Efficacy of anti-wrinkle products in skin surface appearance: a comparative study using non-invasive methods.

Background/purpose: Age has a huge influence on skin roughness; with increasing age, the number of collagen and elastine fibers is reduced and elasticity decreases significantly. Pharmaceutical and cosmetics, environmental factors and lifestyle have an important effect on skin. In this study, the efficacy of 12 commercial anti-wrinkle products was evaluated using a direct non-invasive method to measure the skin surface morphology. Four clinical parameters surface evaluation of the living skin (SELS) (Ser, Sesc, Sesm, and Sew) were evaluate using Visioscan(®) VC98.
Methods: Two hundred and forty-eight healthy female volunteers, aged between 30 and 70 years, were chosen for this study. The duration of treatment was 28 days. Skin microrelief parameters were evaluated using the Visioscan(®) VC98 - SELS 2000 from Courage+Khazaka. Measurements were made in the crow's feet area and the differences were evaluated for statistical significance.
Results: Significant differences were found for some of the SELS parameters. According to the results obtained for SELS Sew, products that showed to be more effective against aging were V, M, N, T, P, R and L. We think this methodology may be considered very useful for the direct study of the skin surface and may be suitable as a routine method in wrinkle evaluation.
(© 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.)