The subject invention relates to a
skin cream that can be used to moisturize and rejuvenate
skin that has been damaged by
exposure to
sunlight or which has simply been affected over the years by intrinsic aging. It can also be used to slow the rate of photo-induced aging to maintain beautiful
skin tone and texture over the years. It inhibits the formation of wrinkles and in some cases reduces the depth of existing wrinkles or eliminates them entirely. In some cases, the
skin cream of this invention also lightens age spots and other types of blemishes associated with aging. This invention is based upon the discovery that
alkyl lactates, such as
ethyl lactate, can be used to improve the penetration of active ingredients in
skin care formulations deep into lower
layers of the
skin tissue. For instance,
ethyl lactate can be included in aqueous based skin creams, such as
oil in water emulsions, to deliver active ingredients deep into the
skin structure.
Ethyl lactate is particularly desirable for utilization in conjunction with
ascorbic acid (
Vitamin C) containing
skin cream formulations. This is beneficial because the overall effectiveness of skin creams that utilize
ascorbic acid as an
active ingredient is contingent upon delivery of the
ascorbic acid through the outer
layers of the
stratum corneum and viable epidermis and into the
dermis layer of the
skin structure. The present invention more specifically discloses a topical formulation comprising about 1 weight percent to about 20 weight percent ascorbic acid, about 1 weight percent to about 10 weight percent of an
amino acid selected from the group consisting of
phenylalanine and
tyrosine, about 0.5 weight percent to about 5 weight percent of a non-toxic
zinc salt, about 0.01 weight percent to about 20 weight percent of an
alkyl lactate, wherein the
alkyl group in the alkyl lactate contains from 2 to about 12 carbon atoms, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.