J. Soc. Cosmet. Chem., 29, 79-90 (February 1978) Topical moisturizers: quantification of their effect on superficial facial lines ELIAS W. PACKMAN'*, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, 43 rd Street, Woodland Avenue and Kingsessing Mall, Philadelphia, PA 19104 and EUGENE H. GANS'*'*, Dermatology/Toiletry ROD, Vick Divisions Research and Development, One Bradford Road, Mount Vernon, NY 10553. Received June 14, 1977. Synopsis This single-blind study was designed to test a new method of QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION as used by trained judges to visually assess changes in SUPERFICIAL FACIAL LINES (SFL's) following the application of topical MOISTURIZERS. The method consists of a system for reproducible scoring of these lines, based on ratings for their frequency times their depth, by component area of the face. Controlled half-face com- parisons in five test series involving no treatment, water, and four moisturizers revealed that: 1. The method provided good reproducibility of baseline SFL values, and of changes in these values through time upon repetition of the same treatment in different series. 2. The method also provided values for the distribution of SFL's by facial area, and values indicating a differ- ing response of facial areas to applications of moisturizers. The greatest per cent reductions were noted for SFL's around the eyes, followed by lines around the cheek and mouth. Lines on the forehead and chin changed noticeably less. 3. With quantitative evaluation, trained judges can produce a reliable rank ordering of more effective treat- ments, less effective ones, and control treatments such as water or no treatment. INTRODUCTION Recent articles (1,2) attest to the growing importance of regulatory and consumer interest in regard to cosmetic products. Current focus primarily pertains to the substantiation of safety. However, it is plausible to expect that a requirement such as declaration of ingredients will cause the consumer to be more conscious than pre- viously of these ingredients' contribution to performance. Thus, demonstrated proof of performance may well come to play a greater role in product differentiation. In that interplay between the market shaping the product and the product shaping its market, *Professor of Pharmacology. **Vice President & Director. 79

80 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS one can readily imagine that increased consumer awareness of cosmetic effectiveness will result in greater emphasis on it by those firms able to demonstrate the action of their products. For that, it will be necessary to have available a range of scientifically valid, controlled investigatory procedures for cosmetics, as well as toiletries, comparable in its way to that range of procedures developed previously for drug products. For cosmetics and toiletties, the problem is complicated by the fact that we usually are dealing with short- term actions, meaningful to the extent that they are perceived by the user, and yet sub- ject to the user's expectations. Among the approaches developed to define these actions are evaluation of changes in skin condition by an expert observer (3,4) and by use of instrumental means (5-7) after the application of lotions or moisturizers. In a concurrent article (8), we describe utilization of consumers who have not been trained as cosmetic evaluators to assess perceived overall effect of topical facial moisturizers on a separate group of subjects, and to do so within the format of the controlled study. In this article, we describe a controlled trial of a different technique by which two trained judges under the supervision of a clinical researcher (by visual assessment) can quantify in detail the effect of topical moisturizers on superficial facial lines (SFL's). EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE The method was developed as a reproducible scoring system for the assessment of vi- sually perceived changes in the kind of lines (superficial facial lines) that temporarily respond to treatment with effective topical moisturizers, as contrasted to the deeper lines and more pronounced wrinkles that do not respond. Each half of the face was divided into its four component areas (forehead, beside and under the eyes, cheek and 'mouth, chin--see Fig. 1) to increase the accuracy of scoring and to define responses by individual area. To determine the SFL score in each area, two judges were trained as noted below. Each judge, working separately, assigns a descriptive rating (very shallow, shallow, and deeper) for each SFL in an area, groups the SFL's by descriptive rating, and then multi- plies, according to the numerical scales below, the frequency rating times the depth rat- ing for each type of SFL. The values for all SFL's in an area are then summed. SFL score per area = Frequency Rating times 0 (no SFL's) ! (1 or 2 SFL's) 2 (3 or 4 SFL's) 3 (5 or 6 SFL's) 4 (more than 6 SFL's) Depth Rating 1 (very shallow) 2 (shallow) 3 (deeper) Use of this five-point (0-4) frequency rating sca. le prevents changes in a large number of very trivial lines from producing a skewed positive effect. For example, if a component area had 4 very shallow, 2 shallow, and 1 deeper SFL's, the SFL score for that area would be: