Re: comedogenic oils

December 23, 2002

On Mon, 23 Dec 2002 14:09:15 -0000, " juniemarie2000 "

wrote:

>i wonder if anyone can shed some light on this subject?ÿ i see alot

>of lists of comedogenic and non comedogenic oils and ingredients.ÿ

>have there actually been any test done ?ÿ if so where could i get

>more info?ÿ right now i am just testing on my own skin and some

>family members but i am getting tired of my skin breaking out on

>every other ingredient.ÿ so far the oil that has passed the test on

>everyones skin is hazelnut. i have a nice book on carrier oils by len

>price but they dont mention this aspect.ÿ they do list the principal

>constituents like how much stearic,linoleic,acid,iodine value etc. it

>has alot of info on the chemistry of fixed oils. is there something i

>should be looking for that all comedogenic oils might have in

>commen?ÿ thanyouÿ doloresÿ

This is from the message archives:

Date: Wed Sep 27, 2000 8:34 pm

Subject: comedogenicity and acne

>As far as comedogenicity goes my recollection of the

>works of Kligman, Maibach and Fulton found that Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

>was non-comedogenic in the rabbit ear assay.

And on Wed, 27 Sep 2000 08:37:38 -0400, Young wrote:

>You can always test the materials yourself

>by applying them to the inner ear of a rabbit for nine days. Then sacrifice

>the rabbit and cut off its ears. Prepare microscopic slides of the tissue

>and look for indications of comedogenicity. You must leave one ear on each

>rabbit as a control.

Dr. Alfred Kligman is a well known and sometimes controversial

dermatologist, researcher and prolific author of many scientific

articles.

Below are selected abstracts from several articles written by Dr.

Kligman that reference comedogenicity and acne. I thought that some of

the Cosmeticinfo list members might find it interesting. Please note

the first abstract.

Maurice

TITLE: Comedogenicity of current therapeutic products, cosmetics, and

ingredients in the rabbit ear.

AUTHORS: Fulton JE Jr; Pay SR; Fulton JE 3d

SOURCE: J Am Acad Dermatol 1984 Jan;10(1):96-105

CITATION IDS: PMID: 6229554 UI: 84112200

ABSTRACT: Cosmetics continue to be used by acne-prone individuals.

Often as more acne develops, more cosmetics are applied. In order to

protect against this natural tendency, physicians should provide more

patient information on the currently available products and

ingredients. This presentation is designed to help in that effort. The

data presented were gleaned from the rabbit ear assay, which is not an

ideal animal model but is the best we have. If an ingredient is

negative in the rabbit ear assay, we feel it is safe on the acne-prone

skin. A strong, positive ingredient or cosmetic should be avoided.

Ingredient offenders include isopropyl myristate and its analogs, such

as isopropyl palmitate, isopropyl isostearate, butyl stearate,

isostearyl neopentanoate, myristyl myristate, decyl oleate, octyl

stearate, octyl palmitate or isocetyl stearate, and new introductions

by the cosmetic industry, such as propylene glycol-2 (PPG-2) myristyl

propionate. Lanolins continue to be a problem, especially derivatives

such as acetylated or ethoxylated lanolins. Our most troublesome recent

finding is the comedogenic potential of the D & C Red dyes. They are

universally used in the cosmetic industry, especially in blushers. This

may explain the predominance of cosmetic acne in the cheekbone area.

All of these D & C Red dyes tested to date, the xanthenes,

monoazoanilines, fluorans, and indigoids, are comedogenic. Actually,

this is not surprising as they are coal tar derivatives. The natural

red pigment, carmine, is noncomedogenic and can serve as a substitute

for D & C dyes in blushers. Many finished products are comedogenic.

Most troublesome to the dermatologists are the therapeutic tools that

we use, such as Liquimat, Retin-A cream, Hytone, Staticin, Sulfoxl,

Desquam-X, and Persadox HP cream. These should be reformulated. We have

been unable to confirm that precipitated sulfur (U.S.P.) is a potent

comedogen in the rabbit ear assay. Clinically, we still find sulfur

quite effective as an adjuvant to the benzoyl peroxide therapy for the

treatment of acne vulgaris. We would suggest that the bias against

sulfur be reconsidered.

TITLE: Enhancement of comedogenic substances by ultraviolet radiation.

AUTHORS: Mills OH; Porte M; Kligman AM

SOURCE: Br J Dermatol 1978 Feb;98(2):145-50

CITATION IDS: PMID: 147099 UI: 78124016

ABSTRACT: Ultraviolet radiation enhanced the capacity of human sebum,

sulphur, cocoa butter, squalene, and coal tar to produce comedones in

the external ear canals of rabbits. An enhancement of the

comedogenicity of coal tar and squalene was similarly demonstrated in

man. We conjecture that in occasional patients sunbathing may aggravate

acne by augmenting the comedogenicity of sebum.

