Cleansers and Their Role in Various Dermatological Disorders
Cleansers and Their Role in Various Dermatological Disorders
Cleansers and Their Role in Various Dermatological Disorders
Hygiene is the practice of keeping oneself and one's surroundings clean in order to prevent
illness or disease. Consequently, skin hygiene includes both skin cleaning and also taking
care of its health.
Among humans, cleansing has come a long way beyond dirt removal. It is a ritual performed
by man since the time of his origin and has been an essential part of religious ceremony and
belief. In recent times, the act of cleansing to many people serves as a means of relaxation
and escape from the vagaries of everyday life, and also as a way to improve the skin health
and appearance. Irrespective of the outlook, a fine balance needs to be maintained between
skin cleansing and the preservation of its homeostatic properties.
The idea of cleansing dates back to the origin of human race, only the ritual would have been
performed in different ways.
The importance of soap as a cleansing agent was recognized only after the first century. The
Greek physician Galen (130–200 AD) and the eighth century chemist Gabiribne Hayyan were
the first to have written about the use of soap as a body-cleansing agent. The details of
saponification—the process of soap making was published in 1775. The English have been
credited with developing the first wrapped soap bar in 1884. The soap market continued to
expand and during the Second World war, the development of synthetic detergents came as a
major breakthrough.Synthetic detergents now form the basis of many present day skin-
cleansing products.
Why we need cleansers?
Many of the environmental impurities and cosmetic products are not water soluble and so
washing the skin with simple water would not be sufficient to remove them. Substances
capable of emulsifying them into finer particles are to be used for making these fat soluble
impurities water soluble. Herein, cleansers fit into the picture. Skin cleansers are surface—
active substances (i.e. emulsifiers/detergents/surfactants/soaps) that lower the surface tension
on the skin and remove dirt, sebum, oil from cosmetic products, microorganisms, and
exfoliated corneum cells in an emulsified form. An ideal cleanser should do all these without
damaging or irritating the skin, on the contrary it should try to keep the skin surface moist.
Cleanser Composition Surfactants are the principal constituents of most cleanser formulas
and are mainly responsible for its cleansing action. Surfactants move to the interface upon
dissolving in water and act by lowering the interfacial tension. Surfactants can be ionic,
nonionic, and silicone containing. Ionic surfactants based on their polar portions can be
anionic (–ively charged), cationic (+ively charged), and amphoteric (both + and –ively
Table 1
The constituents of skin cleansers[4]
Soap is the prototype anionic surfactant used in skin cleansers and plays a prominent role in
the personal cleansing market. However, soap quite frequently can cause dryness and
irritation of the skin.
Evolution of modern day cleansers
Cleansers can be divided into three basic types:
Soaps
Composed of long chain fatty acid alkali salts with a pH of between 9 and 10.
Soap subsets
a. Glycerin bars/transparent bars: used rampantly in our country in winter. They contain
humectant–glycerine to counter the drying effects of soap.
b. Superfatted soaps: contain greater amount of lipids such as triglycerides, lanolin, paraffin,
stearic acid, or mineral oils which provide a protective film on the skin.
c. Deodorant soaps/antibacterial soaps: contain antibacterial agents such as triclosan,
triclocarban, or carbanile to inhibit the growth of bacteria and thereby odor.
Syndet bars Syndet (synthetic detergent) bars have a nonsoap synthetic surfactant such as
fatty acid isothionates, sulfosuccinic acid esters as their principal ingredient. Synthetic
surfactants unlike soaps are not manufactured by saponification and their structure is often
tailored to impart specific properties to the molecule. Syndets have a neutral or slightly acidic
pH and are less irritating to skin and do not form a soap scum layer. Transmission electron
microscopy has demonstrated that skin washed with synthetic detergents has shown well-
preserved lipid and protein regions compared to significant damage to both after washing
with soap. The relatively high free fatty acid content of synthetic detergent bars provide a
moisturizing benefit that help to maintain skin hydration.