Cosmeceutical

The use of “purified” cooling agents in pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations only dates back to the late 1880s with the commercial production of menthol from Japanese peppermint (Mentha arvensis) oil in Japan (1). The cultivation of peppermint in Japan before the Christian era appears to predate any other country, and menthol is reputed to have been used medicinally for almost as long (2). In the Western world, it was about 1770 that the Dutch botanist, H. David Gaubius, first isolated menthol from the oil of Mentha piperita in Utrecht (2,3).

A method is disclosed for the catalytic polymerization of cyanoacrylate monomers by contacting said monomers with an organotin compound. Also included is a polymerizable system comprising cyanoacrylate monomer and an organotin compound, wherein upon contact of the monomer and the compound, the compound catalyzes the polymerization of the monomer.

A fingernail adhesive including a mixture of less than 1 % halogen-nitropropane as a fungicide and a cyanoacrylate adhesive. Preferably the halogen-nitropropane is bromo-nitropropane and the cyanoacrylate adhesive is selected from the group consisting of isopropyl, ethyl and methyl cyanoacrylate and mixtures thereof.

A process, requiring minimal skills, for applying a protective acrylic coating, with or without extending the tips, to the human fingernail as afforded by (1) clearing and roughening the surface of the nail, (2) applying a layer of liquid acrylic monomer, (3) applying a powdered polymethacrylate ester to the wetted nail surface, (4) removing loose powder and smoothing the nail surface, (5) brushing on, as one would with nail polish, a second layer of liquid acrylic monomers and, after curing, (6) finishing the nail in the conventional manner.

An artificial fingernail material is disclosed. It contains base-treated bone powder of a particular particle size in a curable adhesive. A process for applying this material to the nail by applying an adhesive, adding bone powder and repeating as needed is disclosed as is the process for preparing the particular bone powder.

A composition for adhering to human nails includes a mixture of a cyanoacrylate compound and/or graphite fibers. Such composition can take the form of either an artificial nail extender or a nail coating. The composition for forming an artificial nail includes graphite fibers, a cyanoacrylate, and a hardening accelerator containing a mixture of trichlorotrifluoroethane and N,N-dimethyl-P-toluidine. The accelerator is adapted to be sprayed onto a base material containing the graphite fibers and cyanoacrylate in the form of a mist.

A method for adhering an artificial nail to a natural nail by the use of an adhesive comprising at least one of .alpha.-cyanoacrylates of the formula: ##STR1## wherein R is n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, methoxyethyl, ethoxyethyl or etrahydrofurfuryl. This method does not generate heat and assures easy removal of the adhesion with a conventional solvent.

The invention relates to a method of applying a nailwrap to a human nail. The method includes depositing an effective amount of a polymerization catalyst on the nailwrap, placing the nailwrap on a portion of the nail, and depositing a first layer of a monomer over the nailwrap to simulate a human nail. By depositing the polymerization catalyst on the nailwrap, polymerization of the monomer occurs from the bulk, i.e., the surface of the human nail, and proceeds to the surface of the artificial nail structure.

A method and kit for providing a tack-free artificial nail surface. The tack-free artificial nail surface may include an acrylic layer and a barrier layer. The acrylic layer may comprise an odorless monomer. The barrier layer may be of any material impervious to oxygen. The tack-free nail surface may be formed by application of the acrylic layer to a fingernail nail bed. The barrier layer may then be applied over the acrylic layer. The barrier layer blocks oxygen from the acrylic layer so that the acrylic layer may polymerize in the absence of oxygen.

A nail lacquer composition comprising a film-forming agent, a compatible solvent, and an auxiliary resin present in an amount sufficient to increase the wear resistance of the composition when dry and selected from alkyl cyanoacrylates, styrene-acrylonitrile-acrylic terpolymers, or mixtures thereof.