SCC 2009 Annual Scientific Meeting - The show must go on

Published: 25-Feb-2010

The US cosmetic scientific community traditionally gathers in December in New York for the SCC Annual Scientific Meeting & Technology Showcase. While the industry is still feeling somewhat muted many still made the 2009 meeting (10-11 December)

The US cosmetic scientific community traditionally gathers in December in New York for the SCC Annual Scientific Meeting & Technology Showcase. While the industry is still feeling somewhat muted many still made the 2009 meeting (10-11 December)

The 2009 president of the US Society of Cosmetic Chemists (SCC), Gary Agisim said during the SCC’s Annual Scientific Meeting & Technology Showcase that he was glad to see that people in the industry were not letting the economy get in the way of technology and innovation but maintaining the vision to look forward. And this about sums up the event in terms of presentation content and novelty in the poster section.

Conference sessions for December 2009 included sunscreens, modelling and data assessment, skin biology, formulation fundamentals and hair colour.

In the sunscreen section Craig Bonda (The Hallstar Company) demonstrated how ethylhexyl methoxycrylene can be more effective than the gold standard of octocrylene; for instance it quenches the visible fluorescent of BMDM and is effective at preserving retinol. Meanwhile Pascal Delrieu (Kobo Products) came up with some possible answers to forthcoming European nano regulations, from using ‘contains nanotech materials’ on the label to using a larger than 100nm particle size for a ‘non-nano’ label claim.

An interesting paper in the modelling and data assessment section came from James Hayward (Applied DNA Sciences) which discussed SigNature DNA and BioMaterial GenoTyping methodologies to authenticate personal care products and botanically sourced ingredients. DNA can be positively and consistently identified in a cosmetic formulation and on the cosmetic package and Applied DNA Sciences has also developed a new methodology that identifies the genotype of a particular ingredient in a cosmetic.

Continuing the genetic theme into skin biology, Karl Lintner (Sederma) examined the genetic response of human adipocytes to external stimuli, which he said raised more questions than it did answers. However he believes that stimuli probably enter the cell and work discreetly on the nucleus. Another currently popular topic of cosmetic science, stem cells, also came under this section. Isabelle Imbert (ISP Vincience) said that the Chromosome Passenger Complex Proteins (survivin, borealin, incenp, aurora kinase B) are tightly regulated by feedback loops to control the correct development of cellular mitosis. In particular she pointed to the importance of survivin and p63 TA isoforms expression in the maintenance of progenitor cells and said this should help in the future development of biofunctionals targeting adult epidermal stem cell protection.

Stem cells were also of interest in the poster hall. Codif (distributed in the US by Barnet) was looking at stem cells from the point of view of wound healing and helping EGF to bind more efficiently; ie helping the stem cells differentiate and go where they are most needed. Oligoalginate, produced by an enzymatic hydrolysis of natural alginate with a specific alginate lyase, is said to restore the ability of adult epidermal stem cells to divide and migrate. Nikkol (distributed by Barnet in the US and Jan Dekker in Europe) had new anti-stinging data, a key marketing claim in Japan. Lecinol S-10 is said to provide a better barrier against stinging materials.

One potential irritant is retinol but this has become a hugely important material in anti-ageing. As a nature identical alternative EMD Chemicals was proposing RonaCare Luremine. Containing dihydroxymethyl-chromone (DHMC), a plant derivative used in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine to treat skin ailments, Luremine offers the benefits of retinol but without the instability and irritation issues.

While the use of elastomers has exploded in skin care in the last couple of years some people have a problem with compatibility, said Dow Corning. In response the company has created a new type of crosspolymer with improved organic compatibility, enabling a combination of the elastomer feel with an organic concept. Meanwhile in terms of silicone for hair Dow Corning said it was focusing on individualisation of conditioning products. The company says it will also focus on hair repair this year.

Meanwhile Momentive was offering a new type of conditioner. Silsoft AX silicone is an alkyl modified aminosilicone said to combine the functionality of silicone wax with that of aminosilicone. For skin care the company is seeing which of its silicones are good for formulating with naturals. “Obviously we can’t say silicones are natural but they are excellent performers and can make the life of the formulator much easier,” commented Momentive. “Yes they have to fight with the certification people but 95% of the market would like to use naturals but are not going for the claim.”

Many in the industry are concerned about the suggestion of bioaccumulation of volatile silicones like D5 (cyclopentasiloxane). However real the concern, many are looking for alternatives and Shin-Etsu offers a range of alternate emulsifiers, film formers, diluents, powders and other products for this purpose, which it says are capable of not only replacing D5 but of opening new doors to high performance, emulsion stabilisation and perception enhancement.

Similarly Sonneborn (formerly Witco) was promoting a variety of replacement materials for D5, including Lilac [C14-22 alkane] and Iris [C12-17 alkane]. These are also claimed to offer savings over silicones.

Another performance improver, the patent pending Aromacote from Bell Flavors & Fragrances, is designed to enhance delivery of fragrance, specifically on hair and specifically via shampoo.

Returning to genes, Genemarkers is using genomics technology on skin care products and ingredients to test such parameters as safety and efficacy, which may help improve product development and market share for companies. Projects are customised and in a recent one for an organic skin care company a qRT-PCR assay was customised to measure changes in 96 genes that play important roles in skin cell function. The study showed application of the product increased regulation of several genes in the sirtuin-1 anti-ageing pathway, genes associated with antioxidant effects and extracellular matrix genes.

Visitor numbers at this 2009 event were not quite as convincing as the technology. Hitting a little over 1,000 the figures were slightly up on last year’s recessionary low but still fell short of the usual crowd. The industry may simply need to return to top form for this cosmetic calendar regular to regain its essential status, or perhaps the SCC needs to adjust its approach.

SCC AWARDS 2009

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Society of Cosmetic Chemists Award (new for 2009)

Paper SPF retention via silicone derivatives

Author Stacy A Mundschau, Corey T Cunningham & Scott W Wenzel (Kimberly-Clark)

Sponsor The Hallstar Company

Shaw Mudge Award

Paper Quantifying differences in the propensity for breakage in Afro and Caucasian hair

Author Trefor Evans (Tri Princeton)

Sponsor BASF

Allan B Black Award

Paper Why women use makeup: implication of psychological traits in makeup functions

Author Rodolphe Korichi, Delphine Pelle-De-Queral, G Gazano & A Aubert (LVMH)

Sponsor Presperse

Hans A Schaeffer Award

Paper Flow cell microscopy: a novel method to visualize product depositions on hair

Author Renee Bolden, Dirk Domaschko, Julie Lubbers, Jeni Thomas, Mark Brown, Marge Peffly, Yujun Li (Procter & Gamble)

Sponsor Arch Personal Care

Joseph P Ciaudelli Award

Paper True porosity measurement of hair: a new way to study hair damage mechanisms

Author Yin Z Hessefort, Brian T Holland & Richard W Cloud (Nalco)

Sponsor Croda

Des Goddard Award (new for 2009)

Paper Characterization of hair damage and its effect on hair color fading and the routes for color protection from shampoo stripping

Author Yan Zhou, Linda Foltis, David Moore, Ray Rigoletto, Wosson Solomon, Grisel Tumalle & Xin Qu (ISP)

Sponsor Arch Personal Care

Maison G deNavarre Medal Award

Janusz Jachowicz In recognition of his pivotal work in measuring the physical properties of hair following cosmetic product treatment, developing novel instrumentation for hair measurements and using theoretical physical science principles to predict product behaviour on hair

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