Design of a Lipid-Coated Polymeric Material Mimic Human Skin Surface Properties: a Performing Tool to Evaluate Skin Interaction with Topical Products

An original nonbiological skin model (NBSM) has been developed to mimSic skin surface properties. This skin model presents several improvements when compared to existing ones: it has a topography identical to that of in vivo skin and a lipid composition close to that of the skin face. This imparts to the model surface a physicochemistry similar to in vivo skin. The concept and design of the skin model are presented, followed by an instrumental characterization performed using 3D microscopy, attenuated total reflectance–Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, and contact angle measurements. Surface free energy components are calculated for the NBSM using the Van Oss approach and compared to ex vivo experiments performed on human living skin explants. A comparison was made with the commercial skin model VITRO-SKIN, this latter being a reference in terms of the NBSM. The effect of several emollients on skin physicochemistry was investigated in vivo and on both nonbiological models. The study focused on several emollients and oils, including silicones and esters, and three emulsions (oil-in-water or water-in-oil). The results obtained confirm the high reliability of the developed model as it shows a skin-like surface behavior. This very interesting tool shows promising results concerning the study of the residual film present after product application or to study skin/product interactions.