MOISTURIZING PROPERTY

Subject of the Invention

The invention relates to an oil-based product, which maintains the balance of the skin flora, forms a moisture-entrapping barrier on the skin, contains no petrochemical-derived component, and features the moisturizing ability.

State of the Art

The skin may be defined as a cover system for the human body being in contact with the external environment and protecting the internal and external organs from the adverse environmental conditions. The degree of sensitivity of the skin may vary from one person to another. The fat cells in the skin of the babies secrete less fat than the adults. Besides, the skin barrier has not completed its development in the babies. With all these factors combined, the water loss is greater from the skin of the babies, which in turn leads to dryness in the skin. In case the quantity of fat secreted does not sufficiently increase as the baby grows, the health problems like eczema emerge.

The problems possible to be caused by the dryness of the skin include but are not limited to eczema. The additional problems like itching, rash, irritation, and bacterial colonization associated with the crack development in the skin may also occur. There are some measures possible to be taken to preclude all these problems. Washing the clothes with sensitive cleaning agents and preferring only the fabrics made of cotton are among the possible measures to be taken. The most important measure that may be taken in addition to these is keeping a high moisture level in the skin of the babies at all times with the help of various care products.

The baby oils are the most preferred product among said care products. With the help of this product, which is suitable both for daily use and for application after bathing, the oil is diffused in the body of the baby and enables to reduce the water loss by serving the function of a barrier on the skin. The baby oils available in the state of the art mostly contain petrochemical-derived components, more specifically liquid paraffin. Although the liquid paraffin is a good moisture-entrapping component, it clogs the pores in the skin, i.e. it prevents the skin from breathing. As a result, the irritations occur in the sensitive skins. For this reason, the baby oils using the vegetable oils of natural origin, which do not contain petrochemical-derived components, are currently preferred by the parents.

The skin dryness developing in cases where the oils being used are not sufficient to form a barrier on the skin leads to itching and the itching in turn leads to cracks on the skin. The bacteria colonizing in these cracks disrupt the available balance between the beneficial and harmful bacteria in the skin flora. Maintaining the balance of the skin flora is important for defending the body against the adverse external factors. Moreover, when this balance is disrupted in favor of the harmful bacteria, the skin disorders like allergic eczema develop. The topical medicaments comprising corticosteroids which are used for treating these disorders have serious side effects. Since corticosteroids weaken the connective tissue, they may cause thinning, cracking and easy bruising in the skin. Further, they retard the healing of the wounds on the skin.

In order to solve these problems, it is necessary to develop products that would support the increase in the number of the beneficial bacteria on the skin while moisturizing the skin. The non-digestible fibers, which increase the activity of the friendly microorganisms in the body by enabling the growth and/or stimulation of the same, are called the prebiotics. In order to have the prebiotic feature, a food should satisfy some conditions. These include being resistant to digestion, being degradable by the bacteria in the gut, creating a stimulating effect on the friendly bacteria, and having a positive effect on the health of the host living being. The prebiotics reduce the infection risk and strengthen the immune system by preventing the growth of the harmful bacteria. The prebiotics, which are generally used for the purpose of providing the balance of the bacteria available in the digestive system, are known to be also effective in achieving the balance in the skin flora.

The need has arisen to perform an innovation in the relevant art in order to solve the above- mentioned problems. With this invention, an oil-based product, which maintains the balance of the skin flora, forms a moisture-entrapping barrier on the skin, contains no petrochemical-derived component, and features the moisturizing ability, is provided.

Object of the Invention

An object of the invention is to develop an oil-based product, which precludes the skin disorders possible to emerge as a result of the disruption of the skin flora by supporting the growth of the beneficial bacteria.

Another object of the invention is to develop an oil-based product, which contains no petrochemical-derived component and features the moisturizing ability.

Another object of the invention is to develop an oil-based product, which entraps the moisture by forming a barrier on the skin owing to the natural vegetable oils it contains.

The structural and characteristic features and all the advantages of the invention will be more clearly understood from the detailed description provided below. Consequently, the evaluation should be made taking said detailed description into consideration. Detailed Description of the Invention

The invention relates to an oil-based product, which maintains the balance of the skin flora, forms a moisture-entrapping barrier on the skin, contains no petrochemical-derived component, and features the moisturizing ability.

In this detailed description, the preferred alternatives of the oil-based product according to the invention are described only to enable a better understanding of the subject matter, without leading to any limiting effect.

The oil-based product according to the invention comprises in its most basic form at least one type of prebiotic, at least one type of oil and at least one type of vitamin. Said skin cleansing product does not contain any petrochemical-derived component for moisturizing the skin and/or entrapping the moisture.

Said oil-based product is preferably but not limited to a baby oil. Compared with the alternatives of the state of the art, that it does not contain any petrochemical-derived component is among the most important properties of this product.

