Pediatr Dermatol. 2009 May-Jun; 26(3): 273-8
Chiang C, Eichenfield LF

Standard recommendations for skin care for patients with atopic dermatitis stress the importance of skin hydration and the application of moisturizers. However, objective data to guide recommendations regarding the optimal practice methods of bathing and emollient application are scarce. This study quantified cutaneous hydration status after various combination bathing and moisturizing regimens. Four bathing/moisturizer regimens were evaluated in 10 subjects, five pediatric subjects with atopic dermatitis and five subjects with healthy skin. The regimens consisted of bathing alone without emollient application, bathing and immediate emollient application, bathing and delayed application, and emollient application alone. Each regimen was evaluated in all subjects, utilizing a crossover design. Skin hydration was assessed with standard capacitance measurements. In atopic dermatitis subjects, emollient alone yielded a significantly (p < 0.05) greater mean hydration over 90 minutes (206.2% baseline hydration) than bathing with immediate emollient (141.6%), bathing and delayed emollient (141%), and bathing alone (91.4%). The combination bathing and emollient application regimens demonstrated hydration values at 90 minutes not significantly greater than baseline. Atopic dermatitis subjects had a decreased mean hydration benefit compared with normal skin subjects. Bathing without moisturizer may compromise skin hydration. Bathing followed by moisturizer application provides modest hydration benefits, though less than that of simply applying moisturizer alone.

Am J Infect Control. 2009 Sep; 37(7): 590-7
Hutchins K, Karras G, Erwin J, Sullivan KL

BACKGROUND: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a nosocomial pneumonia that develops in patients on mechanical ventilation for >or=48 hours. VAP develops at an estimated rate of 1% to 3% per day of mechanical ventilation. METHODS: Quality improvement project. Mechanically ventilated patients received the following oral care every 4 hours: the teeth were brushed with cetylpyridinium chloride (changed to 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate in 2007) using a suction toothbrush, the oral cavity was cleansed with suction swabs treated with hydrogen peroxide, a mouth moisturizer was applied, deep oropharyngeal suctioning was performed, and suction catheters were used to control secretions. The primary efficacy variable was a diagnosis of VAP in patients mechanically ventilated for >or=48 hours. RESULTS: The historical average rate of VAP in 2004 was 12.6 cases/1000 ventilator-days. After the inception of the quality improvement project, VAP rates decreased to 4.12 (VAP cases/days of ventilation x 1000) for May to December 2005, to 3.57 for 2006, and to 1.3 for 2007. CONCLUSION: The use of an oral care protocol intervention and ventilator bundle led to an 89.7% reduction in the VAP rate in mechanically ventilated patients from 2004 to 2007.

Cutis. 2009 Aug; 84(2): 72-6
Del Rosso JQ

Skin care regimens have been recommended in conjunction with topical medications for the treatment of rosacea. Specifically, a mild cleanser and a moisturizer can help relieve symptoms and maintain skin barrier integrity. The Assessment of Skin Characteristics Study, a multicenter open-label study (N=102), compared the use of a specified skin care regimen with or without the moisturizer component. Participants used a facial cleanser immediately before application of azelaic acid (AzA) gel 15% twice daily to both sides of the face and then applied the provided moisturizer to the right side of the face only. Scores for severity and duration of stinging, burning, tingling, and itching were recorded in the morning and evening for 7 days. Cumulative symptom scores (CSSs) decreased on the right side of the face with facial moisturizer applied.

Pak J Pharm Sci. 2009 Oct; 22(4): 415-20
Rohman A, Man YC, Sismindari

Today, virgin coconut oil (VCO) is becoming valuable oil and is receiving an attractive topic for researchers because of its several biological activities. In cosmetics industry, VCO is excellent material which functions as a skin moisturizer and softener. Therefore, it is important to develop a quantitative analytical method offering a fast and reliable technique. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy with sample handling technique of attenuated total reflectance (ATR) can be successfully used to analyze VCO quantitatively in cream cosmetic preparations. A multivariate analysis using calibration of partial least square (PLS) model revealed the good relationship between actual value and FTIR-predicted value of VCO with coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.998.

J Drugs Dermatol. 2009 Oct; 8(10): 932-6
Tucker-Samaras S, Zedayko T, Cole C, Miller D, Wallo W, Leyden JJ

Retinol is a cosmetic ingredient that is structurally similar to all-trans-retinoic acid, which has been shown to be effective in the treatment of photodamage. Since skin keratinocytes are reported to metabolize retinol to retinoic acid, investigators have hypothesized that retinol may also be helpful in improving skin photodamage. In this eight-week, double-blind, split-face, randomized clinical study, a stabilized 0.1% retinol-containing moisturizer was tested (36 subjects) against the vehicle (28 subjects) in women with moderate facial photodamage. Each product was applied once daily to the designated half side of the face. Subjects were evaluated at baseline and after four and eight weeks of treatment using a 0-9 scale for photoaging parameters. The results showed that, after eight weeks, the retinol moisturizer was significantly more efficacious than the vehicle in improving lines and wrinkles, pigmentation, elasticity, firmness and overall photodamage. Many of these differences were significant at week 4, with a progressive improvement to week 8. This study demonstrates that a formulation containing stabilized retinol is safe and effective to ameliorate the appearance of photoaged skin.

