MODERN INSTITUTE OF

PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
GRAM ALWASA, BEHIND REWATI RANGE, SANWER ROAD, INDORE, 453111
Website: www.moderninstitutes.in Email: mipscollege@gmail.com

Academic Year: 2019-2020

Subject: Cosmetic Science
Topic: Principles of cosmetic evaluation

Name of Faculty: Ms. Prashansa Nema

Assistant Professor

MODERN INSTITUTE OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES

Modern Modern Nandani Medical

Incubator Laboratories Laboratories
 Index
Index
S.No. Particulars Page No.
1 Measurement of TEWL
2 Measurement of skin colour
3 Measurement of hair
tensile strength
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MODERN INSTITUTE OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES

Modern Modern 2
Nandani Medical
Incubator Laboratories Laboratories
 Introduction
• The skin is the largest organ in the human body and
performs many vital functions, of which the most
important is forming a barrier between the internal
physiological environment and the hostile external
environment.
• where chemicals, mechanical insults, ultraviolet light
or pathogenic microorganisms might be present.
• The skin also serves as an effective barrier to prevent
the loss of electrolytes and water from the internal
environment.

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• The effects that occupational exposure to hazardous
substances may have on the skin condition of workers
may differ substantially between occupational
settings.
• Bioengineering measurements, such as
transepidermal water loss (TEWL), stratum corneum
hydration (SCH), skin surface pH (SSpH) and skin
temperature, have been used in various studies as an
objective assessment of occupationally exposed skin.
• It has also been recommended for clinically
monitoring workers who have a high risk of
developing occupational dermatitis.

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1. Measurement of TEWL

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 Transepidermal water loss
• In the epidermis of the skin, a water gradient exists, with the
moisture content of the stratum corneum being lower than
that of the deeper dermal layers.

• Due to this gradient, passive diffusion of water occurs from

the inner layers, towards the stratum corneum. The majority
of the water evaporates from the skin surface, while a
fraction of the water is retained within the stratum corneum.

• This insensible loss of water from the skin, due to

evaporation (in the absence of sweat), is referred to as
TEWL.
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• This diffusion gradient has a flux of 0.5‐
1.0 mg/cm2/h, which can lead to a total loss of
500 mL of water from the skin per day.
This is higher than the volume of water lost daily
through sweat (at room temperature of up to 29°C).
• As it is a process over which organisms have little
physiologic control and of which they are usually
mostly unaware.
• Insensible loss of body water can threaten fluid
balance; in humans, substantial dehydration
sometimes occurs before a person realizes what is
happening.
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• In measuring TEWL, the density gradient of water that
evaporates from the skin is indirectly measured by
placing a probe perpendicularly on the measurement
site.
• The probe is usually in the form of a closed‐chamber
or open‐chamber method and contains two pairs of
sensors (temperature and relative humidity), from
which the measurement is derived.

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• Low TEWL values are indicative of an intact skin and
fully functional barrier, with an increase in TEWL
generally accepted as an indication of a disturbed or
disrupted skin barrier.

• This is in particular due to an increase in water loss

through skin that has been chemically or physically
damaged (an increase which correlates with the
degree of impairment).

• However , TEWL will return to lower (normal) levels

as soon as the damaged barrier has recovered.

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• Measurements of TEWL may be useful for identifying skin
damage caused by certain chemicals, physical insult (such
as "tape stripping") or pathological conditions such as
eczema, as rates of TEWL increase in proportion to the
level of damage.
• TEWL has been measured in a limited number of
occupational settings. These include the metal industry,
hairdressing, nursing, rayon manufacturing, cement
industry, food industry, printing and paperwork.

• TEWL is also affected by environmental factors such as

humidity, temperature, the time of year (season
variation) and the moisture content of the skin
(hydration level). Therefore, care must be taken when
interpreting the meaning of TEWL rates.
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• When the skin has been treated by cosmetic and
pharmaceutical products, the skin’s secretion
processes are hindered to a greater or lesser extent.

• Active agents that penetrate the skin result in an

additional loss of pressure.

• Hindering the TEWL results in a swelling of the horny

skin layer (the sensation that you feel after having
worn rubber gloves for an extended amount of time).

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 Measuring principle

As a result of diffusion of the body’s water, a pressure

builds up, which can be measured as TEWL (in g/hm2).
The microclimate is determined by two moisture
sensors and two thermometers positioned in a
measuring head (open-chamber method).
The system measures the water vapour flow density:
JV= g/(m x h) (mass
of water vapour (in g) per area (in m2) and time (in h)).
and diameter of the open measuring cylinder.

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• Each of the two sensors measures the partial
pressure of the water vapour:

• the gradient between the two sensors is directly

proportional to the rate of evaporation.

• The water vapour gradient can subsequently be

converted into the TEWL value, taking into account
the length and diameter of the open measuring
cylinder.

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Why measurement of TEWL is important?
• TEWL measurements are of great importance in
evaluating skin barrier functionality. Often normal
rates of TEWL are compromised due to injury, infection
and/or severe damage as in the case of burns.
• Damage to the stratum corneum and superficial skin
layers not only results in physical vulnerability, but also
results in an excess rate of water loss.
• Therefore, dehydration, metabolic acidosis, and
conditions such as anhydremia or concentration of the
blood are often critical issues for healthcare providers
to consider in the treatment of burn patients.
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 2. Measurement of skin colour
• The colour of human skin is determined by its
melanin content, its oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin
contents and the amount of endogenous or
exogenous pigments such as bilirubin and carotene.
• The measurement of skin colour is of the autmost
importance for many researchers and clinicians
involved in dermatologic as well as cosmetic fields.
• The non-invasive measurement of epidermal melanin
content is necessary in vivo studies that implicate
skin depigmentatiom and repigmentation.

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Skin colour
measurement
by colorimeter

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• The first quantitative evaluation of skin colour was
accomplished in 1939 by Edwards and Duntley, who
obtained colorimetric data specific for different types
of skin pigmentation.

• It is important to note that although the in vitro

colour measurement can be reliably done by several
colorimetric devices, the quantification of skin colour
« evolution » in vivo appears to be more complex, as
in vivo fluctuations in erythema can affect melanin
values and vice versa.

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• Knowing that melanin absorbs light in a large range of
wavelengths (including green, red and near-infrared
light), the confusion over the discrimination between
melanin and erythema can easily occur by colorimetric
devices.

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Skin tone number
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 3.Measuring of Hair strength
• For a healthy individual with no hair diseases, hair fiber
is very strong with tensile strength around 1.6 x10-9
N / m2 (times ten to the power minus nine newtons
per meter square of hair cross section diameter).
• That makes hair about as strong as copper wire of the
same diameter.
• So as you can see hair is incredibly strong.
• It also has elastic properties.
• It can stretch up to 20% of its original length before
breaking when it is dry and when it is wet it may
stretch up to 50% before breaking.
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• Measurement of hair strength is depend on the
stress and strain property

• It depends on the speed at which the pulling force is

applied to the hair. If you pull on hair slowly and
steadily with gradual increasing force the hair will
resist for quite some time before breaking.

• if you apply sudden force and yank on the hair it will

break. The tensile strength of the hair is reduced, the
hair has no time to respond and stretch, which
distributes the force over the length of the hair fiber,
and the hair just snaps.
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