J. App/. Cosmetol. 22, 35-42 (Jonuory /Morch 2004) INFLUENCE OF POLYALCOHOLS ANO SURFACTANTS ON SKIN PENETRATION OF FLAVONOIDS FROM THE EMULSION Anna Oborska, Jacek Arct, Miroslaw Mojski, Emilia Jaremko Warsaw University of Technol ogy, Foc ulty of Chem istry - POLAND Received: Februory 2004 - Presented ot the "Al/ tor Cosmetics Conference·, Warsow 79-20 Nove mber , 2003 Key words: Flovonoids; Skin permeation: Polyalcohols; Surfactants; Diffusion celi Summary It has been proven that common cosmetic ingredients - polyalcohols and sutfactants can influence the pe1meation process of fl avo noids from O/W model emulsion. The experiments have shown that permeation rate of se lected flavonoids decreases with increasing length of surfactant' s oxyethylene chain. The hig hest pe1meab ility coefficient was calcul ated for the emulsion containing polyoxyethylene 12 cetostearyl ether. It has been doc umented that investigated polyalcohols increase permeation rate of both quercetin and rutin. The subs tan ce incr easing permeability coefficients of flavonoids very effectively is 1.2- propy lene glyco l. Investigations introdu ce d in this paper have ev idenced that permeat ion coeffi- cients of Oavonoids increase with increasing molecular weight of polyethylene glycols up to the va- lue 1500. It has been also confirmed that th e penetration ability of flavonoids depends on concentra- tion of applied cosmetic additives. Results pr esented in this paper through a new light on the pr o blem of formulating products contai- ning flavonoids and posses many practical aspects. To elucidate the mechani sms that are involved in the processes de scribed above the in vestigation on the model so lution should be done. It has been proven that process of skin penetrati on of flavonoids can be controlled by proper se lection of other cosmetic additives. The careful addition of adequate hydrophilic substance and application of suita- ble surfactant ca n increase the pe1meati on rate of flavonoids from the emu lsion system what fina ll y results in better cos metic activity of these active substances. Riassunto È stato dimostrato come i polialcoli ed i tensioattivi siano in grado di influenz are il processo di pe- netrazione dei flavonoidi da un modello di emulsione olio/acq ua. Le prove sperimentali hanno dimostrato che il grado di penetrazione dei flavonoidi sel ez ionati, di- 35