Age-tailored artificial skin model for cosmetic film development.

Summary

Using micro-CT-derived topographies from young and aged Korean skin, the authors built PDMS replicas to quantify how age-related roughness and wrinkles alter cosmetic thin-film deposition. The model, further refined by incorporating porosity and sebum, enables standardized age-specific evaluation of film coverage to guide formulation optimization.

Key Findings

• Micro-CT revealed age-dependent topographies that influence thin-film deposition.
• PDMS-based replicas enabled quantitative film coverage assessment on human-derived positives and the model.
• An improved model incorporating skin porosity and sebum was proposed to enhance realism.

Clinical Implications

While not a clinical study, this model can inform dermatologists and cosmetic scientists by predicting coverage challenges in aged skin and accelerating development of products tailored to age-related topography.

Limitations

• Validation appears limited to a Korean cohort; generalizability across ethnicities and sites is uncertain.
• Lacks correlation with user-perceived outcomes and dynamic biomechanical skin behavior.

Future Directions

Validate across diverse populations and facial/body sites, correlate model outputs with clinical/user outcomes, and incorporate sweat/sebum dynamics and elasticity for real-world prediction.