The present invention relates to a cosmetic product application device.

Such an application device is intended to form, for example, a wipe, a web, a fabric, a patch, a disc or a square which is intended to be impregnated with the cosmetic product in order to apply this product by placing the impregnated device in contact with the skin, the nails or the keratinic fibres of a user.

In a variant, the application device is arranged at one end of a gripping member which is intended to be gripped by the hand of a user in order to allow the cosmetic product to be applied to the user.

The term "cosmetic product" is intended to refer in particular to a product as defined in the Directive 93/35/EEC of the Council dated 14 ^th June 1993. The cosmetic product is, for example, a make-up product, a make-up removal composition, which is intended to remove make-up applied to the skin or to keratinic fibres of a user, a nail-polish remover or, more generally, a cream or an emulsion.

WO 2007/070147 discloses a wipe which comprises a non-woven body. The non-woven body of the wipe is, for example, produced based on a mixture of cellulose fibres formed into a sheet using a method involving wet means, similar to the formation of paper.

Synthetic fibres which are not derived from cellulose are added to the fibre mixture in order to modify the properties of the wipes.

Current environmental constraints require this type of wipe to be rapidly biodegradable in order to limit the quantity of waste resulting from the increasing use of these products.

However, it remains necessary to retain adequate properties for the wipes, in particular with respect to their external appearance and their application properties, and in particular their feel.

An object of the invention is therefore to obtain a cosmetic product application device which is substantially biodegradable, whilst having an improved aesthetic appearance and an adequate feel.

To this end, the invention relates to a cosmetic product application device comprising a non-woven body which is formed based on a mixture of fibres, the mixture of fibres comprising flax fibres and cellulose fibres other than flax, all the fibres of the fibre mixture, advantageously of the non-woven body, being cellulose fibres, the fibre mixture comprising between 15% by mass and 60% by mass of flax fibres and between 85% by mass and 40% by mass of cellulose fibres other than flax relative to the total mass of flax fibres and cellulose fibres other than flax. The device according to the invention may comprise one or more of the following features, taken in isolation or according to any technically possible combination:

- the fibre mixture comprises between 45% by mass and 55% by mass of flax fibres, and between 55% by mass and 45% by mass of cellulose fibres other than flax, relative to the total mass of flax fibres and cellulose fibres other than flax;

- the fibre mixture comprises between 15% by mass and 35% by mass of flax fibres, and between 85% by mass and 65% by mass of cellulose fibres other than flax, relative to the total mass of flax fibres and cellulose fibres other than flax; - the mean length of flax fibres is between 5 mm and 40 mm, advantageously between 10 mm and 20 mm;

- the cellulose fibres other than flax are selected from natural cellulose fibres, regenerated cellulose fibres, modified cellulose fibres and mixtures thereof;

- the cellulose fibres other than flax are selected from viscose fibres, lyocell fibres and mixtures thereof;

- the mean length of the cellulose fibres other than flax is between 15 mm and 50 mm, advantageously between 30 mm and 50 mm;

- the cellulose fibres other than flax have a clarity L which is greater than 91 %, measured in accordance with the L ^* a ^* b system of the International Commission on Illumination in accordance with the standard CIE 1976; and

- the non-woven body is a sheet which is able to deform when touched. The invention also relates to a method for producing a device as defined above, characterised in that it comprises the following steps:

- mixing flax fibres and cellulose fibres other than flax, all the fibres of the fibre mixture being cellulose fibres, the fibre mixture comprising between 15% by mass and 60% by mass of flax fibres and between 85% by mass and 40% by mass of cellulose fibres other than flax relative to the total mass of flax fibres and cellulose fibres other than flax; - physical, chemical and/or mechanical bonding of the fibres of the fibre mixture in order to form a non-woven body based on the fibre mixture.

The invention also relates to the use of a device as defined above for exfoliating a body surface of a human being or a keratinic surface, such as advantageously the skin.

