Motorized personal skin care implement

Abstract

A motorized personal skin care implement capable of use with a disposable, single-use, skin care pad is disclosed with a molded hook arrangement for releasably but firmly holding the pad while cleansing or treating the skin but allowing for quick removal and replacement with a fresh cleansing or treatment pad. A method of using the skin care implement and a kit containing at least one pad and the implement is also described.

1 . A skin care and/or cleansing article comprising:
 a. an electromechanical device capable of transferring vibratory, oscillatory, rubbing or rotatory motion or a combination thereof;   b. a fastener substrate having a plurality of molded or shaped elements each having a first and a second end, the elements projecting from a base at the first end and having a hook shaped second end, wherein the base is attached to the electromechanical device; and   c. a disposable pad composed of a water insoluble fibrous substrate having at least one layer of fibers with an average denier in the range of about 1 to 12, wherein said substrate contains about 0.5 to 3000% by wt. in total concentration based on the dry substrate of at least one of skin conditioning component(s), skin active agent(s), lathering surfactant(s) or a blend thereof, said component(s) being releasably associated with said substrate; said pad being attached to the fastener substrate by way of the hook shaped second end.   
   
   
       2 . The article of  claim 1  wherein said water insoluble fibrous substrate is substantially dry. 
   
   
       3 . The article of  claim 1  wherein said water insoluble fibrous substrate is substantially wet. 
   
   
       4 . The article of  claim 1  wherein a ratio of the hook height to the crook width is in the range of about 0.5 to 2.0. 
   
   
       5 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the fastener substrate has hooks placed in alternating directions, wherein said crooks are between about 0.15 and 0.5 mm in width, between about 0.5 and 1.0 mm in height and having a hook density of at least about 45 hooks/cm2. 
   
   
       6 . The article of  claim 1  wherein said fibers are woven or non-woven. 
   
   
       7 . The article of  claim 1  wherein said fibers have an average length in the range about 3 mm to 40 mm. 
   
   
       8 . The article of  claim 1  wherein said fibers are entangled, bonded, crimped, knit or woven or are characterized by a combination thereof. 
   
   
       9 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the layer is composed of cellulosic fibers, synthetic fibers or a blend thereof. 
   
   
       10 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the layer has well defined apertures having a major dimension in the range of about 1 mm to 5 mm; and a distribution frequency in the range of about 2 to 15 per linear cm. 
   
   
       11 . The article of  claim 1  further comprising a second fibrous layer attached to the at least one layer. 
   
   
       12 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the adhesive strength of said layer to the fastener substrate is in the range of about 30 g to 300 g using the adhesive test protocol. 
   
   
       13 . The article of  claim 11  wherein the adhesive strength of said second layer to the fastener substrate is in the range of about 200 g to 700 g using the adhesive test protocol. 
   
   
       14 . The article of  claim 11  wherein the second layer is selected from a fibrous layer, a sponge layer, a reticulated layer, a polymeric netted mesh layer or a combination thereof. 
   
   
       15 . The article of  claim 11  wherein said second layer is a woven or nonwoven fibrous layer with an average fiber denier in the range of about 4 to 30. 
   
   
       16 . The article of  claim 11  wherein the second layer is composed entirely of cellulosic fibers, synthetic fibers or a blend thereof. 
   
   
       17 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the pad is further characterized by a lather volume as measured by the standard lather generation test in the range of about 50 ml to 1000 ml. 
   
   
       18 . The article of  claim 1  further characterized by an engagement force required to adhere the non-woven to the hook in the range of about 1 g to 200 g to produce an adhesion force of at least 30 gms for the first layer. 
   
   
       19 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the lathering surfactant(s) is/are selected from anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants or a blend thereof. 
   
   
       20 . The article of  claim 19  wherein the anionic surfactant(s) is in the total concentration range of about 5% to 95% w/w based on the dry substrate weight, the nonionic surfactant(s) is in the total concentration range of about 5% to 50%; and the amphoteric surfactant(s) is in the total concentration range of about 5% to 95%. 
   
   
       21 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the skin conditioning component(s) in the total concentration range of about 0.01% to 50% w/w based on the dry substrate. 
   
   
       22 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the skin conditioning component(s) is/are selected from occlusive emollients and nonocclusive emollients. 
   
   
       23 . The article of  claim 1  further comprising cationic polymer(s) in the total concentration range of about 0.01% to 5% w/w based on the dry substrate weight. 
   
   
       24 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the skin active agent(s) is/are in the total concentration range of about 0.01 to 25% w/w based on the wt. of the dry substrate. 
   
   
       25 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the skin active agent(s) is/are selected from antimicrobial and antifungal actives, vitamins, anti-acne actives; anti-wrinkle, anti-skin atrophy and skin repair actives; skin barrier repair actives; non-steroidal cosmetic soothing actives; artificial tanning agents and accelerators; skin lightening actives; sunscreen actives; sebum stimulators; sebum inhibitors; anti-oxidants; protease inhibitors; skin tightening agents; anti-itch ingredients; hair growth inhibitors; 5-alpha reductase inhibitors; desquamating enzyme enhancers; anti-glycation agents; topical anesthetics, or mixtures thereof; 
   
   
       26 . A skin care system package, comprising:
 a. a plurality of disposable pads as recited in  claim 1 ;   b. an electromechanical device including the fastener substrate as recited in  claim 1  for supporting one of the plurality of disposable pads during use; and   c. a container for packaging the electromechanical device and the plurality of disposable pads.   
   
   
       27 . A skin care system kit, comprising:
 a. an electromechanical device capable of transferring vibratory, oscillatory, rubbing or rotatory motion or a combination thereof;   b. a fastener substrate having a plurality of molded or shaped elements, each element having a first and an opposed second end, the elements projecting from a base at the first end and having a hook shaped second end, wherein the base is attached to the electromechanical device;   c. at least one disposable pad composed of a water insoluble fibrous substrate having at least one layer of fibers with an average denier in the range of about 1 to 12, wherein said substrate contains about 0.5 to 3000% by wt. in total concentration based on the dry substrate of at least one of skin conditioning component(s), skin active agent(s), lathering surfactant(s) or a blend thereof, said component(s) being releasably associated with said substrate; said at least one disposable pad being capable of attachment to the fastener substrate by way of the hook shaped second end when a user presses the pad against the hook shaped second end of the fastener substrate.   
   
   
       28 . The kit of  claim 27  wherein at least two pads contained in the kit differ in either their lathering surfactant content, skin conditioning agent content; and/or skin active agent content. 
   
   
       29 . The kit of  claim 28  further comprising instructions for selecting a pad contained in the kit so as to deliver a customized skin cleansing or care benefit to the skin of the user. 
   
   
       30 . A method for simultaneously cleansing and/or treating and massaging the skin by a user comprising the steps of in no particular sequence:
 a. contacting the skin with the skin care or cleansing article as recited in  claim 1 ;   b. activating the electromechanical portion of said article to provide stimulating motion to the skin; and   c. allowing the article to remain on the skin for a time sufficient to cleanse and/or treat the skin according to the preferences of the user.