Evaluating Cosmetic Efficacy: A Comparative Study on Methods for Assessing Skin Redness Reduction and Soothing
Yue Du, Jingjing Li, Qiwen Sun, Chao Zhang, Feifei WangABSTRACT
Background
The growing population affected by skin redness, driven by environmental changes and lifestyle factors, underscores the need for effective cosmetic solutions. While such products can significantly alleviate physical discomfort and improve psychological well‐being, a lack of standardized technical guidance persists for laboratory methods assessing their redness‐reducing and soothing efficacy.
Objectives
This study compared widely used in vitro models—including cell assays, 3D skin models, and the zebrafish model—with clinical efficacy tests to evaluate the applicability and reliability of laboratory detection methods for the redness reduction and soothing efficacy of cosmetics.
Methods
A HUVEC cell model was established to determine the levels of erythema relief‐related factors, including ET‐1, PGI2, and VEGF. A reconstructed 3D skin model was constructed to examine epidermal thickness, dermal‐epidermal junction (DEJ) status, and the area of vascular‐like structures. A zebrafish inflammatory model was applied to detect blood flow velocity. In the human clinical trial, a 28‐day product application test was performed, and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and cheek redness area were measured on day 14 and day 28, respectively.
Results
The findings indicated that not all products exhibit efficacy in the metrics assessed via cellular and 3D skin models; nevertheless, a comprehensive analysis of the holistic metrics reveals that the outcomes have high rank‐order correlation with those derived from clinical trials. Among all models, the results obtained from the zebrafish model had the highest correlation to clinical efficacy studies.
Conclusion
These findings confirm that the evaluated laboratory methods can be effectively and reliably applied to redness reduction and soothing efficacy of cosmetics. They not only provide efficient and credible tools for efficacy verification during cosmetic research and development, but also offer novel options for alleviating clinically relevant cutaneous symptoms and guiding daily skincare selection.