Alphorns, Cowbells, Magic and Gaming at IFSCC Zurich, part IV

Bernard Fink, of the University of Goettingen, discussed sexual selection and the biology of beauty in relation to skin condition.
Bernard Fink, of the University of Goettingen, discussed sexual selection and the biology of beauty in relation to skin condition.

Zürich—The 23rd IFSCC Congress, held Sept. 21-23, 2015, reported “more facts and less illusions” to some 550+ delegates from across the globe at the forefront of cosmetic product innovation. (View our photo album on Facebook.)

(Continued from Part III)

Nutritional Beauty, Sexual Selection and Efficacy Factor

Tony Rawlings kicked off the second day of the conference with a presentation to a full house on anti-aging and whether the industry is stuck in a trough. He explained that despite decades of product development, consumer research indicates the industry is still not fully meeting consumer demands especially in the anti-aging area. This could be because the understanding of wrinkle biology is limited. During the Q&A session, he theorized “the future for novel anti-aging effects may lie in oral nutrition.”

Next was Victoria Newton, of the University of Manchester, who discussed new 3D techniques for measuring the effects of aging in skin. Specifically, she and colleagues used x-ray to measure the height of rete ridges in the dermal-epidermal junction. They found the results of this technique strongly correlated with the “gold standard” of measurements: i.e., histological results.

David Boudier, of SILAB, proposed automatic scoring of dermal matrix organization using in vivo confocal laser scanning microscopy. Finally, Myeongryeol Lee described a blue pearl pigment and its blue light effects on the skin of Korean volunteers.

After a morning break, attendees returned for a keynote lecture by Bernard Fink, of the University of Goettingen, on “Darwinian aesthetics.” He discussed sexual selection and the biology of beauty in relation to skin condition. He argued that the “marriage” of skin biology and evolutionary psychology provides a powerful framework for investigating the causes and perception of chronic sun damage in skin. He noted that this may bring a true emotional impetus for consumers to adopt sun protection strategies.

Paul Matts, of P&G, presented on the use of cosmetic ingredients and protocols to treat skin diseases in developing regions, then Walter Wigger-Alberti explored whether sensitive skin is a passing trend or widespread phenomenon. Rounding out the morning session, Stefano Manfredini, of the University of Ferrara and JUST International, explained how the in vitro sun protection factor (SPF) is not descriptive of the real performance of solar products. He proposed, “Perhaps an efficacy factor would be better than SPF.”

Thin-film Cracking, Pollution Protection and a ‘Run-in’ with Anti-aging

After the lunch break, Reinhold H. Dauskart, of Stanford University, gave a keynote lecture on understanding the biomechanics of human skin to predict skin damage and optimize effective treatments. “We become stiffer and tougher as we get older, and skin does, too,” he joked.

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