Oily formulations challenge: how to evaluate their beneficial effects in hydrophilic cell-based models?

In the European Union, Israel and India, testing cosmetic products or their ingredients on animals is prohibited. In this context, in vitro cell models play a pivotal role in the evaluation of both safety and beneficial effects of cosmetics. Oily formulations, widely used in cosmetics, are complex to study on cell models due to their lipophilic nature that doesn’t match with hydrophilic culture medium. Organic solvents are then required to solubilize oily formulations, but they can interfere with the cellular response. To avoid the use of organic solvents, we developed a method based on cells to evaluate potential beneficial effects of oily formulations. Our method, suitable for high throughput screening, consists in: (1) incubating cells with oily formulations for a short time followed by a recovery period in culture medium and (2) studying cell parameters using robust techniques such as cytofluorometry and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Depending on the studied cell parameter, various beneficial effects can be revealed like antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and skin regeneration. The field of cell parameters is open and can be extended to new perspectives in the development of oily formulations

Oily formulations challenge: how to evaluate their beneficial effects in hydrophilic cell-based models?

In the European Union, Israel and India, testing cosmetic products or their ingredients on animals is prohibited. In this context, in vitro cell models play a pivotal role in the evaluation of both safety and beneficial effects of cosmetics. Oily formulations, widely used in cosmetics, are complex to study on cell models due to their lipophilic nature that doesn’t match with hydrophilic culture medium. Organic solvents are then required to solubilize oily formulations, but they can interfere with the cellular response. To avoid the use of organic solvents, we developed a method based on cells to evaluate potential beneficial effects of oily formulations. Our method, suitable for high throughput screening, consists in: (1) incubating cells with oily formulations for a short time followed by a recovery period in culture medium and (2) studying cell parameters using robust techniques such as cytofluorometry and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Depending on the studied cell parameter, various beneficial effects can be revealed like antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and skin regeneration. The field of cell parameters is open and can be extended to new perspectives in the development of oily formulations

Separation and identification of polar polyphenols in oily formulation using high-performance thin-layer chromatography and mass spectroscopy techniques

In cosmetics, there is some interest to solubilized polar antioxidant molecules in oil. This is a matrix that can indeed protect these fragile molecules against oxidation and that makes possible the polar antioxidants transfer through the epidermis in order to be delivered within the dermis. Varying the oil formulation allows the achievement of a high content of antioxidants in a natural vegetable oil using an oleo-eco extraction process. However, it was necessary to characterize this content using quantitative and efficient methods such as High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography technique. The aim of this work was to develop a method of antioxidant’s characterization with this technique without a preliminary re-extraction of the antioxidants

Separation and identification of polar polyphenols in oily formulation using high-performance thin-layer chromatography and mass spectroscopy techniques

In cosmetics, there is some interest to solubilized polar antioxidant molecules in oil. This is a matrix that can indeed protect these fragile molecules against oxidation and that makes possible the polar antioxidants transfer through the epidermis in order to be delivered within the dermis. Varying the oil formulation allows the achievement of a high content of antioxidants in a natural vegetable oil using an oleo-eco extraction process. However, it was necessary to characterize this content using quantitative and efficient methods such as High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography technique. The aim of this work was to develop a method of antioxidant’s characterization with this technique without a preliminary re-extraction of the antioxidants