HIGH COVERAGE FOUNDATION CAN CREATE SKIN PROBLEMS

The need to cover facial imperfections, be they wrinkles, blemishes, scars, has led to the formulation of cosmetic products called covering and masking foundations.

It is an emulsion made up of oils or fats and pigments that determine its covering and masking power. More recently, silicones have also been introduced to make these products more sensorially pleasing and acrylates to make them more stable.

The first ones in fact impart better sensory appeal by making the product less sticky and better spreadable. The second ones allow for variation in body with density ranging from semi-liquid to dense pasty.

However, these cosmetic improvements have generated skin tolerance problems especially for sensitive skin.

• They are occluding, blocking normal skin perspiration by sending the skin into distress.
• They are comedogenic, penetrating follicles and inducing irritation that creates comedones, microcysts, or acne folliculitis.
• They are antidesquamating, slowing the normal turnover of the corneous lamellae and creating thickening of the stratum corneum.

The addition of silicones and acrylates, moreover, has led to new problems since, these, are not rinsable. Indeed, silicones and acrylates are not emulsified by detergents and, because they are not removed by washing, they accumulate in the skin.

Many of the facial skin problems are caused or accentuated by the continuous use of opaque foundation, among them:

• Thickening of the stratum corneum with increased roughness
• Yellow-white staining of the skin due to transpiration distress
• Abnormal pigmentation due to pigment absorption
• Comedones and microcysts from follicle irritation
• Seborrheic Dermatitis due to excess lipids
• Pore dilation due to occlusion caused by lipids

In everyday reality, the dermatologist is faced with patients who, although educated about the damage of foundation, declare themselves unable to discontinue its application-a true addiction.

Addiction to foundation becomes dramatic in the case of adolescents or women suffering from Acne.
Juvenile or Late Acne, causes real aesthetic damage and, in these cases resorting, to covering/masking is instinctive. Unfortunately, it is precisely in these cases that foundation is particularly deleterious.
Acneic individuals, following the use of Foundation, will notice a marked worsening in both the extent and severity of their Acne.

For years now, products generically named Blemish Balm, Beauty Balm or simply BB cream have been marketed. The idea was to create a multitasking product that could not only mask imperfections but also moisturize the skin and protect it from the sun.
This idea, theoretically valid on paper, did not meet expectations. The practical results were bad adding, in addition to the problems mentioned for foundation, those related to increased formulation complexity and the use of sunscreens.