The invention will be better understood from a reading of the following description, given purely by way of example and with reference to the appended drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a wipe for applying a cosmetic product according to the invention. Figure 1 illustrates a first example of an application device 10 according to the invention.

Such an application device is intended to form a wipe, a web, a material, a patch, a disc or a square which is intended to be impregnated with the cosmetic product in order to apply this product by placing the impregnated device in contact with the skin, the keratinic fibres or the nails of a user.

In the example illustrated in Figure 1 , the device 10 is a wipe for applying the cosmetic product.

This device 10 comprises a non-woven body 12 which is produced based on a mixture of flax fibres 14 and cellulose fibres 16 other than flax. The body 12 is advantageously a sheet. The term "sheet" in the context of the present invention is intended to refer to a body which is substantially planar, that is to say, which has a thickness at least two times, advantageously at least five times, smaller than its other dimensions. The thickness of the body 12 is advantageously between 0.3 mm and 3 mm. In the example illustrated in Figure 1 , the body 12 has a substantially rectangular shape.

The body 12 is flexible so as to be deformable when touched. The term "deformable when touched" in the context of the present invention is intended to refer to the fact that a user of the application device 10 is able to deform the body 12 using his fingers, in particular by pinching it between two fingers.

The body 12 is a non-woven material which is produced based on a mixture of fibres 14 and 16 which are all cellulose fibres. The term "non-woven material" in the context of the present invention is intended to refer to a substrate which comprises the mixture of fibres and in which the individual fibres or filaments are arranged in a random manner in a sheet-like structure and are neither woven nor knitted. The fibres of the non-woven body are generally bonded together, under the effect of mechanical action (water jet), thermal action, or by the addition of a bonding agent.

Such a non-woven material is, for example, defined in the standard ISO 9092 as a web or a sheet of fibres which are orientated directionally or randomly, bonded by means of friction and/or cohesion and/or adhesion, with the exclusion of paper and products obtained by means of weaving, knitting, tufting, sewing.

As will be seen below, the non-woven bodies 12 in the context of the present invention are generally obtained using dry means, in particular by means of carding or by using an aerodynamic depositing method known as "airlaid". In a variant, the non-woven bodies 12 of the invention are obtained using wet means in a method which is similar to producing paper.

The term "cellulose fibres" is intended to refer to fibres based on natural cellulose, that is to say, fibres which originate directly from a plant, being harvested from a plant, or obtained by means of a mechanical processing operation of the plant, such as grinding, pressing, crushing and/or separation. "Cellulose fibres" are also intended to be understood to be fibres of modified cellulose, that is to say, natural cellulose or solubilised natural cellulose, which has reacted with a chemical component. "Cellulose fibres" are also intended to be understood to be fibres of regenerated cellulose, that is to say, natural cellulose, optionally modified, solubilised in a solvent, then reformed in the form of fibres. These cellulose fibres are advantageously biodegradable.

These cellulose fibres contain at least 50% of cellulose or a derivative of the cellulose.

In this manner, the fibres of the non-woven body 12 do not contain any synthetic fibre. The term "synthetic fibre" is intended to refer to fibres which have no natural polymer precursor, such as fibres obtained by means of polymerisation of a synthetic monomer, derived, for example, from petroleum. Synthetic fibres comprise in particular polyolefins, such as polyethylene or polypropylene, polyesters, such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyamides, such as nylon, polymers containing fluorine or chlorine, such as polyvinylchlohde. Such fibres are not biodegradable and therefore cannot be used to produce the non-woven body 12 of the application devices 10 according to the invention.

Flax fibres 14 of the non-woven body 12 originate from the plant referred to as "flax" or "flax plant" of the "linaceae" family. These fibres 14 are removed from the periphery of the stem of flax plant by mechanically breaking the stem during a fibre removal operation, then separating the long fibres and the tows which are short and rough fibres.

The long and fine fibres obtained after separation of the tows are cut and mechanically refined. They advantageously have a mean length of between 5 mm and 40 mm, advantageously between 10 mm and 20 mm, and in particular substantially of 14 mm.

