The present invention relates to a cosmetic kit and method. More particularly it relates to a kit comprising a metal coated pad for use as a skin exfoliant.

Normal healthy skin is composed of many layers of cells which comprise the epidermis. These cells are generated in distinct germinal layers - the stratum basale and the stratum spinosum. Layers of epidermal cells form continuously throughout life, and as these successive layers pass towards the outer surface of the skin over a period of many days, they undergo a maturation process during which they generate within their cellular substance the protein keratin. This substance has a tough, horny consistency and is impervious to water. Eventually these cells become filled with keratin and die, to form the tough outermost mechanical barrier of the skin - the stratum corneum. The individual cells filled with keratin are now referred to a squames. It is this horny layer that varies in thickness from one region of the body to the next according to the level of wear and tear the skin is subjected to.

Sheading of dead keratinised skin cells is a natural process called desquamation. Some disease processes and inflammatory conditions, and irritations to the skin caused by mechanical, chemical and thermal stimuli and sunlight, and even normal repair and healing, can cause a proliferation of the epidermal cells and result in an excessive thickening of the stratum corneum - a process referred to as hyperkeratosis. This thickening of the horny outer layer can make the skin feel uncomfortable and appear of poor colour. The skin also produces natural secretions such as sweat and fatty substances that help prevent bacterial and fungal infections. One such secretion, sebum - an oily secretion, helps to waterproof both the skin and hair. An excessive build up of this substance can lead to the formation of comedones - commonly referred to as "Black heads", which can mar the appearance of the skin, and can be troublesome to remove, leading to localised areas of inflammation - so called spots and pimples.

Excess keratinised squames can be removed from the surface of the skin by rubbing the stratum corneum with an abrasive material. This process of removing the keratinised layer from the surface of the skin is known as exfoliation.

Many materials and substances are available in cosmetic preparations for the removal of these keratinised squames, by way of exfoliation. Pumice stone is one such abrasive material that has been used traditionally as an exfoliant. Other exfoliant preparations comprise fine abrasive particles such as ground nut kernal, silicates and microscopic dense plastic particles in liquid suspension. Vegetable matter and textiles with abrasive textures have also been used for this purpose.

Exfoliation helps to remove this surface layer of keratinised cells that is perpetually colonised by bacteria and fungi. This process is commonly performed as part of routine skin cleansing and helps to minimise the build up of an excessively thick keratinised layer, and can provide the skin with a smooth and blemish free appearance.

Exfoliant abrasives are often delivered in an aqueous suspension or within a paraffin or natural wax based emulsion. These preparations are formulated by manufacturers to minimise skin irritation and allergic skin reactions.

It has now been found that a pad having a coating of metal particles, in particular a pad of material woven from nylon fibres having a coating of silver particles, is particularly advantageous for use as an exfoliant.

According to one aspect, the present invention provides a kit for use in a method of exfoliating skin, which comprises a pad having a coating of particles of a metal selected from silver, gold and platinum, packaging material and instructions for use of the pad as an exfoliant.

In another aspect, the present invention provides the cosmetic use of a pad having a coating of particles of a metal selected from silver, gold and platinum as a skin exfoliant.

In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method for exfoliating an area of the skin of a subject, which comprises rubbing the area of skin with a pad having a coating of particles of a metal selected from silver, gold and platinum.

It has been observed that facial skin that has been exfoliated using the metal coated pad has a smooth texture, an even colouration and an increased tonus. Skin on which the pad has been used daily or intermittently for a period of several months appears healthy. The improvement in the condition of facial skin in adolescents was observed to be particularly good. By simply rinsing a pad with water under a tap after each use, it was found that the pad could be used without loss of efficacy and without developing any odour for more than four months.

Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that the metal particles coating the pad may self-disinfect the pad, and also deposit on the skin. It is known that particles of certain metals possess antibacterial and antifungal action.

The metal may be elemental silver, gold or platinum, or an alloy of silver, gold and/or platinum. In one embodiment of the invention, the metal is silver.

The skin may conveniently be rubbed with the pad in the presence of a lubricant. A preferred lubricant is water.

