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Humectants in Personal Care Formulation: A Practical Guide
Published in Randy Schueller, Perry Romanowski, Conditioning Agents for Hair and Skin, 2020
Humectants are conditioning agents that regulate water levels on the skin and hair in a distinct way. Due to their chemical nature, they are able to attract and bind water to themselves. This property is known as hygroscopicity. By utilizing this useful property, formulators have been able to incorporate humectants effectively in conditioning products for skin and hair. While there are both inorganic and organic materials which have this property, only organic ones have generally been used in cosmetic products.
Brittle Nails
Published in Nilton Di Chiacchio, Antonella Tosti, Therapies for Nail Disorders, 2020
Applying emollients, especially those containing phospholipids, urea, and alpha hydroxy acids, significantly improves nail hydration. Humectants, such as glycerin and propylene glycol, and occlusive agents, such as lanoline and petrolatum, can also be recommended (Evidence E).3
Common Cosmetic Ingredients: Chemistry, Actions, Safety and Products
Published in Heather A.E. Benson, Michael S. Roberts, Vânia Rodrigues Leite-Silva, Kenneth A. Walters, Cosmetic Formulation, 2019
Humectants improve skin surface hydration by attracting water from the lower layers of skin and from skin care products, and holding it within the stratum corneum. Humectants bind water via the formation of hydrogen bonds between themselves and water. The water then remains bound within the humectant and is available to hydrate the stratum corneum over a longer period.
Vehicles for atopic dermatitis therapies: more than just a placebo
Published in Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 2022
Simon G. Danby, Zoe D. Draelos, Linda F. Stein Gold, Amy Cha, Bonnie Vlahos, Laraine Aikman, Paul Sanders, Dan Wu-Linhares, Michael J. Cork
Although pure ointments display good occlusion, emollient creams and gels exhibit limited occlusive effects due to the reduction in waxes and oils (52). In these cases, humectants are often added to improve their moisturizing effects. When applied to the skin they help replenish the low levels of NMF associated with AD (Figure 2) (59). Polyols are particularly effective humectants, with glycerin (synonyms glycerol and glycerin) commonly found in emollient creams and lotions (46). Other humectants that can be found in emollients include pyrrolidine carboxylic acid, lactic acid, and urea, which are constituents of NMF in the skin. In very dry environments, humectants exhibit reduced efficacy. Under such circumstances, glycerol and urea have been found to soften the skin by inhibiting the transition of the intercellular lamellar lipids from liquid to solid crystal phase. This skin conditioning property is also associated with increased permeability, meaning humectants like glycerol and urea can be utilized in vehicles as penetration enhancers (60,61).
Trends in nanoformulations for atopic dermatitis treatment
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 2020
Estefânia Vangelie Ramos Campos, Patrícia Luiza De Freitas Proença, Lorena Doretto-Silva, Vinicius Andrade-Oliveira, Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto, Daniele Ribeiro de Araujo
Moisturizers are the most used excipients as non-pharmacological therapy for several inflammatory skin disorders by attenuating their emergency symptoms. The moisturizer formulation benefits are attributed to their composition with a variety of compounds playing different functions: i) occlusive (e.g. petrolatum, lanolin, bee wax, etc.) that forms a hydrophobic layer on the skin surface and reduces the tans-epidermal water loss (TEWL); ii) humectants (e.g. glycerin) for protecting against drying; iii) vegetable oils containing essential free fatty acids (sunflower, safflower, corn, etc.) and/or skin-lipids (e.g.ceramides and their derivatives) for restoring the skin barrier; and iv) botanical ingredients with anti-inflammatory molecules (e.g. apigenin) [18,19].
COVID-19 and dermatological personal protective equipment considerations
Published in Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, 2021
Travis S. Dowdle, Mallory Thompson, Mahmud Alkul, Jeannie M. Nguyen, Ashley L. E. Sturgeon
Basic handwashing recommendations include washing with warm water, not hot, and using fragrance-free soap followed by patting the skin dry. Between handwashing, HCWs are advised to use alcohol-based hand solutions. The various components of these solutions and their effects on the skin have been a point of discussion, as more and more HCWs complain of dry skin and hand eczema. A study conducted with 40 Brazilian HCWs compared alcohol-based hand solutions containing varying concentrations of glycerin, functioning as a humectant agent. They found that alcohol solutions containing 0.5% glycerin led to increased skin tolerance among the HCWs.21 Importantly, glycerin content should not exceed 0.5% due to decreased antimicrobial efficacy of the alcohols. In addition to these considerations regarding soap and alcohol-based sanitizers, frequent moisturizing of hands, whether intermittently during a shift or at night, can decrease dryness.22 Most moisturizing products, such as ointments, creams, and lotions, include a varying combination of humectants and occlusive emollients. Humectants, such as topical urea or propylene glycol, protect the stratum corneum by pulling water from the deeper layers of the skin. Additionally, occlusive emollients, such as beeswax, olive and soybean oils, dimethicone, lanolin, and white petrolatum, are used to prevent water loss. Together, these two moisturizing agents form a sealed barrier of hydration and can help prevent xerosis in the general population as well as irritant contact dermatitis in those with a history of atopic dermatitis.21 The AAD specifically recommends moisturizers with petrolatum due to its ability to reduce transepidermal water loss by 98%.