Consumers are more and more demanding about cosmetic products in terms of efficacy, quality and sustainability. Therefore, accurate and reliable tests are crucial to reinsure consumers and answer to their requests because one thing is sure from now : innovation is driven by them !
Even if clinical trials are one of the required steps of product development, determining prior efficacy testing is important. It allows to be more precise about the volunteers selection and so more economic and accurate.
Another point is important to discuss : the alternative models to use in order to avoid animal testing. Despite innovative cell culture techniques and 3D skin models development, it remains challenging to correlate and extrapolate in vitro results to real-life benefits of cosmetic products. 3D reconstructed skin models are great but do not contain physiologically relevant extracullar matrix and immune cells. Hence, they are not totally able to mimick living conditions. At this point, ex vivo skin explants are an experimental model the most fitted to reproduce skin physiology, especially to assess topical products.
BioMeca® uses human skin explants from abdominoplasties to evaluate several cosmetic claims. Here, we will explain our latest ex vivo screening used to measure skin firmness after topical application of active ingredients (in solutions), formulations and finished products (creams, lotions, serums).
This experiment is based on a biophysical approach using Atomic Force Microscopy. It allows us to assess tissue homeostasis in structural and mechanical terms (qualitative and quantitative study).
The near-reality ex vivo screening by BioMeca uses the force-indentation principle where a fine tip meets the biological sample and a system records its deformation. Thanks to this record, we measure the elastic modulus, meaning measurements of the stiffness and firmness, characteristics altered by aging and external environmental factors.
As the firmness of the skin is its ability to resist deformation and the skin elasticity is its ability to return to its natural state, we can claim softness effect in a very short time (5 working days for 5 to 10 products).
Biomeca
Céline Paillier
Business Development Director
04 81 91 31 33
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