Skin and Liquid Crystal: A brief review on their similarities

Abstract

Looking oneself directly into a mirror and what does one see? The answer is of course one's face. Taking good care of ones skin is synonymous to beauty and healthy life style. However, beauty last only as thick as a skin layer so the saying goes. While, liquid crystal, as the name implies, it looks like a crystal but flow like a liquid. Thus, how does this stucture called liquid crystal relate to skin and beauty? As most of us are aware skin and liquid crystal all around us, be it naturally or in technological applications. Our body body are covered with skin and liquid crystals. Surprise as it may seem but that is a fact, albeit peculiar to some. Classic example of natural liquid crystals are protein and cell membranes, while in industrial application such as electronic devices, for instance, screen of our laptop, digital watches and latest application in cosmeceuticals that is liquid crystal crystal emulsion. The question now arise is how does skin relate to liquid crystal? Why is it that this structure is crucial to the structure and function of skin? How does it relate to the delivery system of active ingredients which is important in many cosmeceuticals product? This paper will provide a brief review on the relationship of these two entities and present some work done in this area of interest. A model for the lipids of the top most layer of the skin namely stratum corneum will be highlighted.

Construction and Properties of O/W Liquid Crystal Nanoemulsion

“…The interface microstructure of liquid crystal emulsion was further observed by TEM. The obvious multilamellar structure existed at the oil/water interface of emulsion (Figure b), which was similar to the structure of human stratum corneum …”

“…The obvious multilamellar structure existed at the oil/water interface of emulsion (Figure 1b), which was similar to the structure of human stratum corneum. 42 Then, the nanoemulsion was obtained by passing the liquid crystal emulsion through the microfluidizer. The microstructure of the obtained nanoemulsion was characterized by TEM.…”

Aloe Vera Liquid Crystal Emulsion and Characterization of its Physical Properties

“…They differ from the regular emulsion in terms of stability, controlled released and moisturizing effect [1]. In addition, liquid crystal is analogous to the structure of the lipids of stratum corneum (the outermost skin cell layer of the epidermis) [2][3]. Hence, it has higher affinity to skin than other type of emulsion [4].…”