Clinical assessment of a combination lip treatment to restore moisturization and fullness

Objective. To evaluate the efficacy and tolerance of a topical lip-care treatment. Step one of the two-step treatment is a lip-renewal formulation containing human growth factors, hyaluronic acid and marine filling spheres, emollients, and a tripeptide palmitoyl-glycyl-histidyl-lysine complex. Step two is a lip-plumper formulation containing niacin, emollients, and essential fatty acids. Design. Four-week, single-center, open-label, clinical study with clinical assessments at Baseline, Week 2, and Week 4. Treatment. Subjects wore the lip products at least eight hours every day with a minimum of three applications per day. Participants. Thirty-two women ages 22 to 40 years with mild-to-moderate lip dryness and average size lips completed the study. Measurements. Visual grading of the condition of the lips, rating of subjective irritation, corneometry, digital caliper measurements of lower lip, and digital photography. A self-assessment questionnaire was also employed to assess patient satisfaction. Results. Clinical assessments showed statistically significant improvements (P<0.001) in key lip condition parameters after both two and four weeks of use. Key parameters included lip scaling, cupping, cracking/fissuring, fine lines due to dryness, lip texture/visual roughness, lip color/rosiness, lip definition/contour, and overall lip condition. Significant increases (P<0.001) were observed in both corneometer measurements, which confirm the moisturizing benefits, and in digital caliper measurements, which confirm the lip-plumping benefits. Self-assessment questionnaires showed a 97-percent overall satisfaction rating. No adverse events were reported during the course of the study. Conclusion. The results from this clinical study demonstrate that this two-part lip-care treatment product was well tolerated and effective in restoring moisture and fullness to the lips of female subjects with mild-to-moderate lip dryness.