Using methods such as confocal Raman spectroscopy to undertake in vivo assessments of the skin can provide cosmetics companies with a much more accurate picture, says Dr Jonathan Crowther
How many times have you woken up in the morning and known from that moment that you were going to have a ‘good skin’ or a ‘bad skin’ day? As human beings we are constantly exposed to the quirks and foibles of our skin and can easily spot these good and bad days. However when it comes to understanding specifically what it is about the skin that differs day to day, that is a much more complicated matter.
With the desire to understand how the skin works in greater detail, a variety of instrumental methods have been developed over the years to look at its widely differing aspects, such as moisturisation, sebum levels, topography and firmness. However, very often these methods are either measuring the surface properties of the stratum corneum (SC) or the bulk properties of a larger part of the skin and it has proven extremely difficult to obtain a true visualisation of what is going on within the skin as a result of either cosmetic product usage or general day to day exposure of the skin to the elements.
As consumers become more and more knowledgeable about the products they use, they want to know that the claims cosmetics companies make are true. After all, they are investing time and money in the use of them. Also, regulating bodies are constantly pushing cosmetics companies to be able to technically substantiate the claims they are making in their adverts. As a result, there is a need to more thoroughly understand the skin and how products interact with it.
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