In a preferred embodiment, the pad is washed with water after use, and is then reused. It has been found that pads treated in this way may be used repeatedly, for example daily, for periods of up to four months or longer, without loss of effectiveness and without developing any odour.

The subject to which the method is applied may be any subject requiring exfoliation, for example a human or a non-human animal, such as a companion animal. For example, the subject may be a human child (aged for example up to 10 years), adolescent (aged, for example, from 10 to 20 years) or adult, male or female. Particularly good results have been obtained where the human subject was an adolescent.

The area of skin may be any area of skin on the subject. It is preferably the face, for example the cheeks or the nose.

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The pad may conveniently be rubbed on the area of skin for from about 0.5 to about 2 minutes. The method may be repeated, for example once or twice daily, such as for up to one week, one month, two months, three months, four months or longer.

Prior to rubbing the area of skin in accordance with the method of the invention, the area of skin may conveniently be cleansed, conveniently with a skin cleansing agent, for example with a soap, such as a non-drying neutral pH soap, to remove dirt and oils.

After rubbing the area of skin with the exfoliant pad, the skin may rinsed, allowed to dry, and then, if desired, a skin moisturiser may be applied.

The pad may conveniently be rinsed in water and then allowed to dry. In one embodiment, the pad may be provided with a tab to enable it to be hung up to dry.

In one embodiment, the metal (such as silver) particles have a mean diameter of less than lμm, for example from 1 to 100 ran.

In another embodiment, the metal (such as silver) particles have been formed by vapour deposition, such as under vacuum by Ion Beam Assisted Deposition - IBAD or Ion Beam Implantation or by electrolytic deposition. These processes produce an even distribution of tightly adherent nano-crystals of the metal.

Suitable methods of forming the metal particles by vapour deposition are well known in the art, for example in the manufacture of metal (such as silver) coated materials for use as wound dressings. An example of a process, by ion-beam assisted deposition, is described in United States patent number 5,474,797.

Metal coated textiles have been known in the art for a long time (see, for example, British patent number 863875), and new materials are still being developed (see for example United States patent number 6,087,549).

In one embodiment, the pad comprises fibres, such as textile fibres, coated with the metal (such as silver) particles. The fibres may be interwoven. Preferably the fibres are nylon (polyamide), polyethylene or polyester, especially nylon.

The textile material is preferably composed of a coarse, open weave pattern of, preferably nylon fibres, which renders the textile mildly abrasive and enables abraded skin debris to readily be removeable from the the textile by simple rinsing under running water.

The amount of metal (such as silver) in a metal-coated textile fabric is conveniently in the range of from 1 to 100 mg of metal per gram of fabric, for example from 20 to 50 mg.

Materials suitable for making exfoliant pads for use in accordance with the present invention are commercially available.

Examples of commercially available silver coated wound dressing materials from which pads according to the invention may be made include SHIELDEX™ (a needle woven felt formed from silver coated polyamide fibres obtainable from Statex GmbH, Querlandstrasse 6b, 28357, Bremen, Germany; www.statex.de and other silver-coated polyamide textile materials and yarns available from Statex GmbH or Shieldex Trading USA, a US division of Statex GmbH; www.shieldextrading.com); DACRON ™ (a silver coated polyester obtainable from Meadox Medical Inc., 112 Bauer Drive, Oakland, New Jersey, United States of America); ACTICOAT™ (a dressing consisting of an absorbent inner layer of rayon and polyester sandwiched between outer layers of a silver coated polyethylene net and obtainable from Smith and Nephew Healthcare Limited, Healthcare House, Goulton Steet, Hull HU3 9DJ, United Kingdom and containing SILCRYST™ nanocrystals [NUCRYST Pharmaceuticals Corporation, 50 Audubon Road, Suite B, Wakefield, Massachusetts 01880, United States of America]); and SILVERLON™ wound dressing material (a knitted, silver-plated nylon fabric dressing obtainable from Argentum Medical, LLC, 240 81 ^st Street, Willowbrook Street, Illinois 60527, United States of America).

