The Best of Both Worlds – Emulsions

WELLFULLY was just granted approval of a simple, yet very powerful patent for the separation of emulsions at the point of delivery (US patent # 10,835,840).  

But what does this mean and why is it so important in our quest to make better products for consumers? Let’s start with ‘Emulsions’.

Emulsions provide for a great way to bring cosmetic, personal care and health benefits in a highly convenient format and have been widespread in products for centuries as they are relatively inexpensive and easy to work with.

Emulsions can be either oil-in-water, or water-in-oil forms in which a low volume of oil is dispersed in water, or droplets of water are dispersed in oil. To allow these two immiscible components to mix, emulsions are created using emulsifiers, mainly surfactants, that create evenly-distributed, small droplets of oil floating in water.

One of the key concerns with emulsions is that the emulsifiers necessary to allow water and oil mixing are still active even after they are absorbed into the skin.  Once inside the skin, these surfactants interact with and destabilize the skin’s delicate natural lipid bi-layer, the breakdown of which interferes with the skin’s barrier function, leading to irritation, blocking absorption and compromising the health of the skin.  Subcutaneous moisture is lost and the skin becomes increasingly dry. In fact, many moisturizers designed to enhance skin moisture, actually dry the skin even more.

So how can advances in the separation of mixtures address this common issue?

In short, the new Wellfully technology entirely avoids surfactants’ damage to the skin’s natural barrier effect, resulting in reduced irritation and redness while enhancing the skin’s moisture.

With WELLFULLY’s new technology, we can now split the oil and water phases at the point of delivery, applying two distinct films onto skin, and selectively placing each exactly where it is needed.  The water phase is positioned on the bottom, next to the skin, ready to deliver water soluble moisture, nutrient, or other actives into the skin. At the same time, the oil components form a second film that is selectively layered over the water, reducing evaporation and greatly enhancing the overall skin benefit.

When combined with WELLFULLY’s proprietary magnetic micro-arrays, penetration of these could be additionally enhanced, allowing for superior skin benefits.  

Having separated the oil from the water, the surfactants are isolated in droplets in the middle, too large to be absorbed by the skin.  Simultaneously, the oil phase is kept in the top layer, sealing the moisture below and delivering additional benefits, such as environmental, or sun protection.

Other applications, such as wound-care and health treatments are also marked by constant compromise in delivering their therapeutic and antiseptic, as well as protective, benefits.  The ability to separate water and oil phases of emulsions in similar applications will allow for new performance standards across a variety of emulsion-based products.

The new opportunities explained!

The WELLFULLY technology is extremely simple and cost effective, relying on the properties of atomic structure of specific materials already commonly present in consumer products, and not requiring any power source. It opens a wide spectrum of really attractive, user-friendly and compact product opportunities ranging from integrated lip colour applicators and crème eye colour treatments, to general health and beauty products such as facial masks, advanced industrial coating solutions and beyond.

Example of potential products

“When you understand the technology here it is easy to see the possibilities to advance the beauty and wellness industries further,” explains Paul Peros, CEO of Wellfully.

“For example: a night mask would be an ideal product for Wellfully’s newest delivery technology. Facial masks are popular throughout the world,  but suffer from one major problem – they dry out when placed on the skin for extended periods of time.

Once they dry they can no longer deliver the beneficial ingredients to the skin.  Wellfully’s new technology can resolve this issue and create innovative solutions such as a roll-on ‘invisible’ night mask.

 A single and easy to use roll-on would apply an emulsion to the skin in a very light and thin layer. The moisturizing ingredients would be deposited against skin, and the oil ingredients will create a fine occluding film that stops evaporation and creates an invisible mask that provides 8 to 12 hours of restful skin moisturizing throughout the night.

The fine oil film can be washed or wiped off in the morning.” 

Have a thought on this topic? We would like to invite your comments, or questions directly.  Please get in touch to find out more at info@wellfully.net.