New Cleansing Technology from Kao

In a mildness study, the influence of the cleansing agent in the new cleansing technology on the skin was evaluated by the sorption amount of the agent (sum of adsorption amount and penetration amount) to the skin stratum corneum. Results showed that the sorption amount of the agent was much smaller than that of the existing cleansing technology (Kao). Moreover, a swelling test on the stratum corneum of a human palm showed that the swelling was suppressed at a lower level compared to Kao’s existing cleansing technology. These results suggest that the new cleansing agent has little influence on the skin stratum corneum; thus, gentle-to-the-skin cleansing was achieved.

The cleansing performance of the new cleansing technology against model sebum was evaluated too. Results showed that the new cleansing technology has higher cleansing performance compared to the Kao’s existing cleansing technology.

Finally, comparison of the amount of skin moisture before and after washing with the cleanser based on the new cleansing technology revealed that skin moisture varied only slightly. This could be due to the low adsorption/penetration of the cleansing agent on the skin stratum corneum, resulting in less skin swelling; achievement of “mild cleansing” is established in the practical usage of the new cleanser. In addition, the skin texture was evaluated after using the new skin cleanser for four weeks. Comparison of skin conditions before and after the four-week usage suggests that skin texture tends to improve. According to Kao, the improvement of the skin condition is derived by the daily usage of the cleanser with its high compatibility of “mildness to skin” and “cleansing performance.” 



Kao speculates that the high compatibility of the two important properties could be attributed to the unique aqueous solution properties of the cleansing agent. In particular, the concentration of monomer – individual surfactant molecules dissolved without aggregation – was low at about one tenth of that of Kao’s existing cleansing technology, which indicates the high aggregability of the agent. The results of the mildness to skin and high cleansing performance described above could derive from the unique characteristics of the aqueous solution of the new cleansing agent.