j. Soc.Cosmet.

Chem.,82, 171-177 (May/June1987)

Biophysical
characterization
of dryfacial skin

J. L. LEVEQUE, G. GROVE, J. de RIGAL, P. CORCUFF,

A. M. KLIGMAN, AND D. SAINT LEGER, Laboratoires
de
Recherche
del'Oreal,1 Avenue EugeneSchueller,93600 AulnaySous Bois,
France(J.L. L., J. d.R., P.C., D.S.L. ), SkinStudyCenter,
3401 MarketStreet,Philadelphia, PA 19104 (G.G.), andDepartment
ofDermatology, SchoolofMedicine,University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia,PA 19104 (A.M.K.).

Received
December
1O, 1986.

Synopsis

Skinconductance, extensibility,corneocyte size,sebumexcretionrate(SER),andtransepidermal waterloss

(TEWL) wereassessed for 55 healthyadultsshowingtypicalwinterxerosis.The variationof theseparam-
eterswith the severityof skindryness (assessedthrougha standardized clinicalgrading)wasplotted.Both
skinconductance and skinextensibilitydecreased with the severityof skindryness,suggestingthat winter
xerosis
mayleadto eitherthickeror drierstratumcorneum(SC).In addition,thereis an inverserelation-
shipbetweenthe sizeof corneocytes and the severityof the xerosis,whichcouldmeanthat a subclinical
inflammation processunderlies thisskinaffliction.Resultsshownoclearrelationship betweenskindryness
and SER or TEWL.

INTRODUCTION

"No onecantalk authoritatively aboutdry skin. Virtually everythingthat canbe saidis

speculativeand controversial" (1). While dry skin is a commondisorderwhich can
makepeoplemiserable,the fact is we know very little aboutit. Indeed,drynessis
merely a descriptiveterm that implies lack of water, but this has not been shown
conclusively.The ichthyoticsyndromes can be considered as extremeexamplesof dry
skin. Ironically, we know a gooddeal more abouttheserare conditionsthan the ordi-
narywintertimexerosiswhichis the focusof this work. Electronmicroscopy hassofar
not illuminatedthe basicstructuraldefectthat underliesdry skin. A currentlypopular
approachto the enigmaticproblemof dry skin is the use of a variety of ingenious
instrumentsto measurethe optical,mechanical,andelectricalpropertiesby noninvasive
technology.Despite a rush of activity, the interpretationand relevanceof the data
obtainedis still a matter of uncertaintyand dispute. The variousnonintrusivetech-
niquesthat have beenappliedto this problemhavebeenrecentlyreviewed(2). The
great appealof this bioengineering approachis the securingof quantitativedata ame-
nable to statisticalanalysis.Anothervaluablefeatureis that the varioustestscan be
speedilyperformed,enablingmeasurements on largesamplesizes,a partial antidoteto
the markedindividualdifferences which plaguestudiesof humanskin. Someof these
are of interestasthey are usuallysimple, noninvasive,and canthereforebe appliedon
171
172 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS

large numbersof subjects.They thereforeallow an objectivecharacterization of the

humanstratumcorneumand its functionalstate.In this regard,no areaof skin is more
complexthan the face,and noneis moreinteresting.Geneticand environmentalinflu-
enceshavea hugeimpacton the quality of facialskin. Dry facialskin is a veryfrequent
complaintof middle-agedwomen,and extraordinary measuresare usedto combatit.
To gain better insight into the natureof dry skin, we madea numberof nonintrusive
measurements.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This investigationwascarriedout on 55 humanvolunteersat the Skin Study Center

(Philadelphia,PA) in Januarywhen dry skin is worst. The subjectswere selectedfor
severityof dry skin by screeningfrom a groupof 165 people.Informedconsentwas
obtained. Except for a mild soapthat was provided, the skin receivedno cosmetic
applicationsfor two weeksprior to the first measurement.