The fibres obtained contain, for example, between 60% by mass and 85% by mass of cellulose, advantageously between 72% by mass and 82% by mass of cellulose. They contain, for example, from 10% to 30% by mass of pectone, advantageously from 15% to 20% by mass of pectone and from 2% to 3% by mass of wax.

The fibres 14 have a diameter of between 5 μm and 25 μm.

Flax fibres 14 have a density of between 1.4 and 1 .6 and substantially of 1.5. They have a moisture content of between 5% by mass and 15% by mass, advantageously substantially of 12%.

These flax fibres 14 have a stretch at break of between 1.5% and 4% in the dry state and between 2.5 and 6% when they are wet.

Flax fibres 14 have a strength of between 20 and 40 cN/tex, preferably substantially of 29 cN/tex.

Flax fibres 14 are brown in colour. When a non-woven material containing exclusively flax fibres 14 is produced, it thus has a clarity "L" of between 68 and 70, a component "a" between 1 and 2 and a component "b" between 13 and 14, as measured in the colour representation model "L ^* a ^* b" developed by the International Commission on Illumination in accordance with the standard CIE 1976.

Relative to the total mass of flax fibres 14 and cellulose fibres 16 other than flax, the mass proportion of flax fibres 14 in the mixture of flax fibres 14 and cellulose fibres 16 other than flax of the non-woven body 12 is between 15% by mass and 60% by mass, advantageously between 15% by mass and 55% by mass, advantageously between 15% by mass and 35% by mass, or between 45% by mass and 55% by mass. Flax fibres 14 are, for example, marketed by the French company ROBERT

LEVY SAS under the reference "52.26.15; Superfine Flax Fibres".

The cellulose fibres 16 other than flax are obtained based on natural cellulose fibres of plant origin, artificial cellulose fibres obtained based on modified and/or regenerated cellulose or mixtures thereof. Examples of natural cellulose fibres of plant origin are cotton, hemp, jute, wool, or wood pulp.

Artificial cellulose fibres are obtained using a method for processing natural cellulose.

These fibres are, for example, defined in a generic manner by the International Bureau for the Standardisation of Synthetic Fibres (BISFA) as being cellulose fibres of the "acetate" or "triacetate" type obtained by means of acetylation of the hydroxl groups of cellulose, fibres of the "alginate" type obtained from metal salts of alginic acid, such as, for example, alkaline or alkaline-earth salts of alginic acid such as calcium alginate, or cellulose-based fibres of the "cupro" type, obtained using the "cuprammonium" method, in which the natural cellulose is dissolved in a compound comprising copper and an amine, such as cupra tetraamine dihydroxide.

Advantageously, the cellulose fibres 16 other than flax are viscose fibres.

The term "viscose fibres" in the context of the present invention is intended to refer to fibres which are obtained using the "viscose method" in accordance with the definition of BISFA, in wh ich a basic sol ution of cel l u lose xanthate is advantageously drawn in the form of fibres from one or more regeneration baths.

These fibres sometimes have a high level of resistance to break and are referred to as "modal". Advantageously and in a variant, the cellulose fibres 16 which are other than flax are lyocell fibres. The term "lyocell" fibres is intended to refer to cellulose fibres which are obtained using a method of spinning from an organic solvent which comprises a mixture of organic chemical products and water, the term "solvent spinning" referring to the dissolution of the cellulose in the solvent without a cellulose derivative being formed.

In this method which is referred to as "lyocell" by BISFA, natural cellulose is, for example, dissolved in a mixture of water and amine-N-oxide, for example, a tertiary amine-N-oxide, such as N-methylmorpholine N-oxide, and is drawn via a passage of air into a precipitation bath in order to form fibres. Such a method is described, for example, in FR 2 450 293.

The cellulose fibres 16 which are other than flax thus obtained have a length between 10 mm and 50 mm, advantageously between 30 mm and 50 mm, and substantially of 40 mm. The fibres 16 have a diameter between 9 and 17 μm.

