-physiological measurements of test subjects to determine their reactions to various textile samples.
This issue of Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine extends to readers an assorted bouquet of fresh topics to consider for the love of formulating.