DRYNESS SCORING

Drynessof the foreheadand cheekswasscoredby an experienced

physician,following
the globalgradingsystemof Kligman:
0 = surfacesmooth,no peeling.
1 = slight dryness;sparse,small scales.
2 = moderatedryness;larger, more numerousscales.
3 = extremedryness; prominentlargescales,denselycoveringthe surface.

BIOPHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS

1. Extensibilityof the stratumcorneumwasmeasuredon the cheekby meansof the

Twistometer, whichappliesa weaktorqueto a discthrougha twist of about3 (6).
When the distancebetweenthe discand a surroundingguard ring is lessthan 1 mm,
the measurementreflectsthe resistanceof the stratumcorneumto stretching,an indi-
rect measureof its degreeof hydration.
2. Electricalconductance
was determinedon the cheekand forehead,by meansof a
DermoDiag
(7). This instrumentis an auto-oscillator
that delivers27 MHz waves.
The coaxialcylindricalelectrodeis applied under a constantpressurefor a constant
time.

3. Forceddesquamation of corneocytes wascarriedout by a turbine machinewhich

mechanically rotatesa discof wool in a glasscupfilled with a Triton X 100 solutionas
in the detergentscrubtechnique(8).
4. Transepidermal waterloss(TEWL) wasdetermined on the foreheadusingthe Ser-
vomed evaporimeter afterthe methodof Nilson(3). The subjectswereat restfor at
least45 minutestill steady-state
valueswereobtained.
5. Sebumexcretionrate (SER)wasmeasured on the foreheadusingthe lipometre
as
previously
described(4). The forehead
wascleaned by wipingwith cottonballssoaked
 DRY FACIAL SKIN 173

in ethanol:water(70/30). One hour later, the site wassampledfour times in succession

and sebumexcretionexpressed as g/cm2/min(5).

STATISTICS

Statisticalanalysis
employedSAS(North Carolina),usinga VAX 750 computer.Corre-
lationsamongparameters weredeterminedaccordingto Kendall/Spearman procedures.
Correlationcoefficients
(r) and statisticalsignificance
(p) havebeencalculatedfor all the
experimentaldata.

RESULTS

The distributionof the drynessscores,on cheekand forehead,for the subjectsin this

investigationis summarizedin Figure 1. For simplicity,we havedividedthe popula-
tion into threegroups,viz < 1, < 1 - 2 >, > 2 where< 1, is marginaldryness.It is
noteworthythat 70% of the subjectshadappreciable drynesson the cheeks,while the
figure for the foreheadwasonly 10%.

SC EXTENSIBILITY

Figure 2 revealsa striking decrease

in SC extensibilityas the drynessscoreincreases
(r = -0.55, p < 0.001).

CHEEK FOREHERD
40-

30

r
m,m

10
'-!
Z

< 1 (1-2)
DRYNESS SCORE
174 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS

CHEEK

140

>' BO

60

Ld 40
X

20

o
<1 (1-2) >2

nRYNESS SCORE
Figure 2. Relationship
betweenskinextensibilitymeasured
on cheek(arbitraryunits)anddryness
scores.

ELECTRICAL CONDUCTANCE

On both the cheekand the forehead,conductance

wasinverselyrelatedto the degreeof
dryness (r = -0.66 for cheekand -0.41 for forehead). While the correlations
were
relativelyweak, especially
on the forehead,the differences
amongthe gradesweresig-
nificantfor both areas(p < 0.001 and p < 0.002) (Figure3).

CORNEOCYTES

The sizeof exfoliatedcorneocytesdecreased

with increasing
drynessscores(Figure4).
The differences
weresignificant(r = -0.32, p < 0.05 on the cheekandr = -0.22,
p < 0.05 on the forehead).

SER AND TEWL

The SER wasnot foundto correlatewith the dry skin scores(r = 0.03, p = 0.85). A
statisticallysignificanttrend(r = 0.28, p = 0.04) wasobservedwith TEWL andthe
dry skin scores.
 DRY FACIAL SKIN 175

CHEEK FOREHEAD

IS
i,i
u
z

10
u

z
o
u

<1 (1-2) >2 <1 (1-2) >2

iRYNESS SCORE
Figure 3. Evaluationof skin conductance
(arbitraryunits) with the severityof skin drynesson cheekand
forehead.