Skin Res Technol. 2009 Nov; 15(4): 392-8
Farahmand S, Tien L, Hui X, Maibach HI

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Two main systems have been utilized for measuring transepidermal water loss (TEWL): open chamber and closed chamber. Yet, further validation and standardization studies may be necessary to reveal the sensitivity, precision, and robustness of these instruments. METHODS: Three instruments are compared for their applicability to assess TEWL: unventilated chamber, open chamber and condenser chamber. The comparative study was performed on human forearm skin (n=6), in the normal condition (baseline), and after (1) 10 tape strippings on both arms, (2) moisturizer cream (Eucerin) and petrolatum application for 1 h, and (3) 1% sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) aqueous solution and distilled water (as control) application for 20 min. RESULTS: The condenser-chamber system, was the only device among these three that could show the effect of tape stripping on TEWL values as compared with baseline (P0.05). However, only the values obtained from condenser-chamber device revealed a highly significant change as compared with baseline (P<0.001). Condenser-chamber system could also discriminate between the effect of moisturizer and petrolatum on TEWL values (P<0.05). The change of TEWL values after SLS application was shown to be significant by unventilated and condenser-chamber systems (P<0.05). However, none of the devices differentiated between the effect of water and 1% SLS solution applied for 20 min. The values obtained from all three instruments correlate well with each other (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Our results highlight the differences between two closed-chamber TEWL measurement instruments, which are designed based on different measurement principles. This may provide insights to find the best practice to improve the quality, precision and sensitivity of the measurements.

Search for anything “wrinkle cream related” on the internet, and you’ll see the flood of websites offering the impossible. Free wrinkle cream is a supposed offer made by some of the leading wrinkle cream manufacturers who sell their product online. Unfortunately, these offers are almost never actually free, and quite often, non-suspecting consumers are made victims. This article is going to look into a few of the ways that the wrinkle cream companies turn a “free” cream into something you end up paying for, and also some ways to avoid getting caught in the trap. After reading this article you will be armed with enough knowledge of what to look for, so that you will only make informed purchases.

The way to spot a seemingly free offer that isn’t really free at all, is to carefully read the language on the website. Look for things like asterisk marks next to the word, “Free”. Also, look very closely on the final pages of the checkout process where you are agreeing to pay, and are entering a credit card number. It is in the fine print on those pages what the details of the “free wrinkle cream offer” are, and what are your obligations.

There are two most common methods for flipping a free wrinkle cream into something you pay for. The first method is with the VIP membership. This method is also called the “auto ship” program. What happens here is that you agree to get a free bottle or tube of the wrinkle cream, but what consumers don’t often realize, is that this “membership” means that each and every month thereafter, their credit card will be billed the Full price of the product, and another shipment will be sent. This will continue, too, until you finally figure out how to cancel the membership.

The second most common Free wrinkle cream offer that really isn’t, is what’s known as the “pay later” method. What happens here is that the wrinkle cream manufacturer offers the consumer a free trial of the product for 30 days. What is only detailed in the fine print is that the consumer has to contact the company within those thirty days and tell them they want to return the cream. If they don’t do this, and return the cream within the 30 days, then the credit card is billed at the end of the month. It’s basically not free at all. It is just that the payment is delayed until 30 days afterward. However, by billing the card at a later time, the wrinkle cream manufacturer somehow feels entitled to use the word “free” in their offer. In fact, nothing is free about it at all.

OK, well we have outlined two of the most common ways that consumers are duped into thinking something that costs hundreds of dollars is free, but really isn’t. Now, lets talk about a few tips you can employ to make sure you don’t end up in the same wrinkle cream rip off. First, start off by doubting everything you read that even mentions the word, “Free”. By not believing that anything is free, you are not setting yourself up for a surprise when your next credit card statement comes. If you DO see the F word on a webpage, but are still interested in getting the cream, make sure you read the fine print of the website and be sure to fully understand how your credit card will ultimately be billed. If you can’t find it, just pick up the phone and call them, or use a live chat feature if their site has one. Just ask the representative if you are signing up for some auto-billing feature or if you can simply pay once and be done with it. Assuming the operator is truthful, you won’t get ripped off.

Another thing you can do is to find a reputable wrinkle cream reviews website. Avoid any wrinkle cream reviews that are actually pushing free offers, as you know this site is probably just a commissioned sales person, hired by the culprits in the first place. Look, instead, for user-driven reviews, where the review site is full of reviews on lots of creams that were submitted by actual people who tried them. Actual customer experience is far more believable than a review written by a site owner. Take a look at the reviews for each wrinkle cream. See if the wrinkle cream you have in mind has gotten any reviews that mention the customer was surprised to have been billed, or that they had a hard time cancelling their membership in an auto-shipment club. Usually when customers accidentally stumble into one of these traps, they post their experience on a wrinkle cream reviews site. Be sure to check a few out, and heed the advice you are given about certain wrinkle creams.

Between knowing the slick methods of turning “Free wrinkle cream” into “Expensive wrinkle cream”, and knowing some ways to avoid getting tricked, you should be a pretty educated consumer now. Remember that finding the best wrinkle cream can take a while, and might not be a simple matter of buying the first one you find when you search on Google. Be sure to be extra careful if you see the word “free” anywhere, and take the time to check out some wrinkle cream review sites. Follow these little rules, and you will never fall victim to a wrinkle cream scam, and most likely, you’ll have a wonderful experience with one of the many upstanding wrinkle cream manufacturers in the marketplace.

Sabrina James
http://www.articlesbase.com/skin-care-articles/free-wrinkle-cream-better-think-twice-747704.html