Patent Application
20190046786
The present invention relates to articles for cosmetically treating human keratin materials with an electrical current.
In the context of the present invention, the term “article” is understood to mean a mask, a patch, a pad, a strip or a bandelet capable of being applied to human keratin materials.
The expression “cosmetic product” is understood to mean any composition such as defined in Council Directive 93/35/EEC of Jun. 14, 1993.
Throughout this text, the expression “including a” must be interpreted as being synonymous with “including at least one”.
Passive masks for applying cosmetic compositions are known. Document U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,792 for example describes a cellulose mask impregnated with a facial lotion.
However, the quantity of molecules administrated using passive techniques remains small. In order to improve this aspect, active masks or patches have been developed that implement electrodes connected to a power source.
Thus it is known to treat human keratin materials using iontophoresis devices (J. Singh, K. S. Bhatia, topical iontophoretic drug delivery: pathways, principles, factors and skin irritation, Med. Res. Rev., vol 16, No. 3, 285-296, 1996).
Iontophoresis allows active agents to diffuse through the skin by virtue of an electrical stimulation in an non-invasive manner. The current administered may be adjustable in magnitude and in direction (anodal or cathodal). The transcutaneous diffusion of molecules via iontophoresis is based on two principles: electro-repulsion and electro-osmosis.
Electro-repulsion is the migration of an ionized molecule by repulsion of charges of the same sign. Thus, if a substance is positively charged, it will diffuse through the skin at the anode (+).
Electro-osmosis is the migration of a molecule, even though it is not ionized, via entrainment related to the flow of water from the anode to the cathode during the iontophoresis. The migration is in particular due to the negative charge of the skin. Under the effect of a current, the water or a solvent entrains, during their migration, dissolved substances.
Iontophoresis technology is highly used to increase the penetration of drugs or of cosmetic active agents. Apart from formulation-related chemical factors and skin-related biological factors, penetration performance is dependent on the magnitude of the current and on the application time.
In order to increase the effectiveness of the iontophoresis, it is necessary to develop specific devices that optimize the penetration of active agents through the skin.
It is known to use iontophoresis patches or masks.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,858 or 7,069,088 for example describe masks including at least one pair of electrodes. The electrodes are placed on a malleable carrier. They are supplied by a generator external to the carrier located within a casing. Before the article is put in place on a chosen bodily zone, a cosmetic composition is applied to this zone. The article is then put in place on the face and the electrodes are supplied with electrical current. The duration of the treatment varies between 15 minutes and 1 hour.
Iontophoresis articles may be supplied by a source of electrical power placed on the mask. Such an arrangement is for example described in document FR 2 960 788. The integration of the source of electrical power of the mask may allow use of electrical wires connecting the mask to an exterior source to be avoided. The comfort of use of the mask is then increased and it becomes easier for the user to use.
At the present time, the source of electrical power is fastened to the mask irremovably. It is necessary to have one source of electrical power per mask. Thus, if the mask has been used and must be thrown away, the source of electrical power is thrown away at the same time as the mask even though it is often still usable. Likewise, if a user possesses a plurality of masks, she possesses as many batteries as masks whereas a single battery would suffice to supply all the masks. Likewise again, once the battery has been placed on the mask, the treatment is set. The consumer cannot invert the polarities of the battery in order to change treatment, for example in order to pass from a skin-care treatment to a skin-cleaning treatment. To do this, she needs two masks with differently positioned batteries.
The waste of batteries of iontophoresis articles is currently quite considerable.
There is a need to provide iontophoresis articles meeting the new requirements of respect of the planet and durable development.
There is a need to provide such articles that are more ecological and, possibly, biodegradable.
There is a need to provide such articles that are inexpensive and simple to manufacture.
The article must furthermore be easy to manipulate.
The invention aims to solve all or some of the aforementioned requirements and to further improve articles for cosmetically treating human keratin materials with an electric current.
One subject of the invention is a supple cosmetic article comprising at least one carrier on which are placed at least one first pair of electrodes comprising a first electrode and a first counter-electrode and a unitary block including at least one source of electrical power, the unitary block is connected without cable to the first pair of electrodes and the source of electrical power comprises a first terminal that is connected to the first electrode and a second terminal that is connected to the first counter-electrode, the unitary block including a repositionable adhesive material on at least one segment of its exterior surface, said segment being located facing the first pair of electrodes.
By virtue of the presence of the repositionable adhesive on the unitary block, it may be detached from the first pair of electrodes of a first article according to the invention and replaced:
The article according to the invention thus includes a multi-use unitary block that may be used either a plurality of times for the same mask, or sometimes for one mask, sometimes for one or more other masks.
The article according to the invention is ecological in that it allows the amount of wasted electrical power sources, in particular batteries, to be decreased. It is consistent with the present-day requirements of ecology and of durable development.