They have a linear density between 1.5 dtex and 2.0 dtex and a strength at break between 20 cN/tex and 40 cN/tex, advantageously between 16 and 34 cN/tex, as measured by the standards. It also has a stretch at break, measured by the standard, of between 8% and 25%. A non-woven material which is constituted exclusively by fibres 16 has a clarity "L" greater than 91 %, and the components "a" and "b" between 0 and 1 and between -3 and -2, respectively, as measured in the colour representation model L ^* a ^* b developed by the International Commission on Illumination in accordance with the standard CIE 1976. The cellulose fibres 16 other than flax are therefore white.

Relative to the total mass of flax fibres 14 and cellulose fibres 16 other than flax, the mass proportion of cellulose fibres 16 other than flax in the mixture of flax fibres 14 and cellulose fibres 16 other than flax of the non-woven body 12 is between 85% by mass and 40% by mass, advantageously between 85% by mass and 45% by mass, advantageously between 85% by mass and 65% by mass, or between 55% by mass and 45% by mass, the total of the mass percentage of the fibres 14 and the mass percentage of the fibres 16 being 100%.

Advantageously, the fibres 16 are produced based on fibres of viscose or lyocell marketed by the Austrian company LENZING under the tradenames "LENZING VISCOSE ^® " and "LENZING LYOCELL ^® ", respectively.

Advantageously, no chemical bonding agent is used to maintain the mechanical cohesion of the non-woven body 12. In a variant, a chemical bonding agent is used. This bonding agent is, for example, an acrylic emulsion, an emulsion of the type vinyl-ethylene acetate, an emulsion of the type styrene-butadiene-styrene, or an emulsion of vinyl chloride.

As illustrated in Figure 1 , the non-woven body 12 of the device 10 thus has an outer surface in which flax fibres 14 can be seen, being dispersed in a homogeneous manner in the structure of the cellulose fibres 16 which are other than flax, which gives the application device 10 a natural outward appearance.

The body 12 has, compared with a non-woven material which is formed exclusively by cellulose fibres 16 as defined above, a coefficient ΔE greater than 2, as defined by the equation below:

AE = ^(L ₁ -L ₂ ) ² + fa -QL ₂ f + (ID ₁ - b ₂ ) ² where l_i, ai and bi are the coefficients "L ^* a ^* b" of the non-woven body 12 and L ₂ , a ₂ and b ₂ are the coefficients "L ^* a ^* b" of a non-woven material which is produced exclusively based on fibres 16.

The body thus obtained has a weight between 40 and 250 g/m ² . The non-woven body 12 of the application device is advantageously charged with at least one cosmetic product such as make-up, a make-up removal composition, a nail-polish remover, or more generally a cream, an emulsion or a lotion.

This charging can be carried out in the factory, after the production of the body 12, before the device 10 is used by the user, the device 10 charged with cosmetic product being arranged in a packaging in order to be provided to the user. In a variant, the non-woven body 12 may have no cosmetic product before being used by the user, the user himself applying the cosmetic product to the non- woven body 12 when it is used. Examples of production methods for an application device 10 according to the invention will now be described.

Initially, flax fibres 14 as described above and cellulose fibres 16 which are other than flax as described above are provided and are mixed in order to obtain a substantially homogeneous mixture of fibres 14 and fibres 16. The method then comprises a step for forming the non-woven body 12, a step for consolidating the body 12, then a finishing step.

The step for forming the body 12 is carried out either via a dry path or via a wet path, these paths being referred to as "drylaid" and "wetlaid", respectively. In the dry path, the body 12 is advantageously formed by means of carding or an aerodynamic depositing method referred to as "airlaid".

For the carding, balls of fibres 14, 16 are first opened, then mixed and moved to a card by means of a conveyor belt so that the fibres 14, 16 are combed, individually separated and orientated along a general axis.

The fibres 14, 16 of the non-woven body 12 obtained by means of carding are deposited on a main drum substantially parallel with each other in the direction of the machine.

