Using liquid crystals in cleansing formulations

Ulrike Marx, Torsten Krohn – Zschimmer & Schwarz, Germany

The development of personal wash formulations made a dramatic step forward during recent years. In the last century personal wash was just a step of cleaning the skin and not really seen as being a part of body care. Mildness has been an issue but more or less just under the aspect of skin irritation via protein denaturation. Moreover in focus are moisturising properties and influence on trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL). The main point is that beside mildness of cleaning the after treatment was the one seen as the “real” skin care, the repair and care function against influences of the environment and age, and damage via cleansing processes. The latter may not have been considered as such, because of the point that detailed information about structures of the skin and influences on the skin and its functions were not known that much in detail. Today we know that one of the very important points is to respect the skin’s own protective function. We know that water loss of the skin does not only mean dry skin, but may also influence skin metabolism, which may be slower in a less moisturised tissue. This can lead to increased ageing of the skin.1