The manipulation of the unitary block is easy for the consumer.
Savings are made.
In addition, once the battery has been detached from the mask by virtue of the repositionable adhesive, the discharge of the latter is decreased. It may be used for longer.
The invention also relates to a cosmetic method comprising the steps consisting in:
According to a first embodiment of the method according to the invention, the first cosmetic treatment is different from the second cosmetic treatment.
According to a second embodiment of the method according to the invention, the first cosmetic treatment is identical to the second cosmetic treatment.
Preferably, the first cosmetic treatment and the second cosmetic treatment are chosen from a make-up treatment, a care treatment, a cleaning treatment or an extracting treatment.
“Connected without cable” means connected without electrical cable, nor electrical wire.
An “electrode” is placed on a conductive carrier.
According to the invention, the term “electrode” is understood to mean a positively charged electrode (anode) or negatively charged electrode (cathode). This electrode is generally placed on the external surface of the article in order to make direct contact with the keratin materials. However, the electrode may also be inserted into the external wall of the article. In this case, it does not make direct contact with the keratin materials but makes contact therewith via a cosmetic composition and its carrier. In general, the electrode makes contact with the zone to be treated.
An electrode may for example take the form of a sphere or pad for example or of a supple film printed in conductive ink. An electrode may form an array of conductive areas that are connected together and to one polarity of the power source.
The expression “counter-electrode” is understood to mean a negatively charged electrode (cathode) or positively charged electrode (anode). The charge of the counter-electrode is opposite to that of the electrode. The polarity of an electrode may be modified. The electrode is generally active, contrary to the counter-electrode, which is not necessarily located in the zone to be treated.
A “pair of electrodes” is formed by an electrode and a counter-electrode.
The expression “electrical supply system” is understood to mean an electrical assembly that is able to induce a potential difference between the electrode and the counter-electrode.
The term “compartment” is understood to mean a division produced in an article in order to house cosmetic compositions that generally differ from one compartment to the next. Each compartment includes at least one pair of electrodes. An example article comprising a plurality of compartments is described in patent application WO 2015/118246.
A “repositionable adhesive” is an adhesive that is tacky enough that if the unitary block is placed on a first pair of electrodes of a first article, the unitary block is held in place throughout the treatment then can be removed without being damaged, nor damaging the first pair of electrodes. An example of a repositionable adhesive usable according to the invention is a PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive) including acrylate, methacrylate or silicon-containing groups. PSAs are described in documents WO1994000525 or WO2009035765 belonging to the company 3M for example.
Preferably, the repositionable adhesive has a tack (or tackability) of at least 200 g measured according to standard ASTM D2979 with a Polyken™ probe tack tester.
Even more preferably, the repositionable adhesive has a peel force of at least 100 N/m measured according to standard ASTM D 1000.
A “supple article” is an article that is flexible and deformable. It preferably has a Shore A hardness lower than 25, preferably comprised between 1 to 20, and more preferably comprised between 10 and 15.
The assembly according to the invention may comprise one or more of the following features, implemented alone or in any technically possible combination:
The source of electrical power may include any battery or any accumulator. The potential difference between the electrodes is for example comprised between 1.2 V and 24 V, and preferably between 1.2 and 10 V. Where appropriate, the passage of the current may create point heating.
At equivalent current density, the article may in particular deliver a current density, at the skin, preferably lower than or equal to 0.500 mA/cm2, for example comprised between 0.001 mA/cm2 and 0.500 mA/cm2, for example between 0.001 mA/cm2 and 0.10 mA/cm2.
The electrodes may have an apparent free surface allowing them to make direct contact with the skin.
At least one electrode may, for example, include:
The cosmetic composition may be deposited directly on the zone to be treated by the user.
The cosmetic composition may also be impregnated or dispersed in the article.
The active ingredient is, preferably, charged. By “charged”, what is meant is any active ingredient present at least partially in ionic form the ions of which possess a net charge that is either positive, or negative, able to ensure their mobility within the composition under the effect of an electric field. Thus, the active agent is subjected directly to the attraction or the repulsion of the electrodes.
Advantageously, the cosmetic composition is chosen among care compositions, washing compositions, purifying compositions, exfoliating compositions, desquamating compositions, massaging compositions, thinning compositions, make-up compositions, make-up-removal compositions, cleaning compositions or whitening compositions.
More advantageously, the cosmetic composition takes the form of an aqueous solution, an oil, an emulsion, a powder or a gel.
Whatever the embodiment in question, the article may exert an action on the skin by iontophoresis and/or electro-osmosis.
The composition may include a composition for activating an inactivated active ingredient present within the article, for example in freeze-dried form. In this case, the composition may be devoid of a charged active ingredient. The composition may include a solvent having positively and negatively charged species, for example an ionic aqueous solution or deionized water or even an NaCl solution.
