Evaluation of skin firmness by the DynaSKIN, a novel non-contact compression device, and its use in revealing the efficacy of a skincare regimen featuring a novel anti-ageing ingredient, acetyl aspartic acid

E. M. Kearney1, C. Messaraa1, G. Grennan1, G. Koeller2, A. Mavon1 and E. Merinville1

1Oriflame Research and Development Ltd, Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland and 2Eotech, Marcoussis, France

Skin Research and Technology 2016; 0: 1–14

Background

One of the key strategies for anti-ageing in the cosmetics industry today is to target the structural changes responsible for ptosis of the skin, given its impact on age perception. Several objective and non-invasive methods are available to characterise the biomechanical properties of the skin, which are operator-dependent, involving skin contact and providing single-dimensional numerical descriptions of skin behaviour.
The research introduces the DynaSKIN, a device using non-contact mechanical pressure in combination with fringe projection to quantify and visualise the skin response in 3- dimensions. We examine the age correlation of the measurements, how they compare with the Cutometer
, and measure skin dynamics following application of a skincare regimen containing established anti-ageing ingredients.

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The DynaSKIN, in contrast to other wellestablished devices such as the Cutometer
, uses positive compressive pressure to deform the skin and test its response to mechanical force application. The instrument releases a force calibrated jet of air, close to the skin surface, that creates an indentation deformation on the skin, thus simulating the consumer’s tactile judgement of firmness.

The 3-dimensional geometry of that deformation, and how the deformation recovers back to its normal state, is determined. This measurement corresponds to the mechanical properties of the skin in terms of how well it resists a compressive force, that is its stiffness or firmness, and thus characterises the skin structure and composition. The larger the deformation, the less firm the skin is, and more aged the skin structural components. The data treat the skin as a single material, thus taking into account the three-dimensional behaviour of the viscoelastic components of the skin singularly as one unit.

In the present work, we aimed first to identify the age-dependent measurements of the DynaSKIN instrument and to establish its sensitivity
to discriminate biomechanical properties at different ages. Secondly, we compared the DynaSKIN data with a large set of Cutometer
variables. The third part of this research used the DynaSKIN to test the firming performance of an anti-ageing skincare regimen featuring acetyl aspartic acid (AAA), a novel ingredient that has previously demonstrated firming efficacy on the biomechanical properties of the cheek in a vehicle-controlled Cutometer
study (24), and an anti-ageing tripeptide complex that strengthens the dermo-epidermal junction via collagen IV production (25).

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Conclusion

The age-related changes detected here by the DynaSKIN are amongst the most specific of all the biophysical measurement techniques that
have investigated the mechanics of facial skin (28, 30), confirming the DynaSKIN as a highly reliable technique for examining the biophysical parameters of skin ageing. Operator-independent measurement, as well as the analysis of large areas of skin, allows the DynaSKIN to overcome some of the current challenges with existing methods. Building upon the traditional approaches to skin biomechanical evaluation, the action of blowing an air jet into the skin closely mimics consumer behaviour for testing skin firmness where the habit is to ‘press’ the skin. This further promotes the technique through its potential to generate consumer-relevant data, as well as opening new insights to skin behaviour that come from compression responses to complement the existing methods
in place. The DynaSKIN has successfully demonstrated measurement capability on the cheek, and this can extend to several other body sites such as the legs or arms, thus extending its relevance to several other cosmetic product targets. Finally, the three-dimensional visual representation provides a key additional output compared to the existing instrumentation that can strongly support the visual communication of product benefit to end-users. This is the first
time that skin biomechanical behaviour has been visually represented, with such high potential for communicating science to consumers.
We have also demonstrated the value of the DynaSKIN in the analysis of the impact that skincare formulations applied to facial skin have over time, through showing the firming ability of this skincare regimen on the skin.

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181. extract of Dynaskin evaluation of Skin firmness – Oriflame & Eotech .Kearney_et_al-2016-Skin_Research_and_Technology