Vitamin C and astaxanthin: Nadri Cosmetics Co. discloses a cosmetic composition having antiwrinkle and antiaging effects.1 The composition contains vitamin C or its derivatives and astaxanthin. This combination has excellent effects on fibroblast proliferation, collagen synthesis, moisturization, skin elasticity and wrinkle removal without adverse side effects. An example of a cosmetic composition having antiwrinkle and antiaging effects is characterized by containing 0.01–10% by wt of a mixture of vitamin C or its derivatives and astaxanthin in a weight ratio of 1:0.001–1:20, based on the total weight of the composition.
9-Octadecenedioic acid: Kosei Co., Ltd., discloses agents containing 9-octadecenedioic acid to inhibit or ameliorate UV-induced skin lesions.2 Thus, treatment of hairless mouse skin with a polyethylene glycol/ethyl alcohol solution of 9-octadecenedioic acid prior to UV for twice a day for 20 weeks significantly suppressed epidermal thickening, wrinkle formation, and abnormal accumulation of collagen and dermatan sulfate, which also is known as chondroitin sulfate.
Multifunctional cosmetic raw materials: Ohmori et al. report on the development of novel multifunctional cosmetic raw materials and their applications, such as polyoxyethylene/polyoxypropylene dimethyl ether (EPDME).17 EPDME is a random copolymer of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide. The structure of the obtained EPDME was confirmed by IR absorption and NMR spectra.
EPDME dissolves in water and oil. It has a high moisture-retaining effect without sticky feeling. It also has the effect of preventing and improving dry skin when applied daily. It also was found that the application of EPDME in combination with glycerol resulted in a synergistic effect on the dry skin. When EPDME was added to lipstick formulations (oily bases), a high moisture-retaining effect was found.
EPDME is a useful cosmetic ingredient that can give a good skin care effect in both water-based formulas and oil-based formulas, and its polarity can be controlled easily. Therefore, EPDME is expected to appear in various cosmetics in the near future.
