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Issue
45 — July 2009 |
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Perception,
measurement and visualization of cosmetic effects |
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Dr.
Torsten Clarius *, Olga Freis PhD**,
Dominique Gauché**, Marie-Danielle Vazquez-Duchêne
PhD**, Marie-France Zambaux PhD**,
Gilles Pauly M.D.** and Andreas Rathjens PhD** |
Abstract
Currently, percentages are often used to convey a performance of cosmetic products
to the consumer. Such figures are derived from in vitro or in vivo studies and
the clinical tests which are performed are either based on objective measurements
or on subjective assessments made by volunteers. However, if products are only
differentiated by percentages, the advertising options will be reduced in their
variety and a comparability of different formulations will be furthermore suggested.
Although the efficiency of product formulations may be defined by numerical values,
results from scientific studies can also be conveyed in a visual manner. As we
perceive our environment mostly optically, this approach is gaining growing importance.
Modern measuring equipment linked with high-capacity image analysis tools are
a prerequisite to realize this appproach. Thus, two-dimensional images can be
extended by an additional dimension, which largely corresponds with real human
perception. The animation of such three-dimensional images is even more spectacular,
because complicated mechanisms of action can be processed in a way that may be
effectively used in advertising.
Perception
The five senses are the powers of the body by which a person receives knowledge
of things in the world around him. Hans Markart has painted the five senses at
the end of the 19th century, see Figure 1.
Figure 1:
The five senses, drawing by Hans Makart, 1872-1879 |
These are usually sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. The process of human
perception is schematically described in the so-called chain of perception. This
model describes the processing of stimuli which occur outside of a person in contrast
to an inner perception such as the sense of balance. This is also called „distal
stimulus”.
The significance of visual perceptions in the print media
The five senses of a person are in charge of recording distal stimuli. The performances
of such distal stimuli may differ largely. In accordance with evolutionary history,
the hunter is dominated by his visual perception. Interestingly, the eyes of a
person can perceive about 1 million bits, while the sense of touch may perform
1 million bits. The senses of hearing and smell each make up for 100.000 bits,
and the sense of taste only 1.000 bits. This central role of visual perception
has led to the fact that advertising predominantly tries to reach the consumer
on this level.
This explains why the part of an advertisement which draws our attention is called
eye-catcher. By measuring eye movements it can be confirmed that certain parts
of a picture are more intensively looked at. Marketing agencies have made use
of such findings of the psychology of perception. Faces are the major eye-catching
elements. Accordingly, we behave in a way which is probably inherent to humans:
To recognize faces, we first look at the eyes and then at the mouth. Only then
our look goes down further. This order occurs schematically and involuntarily.
It explains why promoted products in an ad are placed near the eyes or the mouth.
In cosmetics, the promise of the good performance of a product plays a major role.
In the course of time, the way of communicating the performance of a product to
customers has changed massively. Some years ago, product effects were communicated
on a language-level, but lately this has changed to working with percentages to
describe the effects which can be achieved with cosmetics. With this suggested
comparability of products a new kind of competition was initiated. Of course,
producers could not claim smaller percentages than their competitors and thus
values were created which became more and more sensational.
This inflation of percentages was only possible because of a detachment from the
results achieved by objective measurements. Evaluations of subjective interviews
of test persons often led to values beyond a 90 percent approval. In vitro studies
yield similarly high values, which may for instance be used to substantiate a
doubling of the collagen synthesis (Figure 2).
Enlarged
version
Figure 2: Stimulation of the collagen
(I) synthesis in a fibroblast culture, active agent: acetyl-tetrapeptide-9
(DERMICAN™) |
This type of advertising inevitably leads to a dead end-situation. In order to
distinguish themselves from the competitor, marketers are now forced to find new
ways of advertising. In a series of current ads in the print media, a withdrawal
from the dramatic percentages is recognizable which, if mentioned at all, disappear
in the continuous text.
The information level stays very low but the performance of a body care product
is represented in a striking way by means of distinctive visualization.
Modern visualization methods
A concise representation of a cosmetic effect requires efficient visualization
techniques and superimposing graphics programs. A simple approach is to document
the performance of a product by taking pictures at the beginning and after an
application. This includes an exact definition of the photographic conditions,
such as identical exposures of light and high-resolution digital cameras. Instantaneous
and long-term effects, for example, achieved in the region of the eye can thus
be optimally visualized. Not only may visualization techniques be used to quantify
the performance of a product but also to put more emphasis on its performance
(Figure 5).
Enlarged
version |
Enlarged
version |
| a)
Before application of product |
b)
2 hours after application of a serum with 10 % LIFTENSYL™ |
| Figure
3: Visualization
of an immediate effect via digital photography |
Enlarged
version |
Enlarged
version |
| a)
Before application of product |
b)
After a two-month application of a cream with 3 % PRODEJINE™ |
| Figure
4: Visualization
of a long-term effect via digital photography |
Enlarged
version |
Enlarged
version |
| a)
Before application of product |
b)
After a two-month application of a cream with 3 % PRODEJINE™ |
| Figure
5: Visualization of a long-term effect via digital photography, combined
with a visualization method |
A stronger enlargement, e.g. by means of a video lens or by usage of a confocal
laser microscope, allows an exact focus on the problematic region (Figures 6,
7).
