“A little dab will do you,” was an ad slogan in a 1960s in the United States for a men’s hair product1 that, when viewed through 21st century eyes, takes on new significance. Conservation of resources has been considered good business practice but more recently has become critical. Worldwide consumption has nearly maxed out places to ship trash. Rising fuel costs have impacted consumers’ everyday choices.
Even more frightening, greenhouse gases have increased; global surface temperatures have risen, on average; and gradually, sea levels are rising.2 While these effects may not all be the result of human impact on the environment, in some backwards way, it hits us hard with a reminder: Our resources are limited, so we’d better make the best of them.
On a more uplifting note, the good news is that people care. Recycling programs, eco-friendly manufacturing and sustainability are all examples of this. The sum of all these efforts has caused a wave, shifting consumer mentality toward conserving resources.
Closer to “home,” cosmetic chemists are becoming conservationists, realizing that, by maximizing the amount of active in a product that is delivered, less active is wasted and/or needed in the first place. Wiechers et al3 introduced this formulating approach in 2004, and with technology and research advances, delivery has remained a key area of interest.
This issue of C&T magazine highlights three areas relating to delivery in personal care. Wash-on delivery of actives via a bar soap is explored on Page 45 by Durfee and Devine, while microneedles, borrowed from the medical field, are considered for personal care in Eppler’s article on Page 53. Finally, multilamellar vesicles are studied by Hough et al. on Page 59 for cleansing applications. In addition to delivery topics, this issue of C&T magazine presents the annual Sun Care Formulary on Page 67.
A Personal Note
On a personal note, I too will be conserving resources by sharing my new husband’s last name. Please update your records to reflect that my last name has changed from “Chapman” to “Grabenhofer.” Admittedly, it doesn’t conserve on syllables but it is an exciting change.
References
1. Brylcreem is a registered trademark of Combe Inc.
2. http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html#q1
3. JW Wiechers et al, Formulating for Efficacy, Cosm & Toil 119 49–62 (Mar 2004)
