PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF CREAM MASK 459 a surge of hydration, restoring natural radiance. After using a cream face mask, treated skin will feel soft, smooth, and refreshed. In this study, we identifi ed cell proliferation, tyrosinase inhibitory activities of SCM in in vitro, and moisturizing property of SCM in human trial. As shown in Figure 3A and B, the addition of a mixture of seaweed extracts had a great infl uence to stimulate the proliferation of fi broblasts (22%) and inhibit mush- room tyrosinase activity (18%) in the cream mask. Compared with the CCM, percentage of hydration in volunteers was increased by 35% with SCM (Figure 3C). The length of hydration is an important factor for moisturizing property of the cream mask therefore, we measured skin hydration at different times after application of the cream containing seaweed extracts. Both with and without the seaweed extracts, the hydration percentage was increased immediately and then decreased over time (Figure 3D). The hydration per- centage of skin was 62.71% with the CCM when the SCM was used for treatment, the hydra- tion percentage of skin was 80.08%, which was 17.37% higher than that in the control. From 1 to 2 h, the SCM increased skin hydration approximately 1.5 times more than the control cream did. At 8 h (480 min) after application, the increased skin hydration per- centage of skin treated with the SCM was 12.00% and that of the CCM was 10.90%. The dry skin has a parched look caused by its inability to retain moisture. It usually feels “tight” and uncomfortable after washing unless some type of moisturizer or skin cream is applied. It looks dull. Skin seems to be with reduced wrinkles after the fi rst week of mois- turizer application. So it can be considered that all the moisturizers improved the skin Figure 3. Effect of SCM on activities of cell proliferation (A), tyrosinase inhibitory (B), skin hydration (C), and (D) moisturizing profi le of CCM and SCM in different times after applying the cream. *p 0.05, **p 0.01, versus controls. Data are mean ± SEM.

JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE 460 appearance. Skin pictures taken at baseline and after the end of study period are shown in Figure 4. Improvement in the appearance of skin supports the data for the increase in hydration. In summary, C. lentillifera, S. crassifolium, U. reticulata, and K. alvarezii are rich sources of polysaccharide and pigment components and exhibit antioxidant, antibacterial, moisture retention, and tyrosinase inhibitory properties. The mixture of these seaweed extracts is an effective and safety formulation for improving skin hydration and skin-whitening agent in cream mask application. ACKNOWLEDGMENT This study was supported by a VAST 04. 05/17-18 project “Study on crude extract from several species of Vietnam seaweed (macroalgae) for cosmetic application” (2017–2018) for Dr. Ngo Thi Hoai Thu. REFERENCES (1) G. Bedoux, K. Hardouin, A. S. Burlot, and N. Bourgougnon, Bioactive components from seaweeds: cosmetic applications and future development, Adv. Bot. Res., 71, 345–378 (2014). (2) S. L. Holdt and S. Kraan, Bioactive compounds in seaweed: functional food applications and legislation, J. Appl. Phycol., 23, 543–597 (2011). (3) N. Bourgougnon and V. Stiger-Pouvreau, “Chemodiversity and Bioactivity within Red and Brown Macroalgae along the French Coasts, Metropole and Overseas Departements and Territories,” in Hand- book of Marine Macroalgae: Biotechnology and Applied Phycology, S. K. Kim. Ed. (Wiley-Blackwell, Wiley, Chichester, 2012), pp. 58–105. (4) J. H. Fitton, M. Irhimeh, and N. Falk, Macroalgal fucoidan extracts: a new opportunity for marine cosmetics, Cosmet. Toilet Magaz., 122, 55–64 (2007). (5) E. Ioannou and V. Roussis, “Natural products from seaweeds,” in Plant-derived Natural Products, A. E. Osbourn and V. Lanzotti. Eds. (Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, 2009), pp. 51–81. (6) V. T. Nguyen, N. H. Le, S. M. Lin, F. Steen, and O. De Clerk, Checklist of the marine macroalgae of Vietnam, Bot. Mar., 56, 207–227 (2013). (7) S. M. Phang, H. Y. Yeong, E. Ganzon-Fortes, K. Lewmanomont, A. Parthep, N. H. Le, G. S. Gerung, and K. S. Tan, Marine algae of the south China sea bordered by Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, Raffl es Bull. Zool., 34, 13–59 (2016). (8) D. D. Hong, H. M. Hien, and P. N. Son, Use of Vietnamese seaweed for functional food, medicine and biofertilizer, J. Appl. Phycol., 19, 817–826 (2007). Figure 4. Comparative pictures showing change in skin appearance (picture taken initially, after fi rst week).