The beautiful science of the cosmetics companies

© Icqurimage 2005

In the Ancient World cosmetics were central to Egyptian health and hygiene. Oils and lotions were used to protect the skin against the baking Egyptian sun and dry winds. The Ancient Egyptians were the first to use a cleansing cream made from saponin, an extract of the soapwort plant. To this they added animal or vegetable oil mixed together with powered lime and fragrant oils, an emulsion which was used to cleanse the household as well as for bathing. Egyptians bathed themselves ritually with perfumed oils soaked with scented wood to prevent their skin from dehydrating in the dry, arid Egyptian climate. Skin care was an essential part of Egyptian daily life, health and grooming.

In ancient India, rather than soap women used a turmeric-based germicidal cream to treat their skin which was made from gram flour or wheat husk mixed with milk. Women in ancient Greece painted their cheeks with herbal pastes made from crushed berries and seeds. At one time, a cultural preference for a white complexion led to the application of lead and mercury to the skin. Although this early beauty treatment remained in vogue for generations it was the Greek physician Galen who first recognized the premature aging that was caused by these heavy metals. Galen even devised an original cold cream containing beeswax, olive oil and rose water, and rather unappetisingly recommended finely ground garden snails as an effective moisturizer. It wasn't however finally until the beginning of the 19th century that the relatively less harmful zinc oxide was found to make a better foundation for a face powder than lead or mercury. Cosmetology is certainly one science that has advanced unrecognisably over the centuries.

The biology of beauty

From a biologist’s point of view the face serves as a social indicator of our social success, health, reproductive fitness and mood. Adolescence is signalled by acne; health by a glowing radiance; anxiety and stress by a flushing of the cheeks; shock or ill health by a whitened complexion; and aging by the onset of wrinkles and a loss of the skin’s elasticity. Small wonder that to look our best, and to help us to succeed in our sexual and social lives, that our skin has to appear vibrant and healthy.

The aging of the skin is of course of major interest to the cosmetics industry. Our skin ages as a consequence of exposure to ultraviolet light, environmental stress, and of course the natural processes of aging. The major changes in the skin’s properties that result of aging are a loss of elasticity, a thinning of the regenerative layers, and a deterioration of its role as a protective surface - that is to say its resistance to infection, ultraviolet light and mechanical damage. These changes begin in our twenties and continue until the end of our lives. The rate at which the skin ages does have an inherited component, but is principally determined by how much your skin is exposed to sunlight and how stressful your life is. As the skin ages it wrinkles and loses smoothness, becoming blotchy, drier, thinner and more fragile. The reduction in skin quality results from both a decrease in the collagen content of the dermal layer, and from a reduction in the rate at which new cells are formed to replace the older surface cells which are continuously shed.

Whilst our skin’s inherent & natural aging process is believed to be genetically programmed, environmental aging caused by exposure to ultraviolet light, stress, and other dietary and chemical influences has become the focus of intensive research. Aging of the skin is greatly accelerate by the production of so-called free radicals, or reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are generated in the skin as a result of exposure to stress, ultraviolet light and some chemicals. This explains the great interest of the cosmetics industry in antioxidants and other ROS ‘scavengers’ which 'mop up' these short-lived free radicals in the skin before they can do much damage. By 2005 the annual consumption of antioxidants within the American market is expected to rise to $370 million, with top cosmetics companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, Beiersdorf, L'Oréal, Avon and Estée Lauder leading the bulk buyers.

The scientific evidence supporting the use of antioxidants in the prevention and delay of aging is well-founded, and was developed by cosmetics firms in the sixties when vitamin E was first used in skin creams. In fact the cosmetics companies realised well before most scientists that many substances including oils, fats, vitamins, chemicals, alcohol and certain drugs are efficiently absorbed into the bloodstream through the skin. After generations of research a bewildering range of natural antioxidants has become available, including ubiquinone (coenzyme Q10), green tea extract, and superoxide dismutase. Some of these may be taken orally, whilst some may be applied as creams or lotions on the skin.

Antioxidants are of course not the only active ingredient to be found in skin creams or beauty treatments. It was not until recently that the FDA officially authorised the use of botox (botulinum toxin A) for the treatment of unsightly facial furrows. This event marked a sea change for the cosmetics industry. In a single sweep the cosmetics industry had become a legitimate part of the drug industry, and the science of beauty had gained the official stamp of approval. Meanwhile other cosmetics companies have been delving deeply into botanical tomes in search of new and exciting herbal skin treatments. Kojic acid, an extract from a jealously guarded plant, has been found to inhibit tyrosinase, an enzyme which is involved in the production of the skin pigment melanin, and is employed as a ‘skin-lightening agent'. So is hydroquinone, another inhibitor of the tyrosinase enzyme which converts the amino acid tyrosine into the dark skin pigment melanin as part of the tanning process. The use of such agents might set the alarm bells ringing, especially given that melanin is most effective in absorbing UV light and free radicals, and plays a key role in preventing ROS-induced aging and skin cancer. However some additives such as arbutin, an extract of the bearberry plant, are claimed to have both tyrosinase and ROS scavenging properties - so now it may be possible to lighten the skin at the same time as preventing the associated risk of skin cancer with one and the same treatment.

Other popular ingredients within anti-aging skin creams include collagenase inhibitors, which are thought to prevent the skin from losing its elasticity, and mixtures of hyaluronic acid (HLA) and collagen which encourage new skin growth. Given the lucrative nature of the market, the ingredients of many new treatments are shrouded in secrecy. The company Cheladerm has recently developed a Photoprotective Iron Chelator Technology (PICT) to reduce the concentration of iron (Fe3+) ions in the skin which are believed to be responsible for increasing the production of aggressive and damaging OH radicals. There have been two other major innovations in skin-care worthy of note. Alpha-hydroxy acids ‘dissolve’ the connective tissue matrix which retains dead cells on the surface of the skin, and ‘stabilized’ forms of oxygen serve to clean out the bacteria from blocked skin pores which cause acne.

Technology for the delivery of new products to the skin has also advanced of late. The 'science' of liposomes, tiny spheres of fats which ferry an internal cargo across the skin, has increased the number of potential treatments which may be employed, allowing the delivery of active ingredients which once could not have crossed the skin’s outer layer. Liposomes have been used to deliver a range of substances from proteins to 'Cellulate', a stimulant of fat breakdown, to subcutaneous skin layers. Liposome technology may yet prove an effective treatment in the repair of UV-induced DNA damage within skin cells, and as far as liposome technology is concerned, the potential development of new products is seemingly limitless.

As the sciences of medicine and plant chemistry continue their rapid advance the number of potential new products available to the cosmetics industry will continue to increase. New tissue culture techniques and stem cell technology will soon allow skin grafts to replace old, warn or cancerous tissue, making face lifts a thing of the past. Liposome treatments will repair skin damaged by UV light, and will also be used to stimulate the growth of new layers of skin tissue. Within the foreseeable future new sun creams will lighten the skin whilst protecting against UV rays, in addition to new creams which accelerate the tanning process. There is little doubt that many of these technologies are genuinely effective, proving that the cosmetic firms by and large are not in the ‘snake oil’ industry. In such a rich market it pays to invest in beautiful science.

Rhodri J Walters Ph.D., NYAS.
Cellscience Ltd.