148 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS Society of Cosmetic Chemists •- 9 6 7 Meetings The Society of Cosmetic Chemists will hold the following meetings in 1967' Date Meeting May 2, 1967 Semi-annual Sept. 21, 1967 Seminar Sept. 22, 1967 Dec. 6, 1967 Semi-annual Location Americana Hotel New York, New York Ambassador Hotel Chicago, Illinois Americana Hotel New York, New York

J. Soc. Cosmetic Chemists, 18, 149-160 (Mar. 4, 1967) Nature of Cosmetic Films on the Skin O.K. JACOBI, Ph.D.* A Contribution from the Kolmar Research Center, GMBH, Wiesbaden, Germany Synopsis--A synthetic copy of the natural •noisturizing factor present in human skin has been formulated on the basis of amino acid analysis. It is shown that this synthetic material has penetrating and moisturizing properties similar to those of the natural product. The porosity for water vapor of human sebum is attributed to its content of branched-chain com- pounds. It is shown in in vivo experiments that the addition of branched-chain aliphatic compounds enhances the penetration of water vapor through oily films applied to the skin. INTRODUCTION In the last two decades the question of moisture control of the human skin or, to be more specific, of the stratum corneum of the epidermis has been studied extensively by a number of researchers (1-6). A major result of this work was the finding that a combination of chemical compounds in the stratum corneum of the epidermis is responsi- ble for the moisture control of this layer of the skin. This combination of compounds is generally known as "natural moisturizing factor" (NMF). The mechanism by which the NMF is formed by the skin is still unknown. Under normal conditions the skin produces enough NMF to insure the right amount of moisture for the stratum corneum. There are, however, conditions in which not enough or an incomplete NMF combination is produced by the skin, e.g., in psoriasis (7). Ex- tensive washing of the skin or even long contact with plain water leaches * Hauptstrasse 20, 62 Wiesbaden-Igstadt, Germany. 149