11.30.-1
U.S. Patent No. 7,465,461 B2: Unilever Home & Personal Care USA has patented a method of moisturizing skin after treatment with a rinse-off, wet skin treatment composition. It entails applying to wet skin during a bathing process a treatment composition in the form of an oil-in-water emulsion. The emulsion is comprised of 3-50% of a structured oil phase comprising a skin-compatible oil which is liquid at a temperature below about 35°C and 1-75% of a structurant selected from the group consisting of petrolatum, trihydroxystearin, fatty acid, superhartolan, and mixtures thereof that forms a stable 3-dimensional network within said skin compatible oil comprising finely divided solid particles having a particle size below about 25 microns at a temperature below 35°C. The aqueous phase is comprised of water and an organic dispersion stabilizer that contains a network of amorphous solids, crystals, a liquid crystalline phase, or mixtures of said solids, crystals or liquid crystalline phase. The composition is then rinsed off, wherein the structured oil phase has a viscosity of 100-5000 poise measured at 1 sec-1 at 25°C. The structured oil phase is retained on the skin as measured by a skin retention efficiency index of at least 0.15 as determined in the in-vitro skin retention test. According to the patent literature, the emulsion has a foam volume below 5cc as measured in the solution shake test, and the retention of moisture is still measurable at least 30 minutes after the bathing treatment.