Summary
Background
Topical application of oils and oil-based formulations is common practice in skin
care for both adults and infants. Only limited knowledge however is available regarding
skin penetration and occlusive potential of oils and common methods for measuring
skin moisturization fall short when it comes to the moisturizing effect of oils.
Objective
In this study we used in vivo confocal Raman microspectroscopy to test the efficacy of paraffin oil (mineral oil)
and two vegetable oils in terms of skin penetration and occlusion. Petrolatum was
used as a positive control.
Methods
The products were applied topically on the forearms of nine volunteers and seven infants
and Raman spectra were acquired before and at 30 and 90 min following application. Depth concentration profiles for lipid and water were calculated
from the Raman spectra. Skin occlusion was assessed from the amount of stratum corneum
(SC) swelling measured from the water concentration profiles.
Results
The paraffin oil and the vegetable oils penetrate the top layers of the SC with similar
concentration profiles, a result that was confirmed both for adult and infant skin.
The three oils tested demonstrated modest SC swelling (10–20%) compared to moderate
swelling (40–60%) for petrolatum.
Conclusion
These data indicate that there is no statistical difference between the paraffin oil
and vegetable oils in terms of skin penetration and skin occlusion. The results for
petrolatum show that in vivo confocal Raman microspectroscopy is sensitive and specific enough to measure both
lipid uptake and skin occlusion events following topical application.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 12, 2010
Accepted:
November 14,
2007
Received in revised form:
November 13,
2007
Received:
September 5,
2007
Identification
Copyright
© 2007 Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