DISCUSSION

/hile physicalmeasurements arestraightforwardandrigorous,the skin is socomplex

and so easilyperturbedby evenslight externalchanges,that the data must be viewed
cautiously.Easyinterpretations whichfit expectations shouldbe avoided.Conductance
illustratesthe difficultiesin interpretation.A wetterhornylayerwill conductelectricity
more effectively.Therefore,decreased conductance shouldbe associated with dryness,
and it oftenis. However,onehasto take into accountthe degreeof intimacybetween
the sensingprobeand the skinsurface with all its irregularities.Scalesof coursemake
the surfaceevenrougherand lessencontact.Also, sincethe flow of an electriccurrent
through skin is exceedinglycomplexand dependentin more than water content, it
might well reflectotherparameters suchasthe thickness of the stratumcorneum,casual
sebumlevel, nonapparent sweating,etc. /e did find, nonetheless, that conductance,
asexpected,decreased in dry skin, especiallyon the cheek.This corresponds to clinical
experience, too. Sincewomenrarelycomplainof dry skin on the forehead,thesetwo
sitesare quite differentanatomically.There are no ambiguitiesof this type in the
extensibilitymeasurements. It is quite evident that the horny layer becomesmore
brittle and lessstretchablewith increasingdryness.
Cooperet al. recentlynotedthis effect(9). Still, a simplelack of water may be too
shallowan explanation.For example,the hornylayercouldbe thickerand qualitatively
alteredaswell. Measurementof TE/L did not closelycorrelatewith dryness.Generally
speaking,an increasein TE/L suggests a disturbance in the structureof the horny
layer, e.g., whenbarrierfunctionis stronglycompromised asin the caseof psoriasis
or
after detergentdamage(10, 11). In thesecasesTE/L is alwayselevated.The tendency
176 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS

CHEEK

9gg

659

n-
W

n- 8BB

0 759

?BB
<1 (1-2)

I]RYNESS SCORE
Figure 4. Relationshipbetweencorneocyte
sizeon cheekwith drynessscores.

for dry skin to form a thickerhornylayerwill alsobe a counteractingforce.We could

not relatedrynessto SER. Sebumitselfhasno influenceon diffusionalwaterloss.It is a
commonmistake,producingendlesscontroversy andconfusion,to view dry skin asthe
oppositeof oily skin. As Pierardhasaptly describedit, the two areunrelated(12). We
suggestthat there is a dryness-non-dryness continuumand anothercontinuumcov-
eringthe rangefromoily to non-oily.In the face,the skinmaybe roughandscaly,asin
response to irritation, andyet sebumoutput may actuallybe high, asin acnepatients.
More recently,the Iowa groupfailedto observeany correlationbetweenSER andself-
assessed
facial dryness(13).
We found a significantdecreasein corneocyteareaswith increasingdryness.Several
observations
suggestthe principlethat corneocyte
sizeis inverselyproportionalto epi-
dermalproliferation(14).
In a studyof dry skinof the legs,Fullmeretal. estimatedthe turnoverby the uptakeof
radiolabelledtymidine into DNA. They alsofoundevidenceof increasedproliferation
in dry skin (15). It is thereforetempting to attribute skin drynessto a subclinical
inflammatoryprocess which couldbe furtheraggravatedby sunexposureand excessive
useof abrasives,soaps,cleansers,astringents,etc.
Amongvarioustypesof dry skin, winterxerosisis a verycommoncosmeticaffliction.
The presentstudyhasshownthat this uncomfortable skindisorderis likely relatedto a
slight increasein epidermopoiesis,
leadingin turn to a lessstretchablestratumcor-
 DRY FACIAL SKIN 177

neum, a physicalpropertylinked to both watercontentand thickness.TEWL and SER

are not relevantparametersto adequatelydescribethis type of dry skin.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authorsthank Ms. A. M. Francoisand Mr. T. J. Stoudemayer

for their consider-
able help during this experiment.

REFERENCES

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