The Science Behind Lotions

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As a girl, I can't live without lotion. I have my day moisturizer, my night cream, my general body lotion then I have things like body cream and body butter. I'm sure boys think I'm speaking greek right now (I've never known a boy to use lotion), but I hate the feeling of tight, dry skin.

We know lotion is needed to add and keep moisture in our skin, but how does it work?

If you've ever had different types and brands of lotions (women, I'm looking at you), you know that some feel oily, greasy, creamy, etc. Well it seems the way it feels is dependent on temperature, the cream's friction and how fast we rub it into our skin. Currently, manufacturers decide how the lotions feel by focus groups that try them out.

Mechanical engineers at Ohio State University have been able to use science to collect qualitative data on how a cream feels on our skin. They use something called a atomic force microscope. Basically this instrument has a sharp point that rubs against the lotion sample and measures its friction. In the overall sense, this sharp point is suppose to represent one point on your skin. The resulting data gives researchers an idea of how the creams work with your skin. Unsurprisingly, they found thicker creams produce more friction, which in turn feels less smooth on your skin.

Companies are now using this information to create better products. Eventually Ohio U. scientists hope to find the exact mechanism in which creams work on our skin.