Methods For Improving Skin Quality

Abstract

A skin treatment regimen for delivery of a rinse-off personal skin care composition is provided. The rinse-off personal skin care composition includes varying ratios of a lathering agent to a hydrophobic benefit agent. The rinse-off personal skin care composition can be applied to skin of a user in phases over and/or in a treatment cycle. Each of the phases of the treatment cycle can include a ratio of the varying ratios that can be different such as higher or lower than a ratio of adjacent phase.

1 . A method for identifying a formulation comprising a hydrophobic benefit agent useful for improving the skin (stratum corneum barrier) in a human subject, comprising:
 generating one or more negative skin profiles for a human subject having dry or damaged skin;   contacting the skin of the human subject with a proposed rinse-off personal care formulation   generating one or more test profiles   comparing the one or more test profiles to the one or more negative profiles and identifying the proposed formulation as effective if the test profile is directionally shifted away from the negative reference profile and shows at least one skin property selected from (i) reduction of visual dryness, a reduction in trans-epidermal water loss, increased skin hydration, increased elastic extension, increased elastic recovery, increased firmness and (ii) reduction in total protein, an increase in the amount of one or more of Keratin 1, Keratin 10 and Keratin 11, and a decrease in cytokine expression.   
     
     
         2 . A rinse-off personal skin care composition effective for improving one or both of stratum corneum barrier maintenance and repair properties in aged skin, comprising a formulation identified according to the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         3 . A method for improving one or both of stratum corneum barrier maintenance and repair properties, comprising contacting skin with the formulation identified according to the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurable improvement is a reduction of visual dryness, wherein the visual dryness reduction is greater than 0.5 dryness unit vs. water control after 3 hours of product application. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurable improvement is a reduction in trans-epidermal water loss, wherein the reduction of trans-epidermal water loss is greater than 0.2 TEWL unit vs. water control after 3 hours of product application. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurable improvement is increased skin hydration, wherein the increased skin hydration is greater than one Corneometer Unit vs. water control after 3 hours of product application. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurable improvement is increased elastic extension, wherein the elastic extension improvement index is greater than 5 after one hour of product application. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurable improvement is increased elastic recovery, wherein the elastic recovery improvement index is greater than 5 after one hour of product application. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurable improvement is increased firmness, wherein the skin firmness improvement index is greater than 4 after one of product application. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurable improvement is reduction in total protein, wherein the total protein improvement index is greater than 10. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the measurable improvement is an increase in the amount of one or more of Keratin 1, Keratin 10 and Keratin 11, wherein the Keratin improvement index is greater than 50.