Patent Picks—Acacia, Hyaluronan, Porous Keratin and More in Skin Care

By: Rachel L. Grabenhofer

Posted: February 29, 2012

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Personal care compositions of sulfonated estolides and other derivatives of fatty acids and uses thereof
US Patent 8124577
Publication date: Feb. 28, 2012
Assignee: Stepan Co.

Formulations of personal care compositions and personal care concentrate compositions containing sulfo-estolides are described by these inventors. Personal care compositions of the present technology include liquid hand soaps, bath and shower washes, shampoos, 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 shampoos, antidandruff shampoo, facial cleaners, among others. The present technology, in general, relates to sulfo-estolides. More particularly, the present technology relates to sulfo-estolides derivatives and salts of sulfo-estolides and the various applications and/or processes of utilizing them in personal care compositions. It has been surprisingly and unexpectedly found that addition of sulfo-estolides to personal cleansing compositions provide enhanced foaming properties in addition to the ability to change the viscosity of the personal care products to desired ranges without the loss of other valuable properties, including cleaning ability/cleansing, softness, moisturizing ability/moisturization, enhanced mildness, good rinsing, and/or improved skin/hair feel.

Porous keratin construct for skin repair
US Patent 8124735
Publication date: Feb. 28, 2012
Assignee: Keraplast Technologies, Ltd.

This invention relates to a porous keratin material comprising keratin protein for use in wound healing applications. According to the patent, the porous keratin is capable of bio-absorbing into a wound to promote wound healing and the rate at which it absorbs into the wound may be controlled by altering the degree of disulfide cross-linking between the keratin proteins. Keratin has been shown to be a valuable component in wound healing materials but to date, no prior art has disclosed a satisfactory manner for effectively introducing keratin into a wound site while still achieving desirable characteristics associated with a wound healing material. With a controlled rate of absorption, the invention can ensure that keratin remains in the wound for a period of time adequate to aid in the healing of the wound and reducing or eliminating the need to remove the material from the wound, greatly reducing the chance of re-traumatizing the wound site when a new material needs to be applied.