Enlarged
version |
Enlarged
version |
| a)
Before application of product |
b)
After a three-week application of a cream with 1 % MYOXINOL™ |
| Figure
6: Visualization of the reduction of wrinkle depth by means of a video
lens (25° exposure of light on replica) |
Enlarged
version |
Enlarged
version |
| a)
Before application of product |
b)
After a four-week application of a cream with 10 % VEGESERYL™ HGP |
| Figure
7: Visualization of the reduction of wrinkle-depth by confocal laser
microscopy |
FOITS (Fast Optical In vivo Topometry of Skin) is one of the most modern methods
for representing surfaces (1). This method allows to measure the profile of skin
surfaces, replicas of skin surfaces and even of hair. Its advantage lies in a
very short recording time and in a touch-free recording method which largely excludes
artefacts. With this method, a striped pattern is projected on the skin’s
surface. In dependence on the surface structure, the individual stripes form bends.
This modified striped pattern is recorded by a CCD camera and submitted to a computer
for data processing. Suitable algorithms allow a transformation of the data into
digital graphics in many different ways. Digital graphics may be colored in many
different ways and represented in a three-dimensional way (Figure 8).
Enlarged
version
|
A,
B) 2D Surface representation, before/ after an eight-week application of
a cream with 3 % SLIMFIT™ (top view)
C, D) 3D Surface representation, before/ after an eight-week application
of a cream with 3 % SLIMFIT™ (surface)
E, F) Profile representation, before/ after an eight-week application of
a cream with 3 % SLIMFIT™ |
| Figure
8: Visualization
of reduction of orange peel skin by means of FOITS |
This technique also enables a detailed representation of the three-dimensional
form of a small wrinkle in the region of the angle of the eye (Figure 9). Here,
green was chosen as a color for the skin’s surface on the computer and blue
was used to color the depression of the small wrinkle. Various evaluations help
understand the topography of this skin structure and by means of calculations
it is possible to look at the isolated wrinkle from different angles (2).
|
|
A:
Top view
B: Profile with volume
C: Surface
D: Depression after 90° rotation
E: Asymmetry after 90° rotation |
| Figure
9: Three-dimensional
visualization of a small wrinkle in the region of the angle of the eye by
FOITS |
By means of using the appropriate software, digitally-processed
images allow three-dimensional representations which are animated, i.e. can be
moved freely in space. These presentations are particularly striking because they
are very close to real perception. A presentation of objective test results may
be used beyond the print media and can be applied in advertising with moving picture,
such as on television or on video screens.
It is rather complicated to make a two-dimensional representation of the complicated
structure of the elastic fiber network in the dermis (3, 4). A major approach
to understand these microscopic structures is a three-dimensional animation, in
which the skin diagram is rotated.
|
|
| Figure
10: Three-dimensional (animated) visualization
of the dermal fiber network |
Prospects
The changed advertising for cosmetic products requires an adaptation of technologies
which are able to document the efficacy of skin and body care products. Modern
visualization techniques not only help to improve the quantitative evaluation
of test results but also lead to more convincing presentations targeted at the
consumer. Laboratoires Sérobiologiques is steadily increasing this competence
in its „Advanced Imagery & Multimedia“ division which has been established
for this purpose. Three-dimensional animations of detailed dermal structures and
of individual cells which do not fail to make their impressions on the consumer
may be created. These are suitable for generally understandable presentations
of deeply scientific topics and may contribute to credibility on the part of the
cosmetic manufacturer.
Notes:
Dermican, Liftensyl, Prodejine, Myoxinol, Vegeseryl HGP, and Slimfit are trademarks
of the Cognis Group.
INCI name:
DERMICAN™ Aqua (and) Glycerin (and) Acetyl Tetrapeptide-9
LIFTENSYL™ Soy Protein Phthalate
PRODEJINE™ Mannitol (and) Cyclodextrin (and) Yeast Extract (and) Disodium
Succinate (US) Mannitol (and) Cyclodextrin (and) Faex Extract (and) Disodium Succinate
MYOXINOL™ Hydrolyzed Hibiscus Esculentus Extract (and) Dextrin
VEGESERYL™ HGP Glycine Soja Protein
SLIMFIT™ Cecropia Obtusa Extract
A presentation entitled „Augen-Blicke: Wahrnehmung, Messung und Visualisierung
kosmetischer Effekte“ was given by the author during the 54th SEPAWA Congress
and European Detergents Conference, Würzburg, Germany (October 10-12, 2007).
References:
1. Rohr M, Brandt M and Schrader A, Skin surface-claim support by FOITS. SÖFW
Journal,
126, 8, 2-11, (2000).
2. Vazquez Duchene, Gillon V, Freis O, Perie G, Gauche D, Zambaux MF, Pauly G,
Cosmetic Science Technology, 96-98 (2004).
3. Jeanmaire C, Danoux L and Pauly G, British Journal of Dermatology, 145, 10-18,
(2001).
4. Contet-Audonneau JL, Jeanmaire C and Pauly G, British Journal of Dermatology,
140, 1038-1047, (1999).
Authors
Dr. Torsten Clarius *, Olga Freis PhD**, Dominique Gauché**, Marie-Danielle
Vazquez-Duchêne PhD**, Marie-France Zambaux PhD**, Gilles Pauly M.D.** and
Andreas Rathjens PhD**
(*) Cognis GmbH, Henkelstrasse 67, D-40551 Düsseldorf,
Phone: +49 (0) 211 7940 7472, Fax: +49 (0) 211 2006 17472
(**) Laboratoires Sérobiologiques, Division
de Cognis France, 3, rue de Seichamps, F-54425 Pulnoy, Tel: +33 (0)3 83 29 08
02, Fax : +33 (0)3 83 21 12 15ext