It is also possible for the user to apply an activating composition, for example a solvent, to the article. For example, he may apply running water, whereas the latter is not provided within a given packaging with the article.
To bring the article and the activating composition into contact, the user may pour the composition onto the article. The latter is, for example, present in a wallet or tub allowing the composition to be poured thereon. As a variant, the user may apply the composition to the skin then apply the article on top.
Generally, when it is sought to administer an active ingredient using the mask according to the invention, said active ingredient has the same polarity as the electrode. For example, compounds containing the active ingredients of positive charge/polarity such as vitamin A, tocopheryl acetate or other active ingredients of positive polarity/charge may be associated with an electrode of positive polarity.
Compounds containing active ingredients of negative charge/polarity such as retinyl palmitate, tocopherol, mandelic acid, and ascorbic acid may, for their part, be associated with an electrode of negative polarity.
The reaction may be an electro-osmosis.
The carrier forms the matrix of the article.
The carrier may, in the unfolded state, have a largest area comprised between 0.5 cm2 and 500 cm2, for example between 50 cm2 to 300 cm2.
The carrier may, in the unfolded state, have a thickness comprised between 0.05 cm and 1 cm and preferably between 0.1 cm and 0.5 cm.
Advantageously, the carrier comprises a woven or nonwoven material. The carrier is thus more supple. It better adapts to the contours of the chosen zone.
By “nonwoven” what is meant in the context of the present invention is a fiber-comprising substrate in which the individual fibers or filaments are arranged in a disordered manner in a structure taking the form of a web. The fibers of the nonwoven are generally bound to one another, either under the effect of a mechanical action, or under the effect of a thermal action, or by the addition of a binder.
Such a nonwoven is for example defined by standard ISO 9092.
The carrier may be occlusive and include sheets that are impermeable to water and/or to air. It may also include a treatment in order to make it occlusive.
The invention will be better understood on reading the following description of nonlimiting implementations thereof and on examining the appended schematic and partial drawings, in which:
In the figures, for the sake of clarity, the various elements have not always been drawn to scale.
The unitary block 12 mainly includes:
Each battery 1 and 11 is flat. It has a dome shape of axis X (X′ respectively) the bottom of which forms:
The portion of the dome opposite the bottom with respect to the axis X (X′ respectively) forms:
Each battery 1 and 11 has a diameter comprised between 4 and 40 mm and a height comprised between 0.8 mm and 10 mm. The batteries 1 and 11 typically each have an operating voltage of more than 1 V, 3 V for example.
Preferably, a lithium button cell is used because it has a high discharge plateau and excellent discharge supply characteristics. The degree of utilization of the active material of the positive or negative electrode is considerably improved and the capacity of the battery is increased.
Button cells usable according to the invention are for example described in documents WO201310682 or WO2012000303.
The unitary block 12 includes two housings 31 and 311 that are intended to receive the battery 1 and the battery 11, respectively. These housings 31 and 311 are delineated by a repositionable adhesive 5, for example a silicone, sandwiched between a conductive sheet 6 and an insulating sheet 4. A flexible and resistant protective sheet 7 is fastened to the conductive sheet 6. This protective sheet 7 adheres to the repositionable adhesive 5.
The adhesive flexible material 5 is insulating. It separates the positive pole 102 of the button cell 1 and the negative pole 113 of the button cell 11 from the sheet 6.
The insulating sheet 4 may include any electrically insulating material, for example chosen from insulating thermoplastic materials such as the polyamides, the styrenics, the polyolefins or the vinylics.
Each cell 1 and 11 delivers a current of 3 V for example, thereby making a sum of 6 V in total, making it possible to observe an effect of the treatment over a large area by the mask for example.
In
The unitary block 12 is located between the first portion 30 and the extension 40.
It may be placed in a first direction with respect to the electrodes in order to provide care for the skin, and in a second direction in order to clean the skin.
The mask may, as shown in
It is for example possible to connect:
It is also possible to switch the electrodes in order to change treatment type as the block 12 is repositionable. Simply by flipping the unitary block 12 the treatment is changed from a skincare treatment to a skin-cleaning treatment.
As the mask is divided into two, the current applied to the face is increased and the effect of the treatment is improved.
The invention is not limited to the examples that have just been described.
Particularities of embodiment of the illustrated examples may be combined within variants that have not been illustrated. The structure of the electrodes and the area that they occupy may in particular be different. It is possible to switch the electrodes as the unitary block is repositionable. The article may be used in a penetration or stimulation mode. Other types of batteries or cells may be used.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1651827 | Mar 2016 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/FR2017/050483 | 3/3/2017 | WO | 00 |