It will be appreciated that skin cleansing and skin exfoliation are distinct processes, requiring the use of different products that are sold in packing bearing different labelling.

Thus, a product intended to be used as an exfoliant will generally be sold in a package bearing the word "exfoliant".

The packaging in the kits according to the invention may be any packaging conventionally used in the cosmetic trade, for example card packaging. The instructions for use of the pad as an exfoliant may simply comprise the word "exfoliant" provided on the outside of the packaging, or may be contained in a package insert. The outside of the packaging and/or package insert may contain a description and/or illustration of how to use the pad as an exfoliant in accordance with the invention. For example, the instructions may comprise directions to rub the pad on the area of skin in the presence of water (e.g. to wet the pad with water).

The pad in the kit may conveniently be provided in a hermetically sealed pouch. The kit may comprise a plurality of different sized pads, each adapted for exfoliating a different area of skin.

The pad may have a regular shape. For example it may be shaped as a disc, square or rectangle. The integrity of the edges of the pad may be supported with stitches. Alternatively, the pad may form part of a cloth, which may be in the form of a glove, mitten, towel or cushion, or be supported on a sponge or handle, for example formed of plastics material or wood. The handle may be formed, for example, in a shape commonly found in bathroom tools. For example, it may be configured to permit the user to rub the pad on an area of skin that cannot be reached by the user's hand (such as like the handle for a back-scrub). It may also support another bathroom tool, such as a nailbrush.

The pad may have a thickness of, for example, from 0.1 to 5 mm, such as from 0.2 to 3.0 mm, for example from 0.4 to 2 mm. The surface area of a face of the pad may be, for example, from 5 to 500 cm ² , such as from 10 to 250 cm ² , for example 25 to 100 cm ² . For example, the pad may be a square with sides having a length of from 5 to 10 cm, or a disc having a radius of from 2 to 5 cm.

The kit may also comprise a skin moisturiser. It will be appreciated that the function of the moisturiser is to help maintain or increase the level of hydration of the skin, especially following use of the exfoliation pad.

The kit may also comprise a skin cleansing agent, such as a soap. It will be appreciated that the function of the skin cleansing agent or soap is to cleanse the skin, to remove dirt and oils, prior to use of the exfoliation pad.

The kit may also comprise one or more cosmetic tools, such as a mirror, nail clippers, scissors, a nail brash, a razor, an electric razor, a hair brush or a shaving brush.

The use as an exfoliant of a pad coated with metal particles as described hereinabove has cosmetic applications and therapeutic applications, for examples in the treatment of inflammatory skin disorders, such as psoriasis and acne vulgaris (commonly known as acne).

The following Example illustrates the invention.

Example 1

An adult male (46 years old), an adult female (35 years old) and four adolescents (ages 10 to 20) each followed the following exfoliation procedure for several days.

At the end of the day, the facial skin was cleansed using a non-drying neutral pH soap (NEUTRAGENA™ dermatological soap) to remove dirt and oils. A pad of SHIELDEX™ textile material (a needle woven felt of silver coated polyamide fibres obtained from Statex GmbH, Querlandstrasse 6b, 28357, Bremen, Germany; www.statex.de) having a thickness of about 1.5 mm was then gently scrubbed over the face, using water as a lubricant. A proprietary moisturiser (CLINIQUE™ moisturising lotion) was then applied to the skin.

It was found that the silver-coated fibres of the pad appeared to provide a lightly abrasive, polishing action that was very effective in the removal of patches of dry flaking skin. The subjects noted that their facial skin felt smoother and very clean following treatment with the pad, without feeling excessively dry.

It was further observed that lesions present on the skin of the adolescents (pustules, vesicles and crusts caused by over-activity of the sebaceous and sweat glands and infection of hair follicles) gradually resolved. Blackheads - unsightly accumulations of sebaceous secretions within the skin, were also more easily removed following repeated localised applications of the pad over a period of several days.

Following each application, the pad was drummed between the fingers under running tap water to remove adherent skin debris and then laid on a cotton towel to dry. After repeated usage over a period of more than four months, the pad did not appear to become fouled or malodorous.