It is desired that the oil-based product entraps the moisture and reduces the risk of crack development even though it does not contain any petrochemical-derived component. For this reason, at least one type of natural vegetable oil is used within the scope of the invention. In this product developed, at least one oil or a mixture of several oils selected from but not limited to olive oil, sunflower oil (helianthus annuus seed oil), sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, apricot kernel oil, avocado oil, sesame oil, macadamia oil, wheat germ oil, borage oil (borago officinalis seed oil), sea buckthorn oil (hippophae rhamnoides fruit oil), and evening primrose oil (oenothera biennis oil) is preferred as the natural vegetable oil.

Within the scope of the invention, at least one oil or a mixture of several oils selected from sunflower oil, borage oil, sea buckthorn oil, and evening primrose oil is used as the natural vegetable oil. The reason for preferring these oils is that they have a high content of gamma linolenic acid (GLA). GLA reduces the water loss by supporting the barrier on the skin, thereby enabling the skin to remain moist for a long time.

A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises the sunflower oil and the borage oil as the natural vegetable oil.

An alternative embodiment of the invention comprises the sunflower oil, borage oil, and sea buckthorn oil as the natural vegetable oil.

Another alternative embodiment of the invention comprises the sunflower oil, borage oil, sea buckthorn oil, and evening primrose oil as the natural vegetable oil.

In addition to the natural vegetable oils, at least one type of prebiotic is used within the scope of the invention. The prebiotics are the fibers, which prevent the growth of the harmful bacteria while stimulating the beneficial bacteria to increase their number and activity. The purpose for using a prebiotic here is likewise enabling the balance of the skin flora to be maintained by supporting the beneficial bacteria. In this way, the harmful bacteria are prevented from colonizing in the cracks formed on the skin and the emergence of various skin disorders is precluded.

Within the scope of the invention, at least one prebiotic or a mixture of several prebiotics selected from but not limited to jojoba seed oil (simmondsia chinensis seed oil), common oat kernel oil (avena sativa kernel oil) or bacillus ferment is used as the prebiotic.

The oil-based product according to the invention comprises at least one type of vitamin. By the use of the vitamin, it is aimed to enable the nourishing and moisturizing of the skin. The use of the vitamin is preferred also for preventing the oxidation of the natural vegetable oils contained in the product in the course of time. Though not being limited to these alternatives, the vitamin E and/or the vitamin D3 is/are used as the vitamin within the scope of the invention.

A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises the vitamin E (tocopheryl acetate) as the vitamin.

The product developed within the scope of the invention preferably comprises 85-98% by weight at least one type of natural vegetable oil, 0.1-1% by weight at least one type of prebiotic, and 0.1-1% by weight at least one type of vitamin.

A preferred embodiment of the invention preferably comprises 89-96% by weight at least one type of vegetable oil, 0.5-2% by weight at least one type of another vegetable oil different from the first one, 0.1-1% by weight at least one type of prebiotic or prebiotic mixture, and 0.1-1% by weight vitamin. In said embodiment, the oil used at a ratio of 89-96% by weight is preferably the sunflower oil, the other oil used at a ratio of 0.5-2% by weight is preferably the borage oil, the prebiotic mixture used is preferably a mixture of jojoba seed oil, common oat kernel oil and bacillus ferment, and said vitamin is preferably vitamin E.

Another alternative embodiment of the invention preferably comprises 85-92% by weight at least one type of vegetable oil, 0.5-3% by weight each at least two types of vegetable oil, 0.1-1% by weight at least one type of prebiotic or prebiotic mixture, and 0.1-1% by weight vitamin. In said embodiment, the vegetable oil used at a ratio of 85-92% by weight is preferably the sunflower oil, the vegetable oils each used at a ratio of 0.5-3% by weight are preferably the borage oil and the sea buckthorn oil, said prebiotic mixture is preferably a mixture of jojoba seed oil, common oat kernel oil and bacillus ferment, and said vitamin is preferably vitamin E.

Another alternative embodiment of the invention preferably comprises 85-92% by weight at least one type of vegetable oil, 0.5-2% by weight each at least three types of vegetable oil, 0.1-1% by weight at least one type of prebiotic or prebiotic mixture, and 0.1-1% by weight at least one type of vitamin. In said embodiment, the vegetable oil used at a ratio of 85-92% by weight is preferably the sunflower oil, the vegetable oils each used at a ratio of 0.5-2% by weight are preferably the borage oil, the sea buckthorn oil and the evening primrose oil, the prebiotic mixture used is preferably a mixture of jojoba seed oil, common oat kernel oil and bacillus ferment, and the vitamin used is preferably vitamin E.

In order to obtain said baby oil; the vegetable oils, the prebiotic mixture and the vitamin are combined and then stirred at a speed of 150-250 rpm for 10-20 minutes preferably with the help of a mechanical mixer to thereby obtain a homogeneous product.

Owing to the oil-based product developed within the scope of the invention, which is free of petrochemical-derived components, forms a moisture barrier on the skin, and maintains the balance of the skin flora by supporting the activity of the beneficial bacteria, said problems and drawbacks of the state of the art encountered by the users were enabled to be eliminated.