In the aerodynamic depositing method, a card is used to form a carpet of fibres 14, 16 which is moved to a rotating roller. Under the action of a centrifugal force, the sheet of fibres 14, 16 is projected into a current of air in which the fibres lose any preferential direction, in order to then be deposited onto a forming belt.

In the wet path, a very dilute paste containing the fibres 14, 16 is deposited onto a conveyor belt. Water is then drawn from the belt in order to dehydrate and form the body 12. The body 12 is then consolidated by means of compression between cylinders, then dried.

The fibres 14, 16 obtained in the body 12 thus formed have very variable orientations.

At the consolidation step, various types of bonding agents are used to provide mechanical cohesion for the body 12.

Advantageously, a mechanical bonding agent is used to consolidate the body 12.

A first type of mechanical bonding is needling, in which the needles, which are advantageously barbed, are pressed vertically through the fibres 14, 16 of the body 12, which causes them to become interwoven. This technique allows non- woven materials to be obtained with a large weight and thickness.

Advantageously, the bonding is carried out by jets of water in accordance with the technique referred to as "spunlacing" or "water jet consolidation".

In this method, the fibres 14, 16 of the body 12 are interwoven using high- pressure water jets. Upon contact with these jets, the fibres are rearranged in the three dimensions of the body 12 and the consolidation can be obtained without the addition of a bonding agent. The pressure of the jets, for example, of between 50 bar and 200 bar, determines the solidity of the non-woven fabric which it is desirable to obtain.

In a variant, thermal bonding is used by compressing the body 12 between two cylinders in order to weld the fibres 14, 16 together at great speed. A controlled flow of warm air or ultrasounds can also be used to produce connections between the fibres 14, 16.

In a variant, a chemical bonding is carried out by applying to the body 12 a bonding agent which is advantageously formed by an acrylic emulsion, an emulsion of vinyl-ethylene acetate, an emulsion of styrene-butadiene-styrene, or another dispersed polymer.

These bonding agents are applied in a uniform manner by means of impregnation, coating or spraying, or in an intermittent or continuous manner.

In the finishing step, chemical substances can be added after the consolidation of the body 12. Mechanical embossing methods can be used, in particular to create patterns on the body 12.

Two examples of wipes according to the invention, produced from a mixture of viscose fibres and flax fibres, and a comparative example of a wipe produced exclusively from viscose fibres will now be described in Table 1 below.

Table 1

The viscose fibres are fibres which are marketed by the company LENZING under the name "Lenzing Viscose®" under the reference "1 .7 dtex 40mm dull Nonwovens". Flax fibres are fibres which are marketed under the reference "Type

56.26.15 Superfine Flax" by the French company LEVY SAS.

The wipes are produced using a method involving dry means and are consolidated by jets of water. No bonding agent is added to consolidate the non- woven body.

The results of colorimetry using the L ^* a ^* b method are set out in Table 1 to illustrate the natural appearance of the wipes according to the invention.

The results of softness to the touch, measured using an audible surface- area in the machine direction using a sonometer, the sonometer being moved in the direction of the fibres, are also set out in Table 1.

The sonometer measures the sound emission spectrum between 0 kHz and 30 kHz of the friction of a spherical resonator having a diameter of 38 mm which rotates about the wipe at a constant speed and pressure of 180 rpm and 5 grammes, respectively. The result of the measurement is a spectrum of 800 points from 0 kHz to 30 kHz, representing an audible surface-area. The signal is subject to a "Hanning" type windowing operation then is averaged 100 times in order to increase the signal to noise ratio. A small audible surface-area characterises softness.

As can be seen in Table 1 , the presence of flax fibres in the body 12 surprisingly results in a substantially rougher feel and an exfoliating character compared with a wipe of viscose. Even with a small quantity of flax, a natural appearance is obtained.

In a variant (not illustrated), the application device 10 is arranged at a free end of a gripping member in order to form a tool for applying a cosmetic product to a user, for example, to keratinic fibres of a user.