Patent Application
20090098214
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cosmetic composition, and more particularly to a skin-revitalizing cosmetic composition for alleviating or eliminating skin problems such as dry skin, wrinkles, and age spots.
2. Background Art
There have been well known cosmetic products containing a skin-revitalizing agent for alleviating or eliminating skin problems such as dry skin, wrinkles, and age spots. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2005-53842 discloses a cosmetic product containing an aloe extract; Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2001-72567 discloses a cosmetic product containing a placenta extract; Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2006-131557 discloses a cosmetic product containing hydrolyzed elastin; Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2003-300854 discloses a cosmetic product containing hydrolyzed collagen; and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. H05-345717 discloses a cosmetic product containing sodium hyaluronate.
However, such a skin-revitalizing agent is difficult to dissolve in water, and thus can only be incorporated into a currently employed cosmetic product in an amount of up to 1 wt. % at most. Therefore, a cosmetic product containing such a skin-revitalizing agent fails to satisfactorily exhibit the effect of the agent.
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a cosmetic composition which can contain such a skin-revitalizing agent at a high concentration, thereby attaining an improved skin-revitalizing effect.
The present inventors have conducted extensive studies on the aforementioned skin-revitalizing agents, and as a result have found that when a skin-revitalizing agent is subjected to a treatment for forming nanoparticles (hereinafter the treatment may be referred to as a “nanoparticle-forming treatment”), and then the thus-formed nanoparticles of the agent are incorporated into a cosmetic composition, the agent concentration of the cosmetic composition can be increased to more than 1 wt. %. The present invention has been accomplished on the basis of this finding.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a skin-revitalizing cosmetic composition containing a skin-revitalizing agent selected from the group consisting of aloe extract, placenta extract, hydrolyzed elastin, hydrolyzed collagen, and sodium hyaluronate, wherein the skin-revitalizing agent is in the form of nanoparticles obtained through a nanoparticle-forming treatment.
According to the present invention, since a skin-revitalizing agent can be incorporated into a cosmetic composition at a high concentration, a further improved skin-revitalizing effect of the composition can be obtained.
The present invention will next be described in more detail.
The skin-revitalizing cosmetic composition of the present invention contains a skin-revitalizing agent selected from the group consisting of aloe extract, placenta extract, hydrolyzed elastin, hydrolyzed collagen, and sodium hyaluronate, wherein the skin-revitalizing agent is in the form of nanoparticles obtained through a nanoparticle-forming treatment.
Such a skin-revitalizing agent itself is well known in the art, and thus detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.
In the present invention, such a skin-revitalizing agent is subjected to a nanoparticle-forming treatment, and then incorporated into a cosmetic composition. The nanoparticle-forming treatment of a skin-revitalizing agent may be carried out by means of a commercially available Nanomizer (e.g., Nanomaker, product of Nanomax).
Specifically, when a skin-revitalizing agent is dispersed in water, and the resultant aqueous dispersion is subjected to a nanoparticle-forming treatment, the skin-revitalizing agent can be formed into nanoparticles having a size (diameter) of 10 to 150 nm. The thus-formed nanoparticles of the skin-revitalizing agent can be incorporated into an aqueous cosmetic composition at a high concentration; i.e., more than 1 wt. % (generally more than 1 wt. % and up to 10 wt. %).
The skin-revitalizing cosmetic composition of the present invention which contains, as an essential component, nanoparticles of a skin-revitalizing agent formed through the aforementioned treatment may also contain additional ingredients as additives. Examples of the additives include ceramide and royal jelly extract.
The present invention will next be described by way of examples, which should not be construed as limiting the invention thereto.
Each of the skin-revitalizing agents shown in Table 1 was incorporated into purified water in an amount (wt. %) shown therein. In the Comparative Examples, each of the skin-revitalizing agents shown in Table 1 was added to purified water in an amount shown therein, followed by stirring at 50° C. for 30 minutes and then cooling to 20° C. Immediately thereafter, the state of dissolution was observed (shown in the column “Immediately after dissolution” of Table 1). Subsequently, the sample was stored at 5° C. for 24 hours, and the state of dissolution was also observed (shown in the column “After storage” of Table 1).
In the Examples, each of the skin-revitalizing agents shown in Table 1 was added to purified water in an amount shown therein, followed by stirring at 50° C. for 30 minutes. The resultant aqueous dispersion was subjected to a nanoparticle-forming treatment by means of Nanomaker (product of Nanomax). The thus-formed nanoparticles of the skin-revitalizing agent were found to have a size of 80 nm. Thereafter, the thus-treated dispersion was cooled to 20° C. Immediately thereafter, the state of dissolution was observed (shown in the column “Immediately after dissolution” of Table 1). Subsequently, the sample was stored at 5° C. for 24 hours, and the state of dissolution was also observed (shown in the column “After storage” of Table 1).
Aloe extract
As is clear from the data shown in Table 1, the cosmetic compositions of the present invention, which contain nanoparticles of a skin-revitalizing agent, maintained a dissolved state even when they had high skin-revitalizing agent concentrations.
As described above, the cosmetic composition of the present invention is suitable for use as a skin-revitalizer for alleviating or eliminating skin problems such as dry skin, wrinkles, and age spots.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-263907 | Oct 2007 | JP | national |