TITLE: Ultraviolet phototherapy and photochemotherapy of acne

vulgaris.

AUTHORS: Mills OH; Kligman AM

SOURCE: Arch Dermatol 1978 Feb;114(2):221-3

CITATION IDS: PMID: 147054 UI: 78122768

ABSTRACT: The therapeutic value of various ultraviolet treatments was

assessed in patients with moderately severe papulopustular acne. The

results did not verify the common belief that ultraviolet radiation is

highly beneficial. In no instance was the comedo count appreciably

reduced. Modest improvement was observed with sunburn rays (UV- and

slightly more with the combination of long ultraviolet radiation (UV-A)

and UV-B. UV-A alone had the least effect. Photosensitization with coal

tar and UV-A greatly aggravated acne and was notably comedogenic.

Photosensitization with methoxsalen (8-methoxypsoralen) applied

topically was neither harmful nor helpful.

TITLE: A human model for assessing comedogenic substances.

AUTHORS: Mills OH Jr; Kligman AM

SOURCE: Arch Dermatol 1982 Nov;118(11):903-5

CITATION IDS: PMID: 7138047 UI: 83047250

ABSTRACT: Substances that are moderately to strongly comedogenic in

the rabbit ear model test have been found to be capable of inducing

comedones in the human model described in this report. The test

substances are applied under occlusion for one month to the upper part

of the backs of young adult, black men who have large follicles. The

degree of follicular hyperkeratosis is assessed by a noninvasive

" follicular biopsy " techniques, employing a fast-setting cyanoacrylate

glue to remove the follicular contents. The rabbit model is more

sensitive than the human. Substances that are weakly comedogenic in the

rabbit are probably safe for human use with the possible exception of

acne-prone persons.

TITLE: Comedogenicity of sunscreens. Experimental observations in

rabbits.

AUTHORS: Mills OH Jr; Kligman AM

SOURCE: Arch Dermatol 1982 Jun;118(6):417-9

CITATION IDS: PMID: 6212027 UI: 82229942

ABSTRACT: Fourteen of 29 proprietary sunscreen formulations, including

suntan promoters, were found to be comedogenic when applied to the

external ear canal of albino rabbits. Ultraviolet exposures enhanced

the comedogenic effect. The vehicles, rather than the UV-absorbing

compounds, seemed to be responsible. accordingly, sunscreen acne may be

a subtype of acne cosmetica. A sampling of UV absorbers showed these

agents to be noncomedogenic.

TITLE: An improved rabbit ear model for assessing comedogenic

substances.

AUTHORS: Kligman AM; Kwong T

SOURCE: Br J Dermatol 1979 Jun;100(6):699-702

CITATION IDS: PMID: 157151 UI: 79232221

ABSTRACT: A simplified comedogenic assay is described in which test

materials are applied for 2 weeks to the ears of rabbits just external

to the ear canal. Excised tissue is thus immersed in water at 60

degrees C for 2 min, yielding a sheet of epidermis with microcomedones

attached. The magnitude of follicular hyperkeratosis is extracted with

the stereomicroscope. Sixteen materials were evaluated by the new and

old model which required histological sectioning. Agreement was

excellent.

TITLE: Enhancement of comedogenic substances by ultraviolet radiation.

AUTHORS: Mills OH; Porte M; Kligman AM

SOURCE: Br J Dermatol 1978 Feb;98(2):145-50

CITATION IDS: PMID: 147099 UI: 78124016

ABSTRACT: Ultraviolet radiation enhanced the capacity of human sebum,

sulphur, cocoa butter, squalene, and coal tar to produce comedones in

the external ear canals of rabbits. An enhancement of the

comedogenicity of coal tar and squalene was similarly demonstrated in

man. We conjecture that in occasional patients sunbathing may aggravate

acne by augmenting the comedogenicity of sebum.

That should get you started.

Maurice

--------------------------------------------------------

Maurice O. Hevey

Convergent Cosmetics, Inc.

http://www.ConvergentCosmetics.com

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December 23, 2002

I searched in Medline yesterday for comodegenic substances. I came up with

many of these articles too Maurice.

Quite frankly, other than coal tar (blushers) it appears to me that the

research has been done primarily on acne patients.

Am I wrong, or did I not see any of the oils we would commonly use for our

hand made cosmetics or soaps listed there?

(some of the oils I would consider common are: almond, apricot, coconut,

cocoabutter, shea butter, olive, lard, safflower, sunflower, corn, hempseed,

etc)