title: Skin care products: What do they promise, what do they deliver.
abstract: The industry offers a vast armamentarium of skin care products to clean, soothe, restore, reinforce, protect and to treat our skin and hence to keep it in "good condition". Skin care products are readily available and their promotions with fanciful claims are omnipresent. The promotions are based on effects, evoked by actives that are delivered through vehicles that rely on specific technologies. Due to the fact, that these products are in direct contact to the target tissue, their vehicle and ingredients are able to profoundly modulate the characteristics of the skin and some of its functions. This makes products for the skin absolute unique and versatile delivery systems. This paper discusses the concept of skin care and skin protection, the choice of skin care products, their vehicles, their functionality and their regulatory status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland; Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Zürich, Switzerland. Electronic address: christian.suber@unibas.ch.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Surber
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Center for Hair and Skin Science, Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kottner
mesh_terms: D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D000068937:Cosmeceuticals / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003358:Cosmetics / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D003879:Dermatologic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D040541:Marketing; D012867:Skin; D012869:Skin Absorption; D017592:Skin Care / Q000379:methods*; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D000068937:Cosmeceuticals; D003358:Cosmetics; D003879:Dermatologic Agents
keywords: Cosmetics; Cosmetics/administration & dosage; Nursing; Skin care; Topical administration; Vehicle