MXPA02000272A - Pre-formed, self-adhesive sheet devices suitable for topical application. - Google Patents

Abstract

A pre-formed, sheet device comprising; (a) less than 10 % of a polysaccharide mixture consisting of; (i) a red seaweed polysaccharide; (ii) a mannose containing polysaccharide selected from a galactomannan, glucomannan, and derivatives or mixtures thereof and; (iii) a fermentation polysaccharide, or derivatives thereof; and (b) from about 30 % to about 99.5 % of water; wherein the device comprises less than 10 % total polysaccharide. The pre-formed, sheet devices of the invention are suitable for topical application and display desirable amounts of syneresis and/or improved mechanical properties such as strength or flexibility, as well as excellent moisturisation, hydration and cooling benefits. Further, the devices of the present invention are easy to handle, unobtrusive and conform to the contours of a target surface when applied.

Description

PRE-FORMED SHEET DEVICES. AUTO-ADHESIVES FOR TOPICAL APPLICATION TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to novel pre-formed sheet devices, and compositions thereof. In particular, it relates to self-adhesive devices, comprising an aqueous mixture of polysaccharide, which are useful for topical application and exhibit desirable amounts of syneresis and / or improved mechanical properties such as strength and flexibility, as well as excellent wetting benefits. , hydration and cooling. In addition, the devices of the present invention are easy to handle, are discrete and conform to the contours of a white surface when applied.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are many means for supplying beneficial agents to the skin, hair or nails, such as through the use of creams, gels or lotions, and the like. These forms are not always convenient to apply and do not provide a controlled release of a beneficial agent to an area, or they are not effective in delivering the intended benefits to the applied area due to external environmental factors. In addition, some beneficial agents are not stable in these aforementioned product forms resulting in difficulties in formulating the compositions that remain chemically and physically stable. In order to overcome the aforementioned inconveniences associated with creams and lotions, and the like the benefits of using a patch or other device for the treatment of the skin have been recognized in the art. A variety of patches or cosmetic devices are commercially available or described as being useful for the supply of skin care assets such as vitamins, anti acne actives, humectants and the like. Patches and devices have also been described in the literature and sold in the medical field as a useful means for the transdermal administration of drugs. However, many of these patches or devices have disadvantages in their physical product forms resulting in undesirable characteristics during use as perceived by the consumer or user. For example, EP-A-392,845 in one embodiment describes a method of preparing a gel patch, wherein the patch requires in situ formation on the skin, making its application annoying. EP-B-309,309 discloses a dry patch, which requires the skin to be moistened or the patch moistened in order to hydrate and adhere to the skin. Conversely, other patches or devices may be too dry or sticky, such as the gelling agents comprising the patch or device may not form a solid gel structure and as a result, patches or devices are difficult to handle and apply to the skin. Some patches or devices are too dry, or are inflexible, and therefore, do not adapt well to the contours of the surface to which they are applied. Alternatively, others may be too adhesive, hermetic and uncomfortable to use and remove, and many patches may not provide effective release and penetration of the beneficial agents. The polysaccharide compositions are known to be used in patches or self-adhesive devices. For example EP-A-682 938, WO96 / 25923, EP-A-750905, WO98 / 17263, EP-A-850649, EP-A-674913 and WO84 / 02466 describe various polysaccharides which may be useful in a patch or device adhesive. In addition, many of the patches or adhesive devices described in the aforementioned documents optionally comprise cosmetic or therapeutic actives. GB 1, 341, 999 discloses a gelled medium suitable for treating burns, comprising a liquid phase, a burn treatment agent and an amount of a gel former. The gelled medium is described as being flexible and having a non-adhesive, continuous, essentially dry surface, and a plasticity in order to adapt to the body. A preferred gel former is described as a combination of xanthan and locust bean gum. The examples also describe an antiseptic burn treatment pad, comprising agarose, water and silver nitrate. The document discloses that a slight amount of syneresis in the gelled medium is useful for wetting the surface with the burn treatment substance and for facilitating the removal of the medium from a mold. JP-B2-276 1936 discloses aqueous sheet-like package agents comprising xanthan gum and locust bean gum in combination with a water-soluble solvent. The sheet-type pack agents of the invention are described as having excellent shape retention properties at a high temperature, providing a good feeling and having a high wetting effect on the skin. The examples describe that the packages may further comprise 0.1% of a skin embellishing component. EP-A-161 681 discloses gel plates comprising a polysaccharide and an aqueous solution of a polyhydric alcohol. The preferred polysaccharides for gel plates are a mixture of carrageenan and a galactomannan, or only carrageenan. The compositions optionally comprise medical components such as skin stimulants, antifogistins, analgesics and antibiotics. The gel plates are described as being transparent or little apparent, having a refreshing feel and good adhesion, as well as being sufficiently elastic, stretchable and strong. WO97 / 17944 describes cosmetic formulations made of a gel material consisting of a balanced mixture of polysaccharides containing a soluble alginate (0.1-5%), agar (0.1-0.5%), pectin (0.01-0.5%), xanthan gum (0.05-1%), the rest consisting of water. The gel material is optionally enriched with water-soluble or water-dispersible active ingredients. The gel material can be processed to form a structured gel, which is described as being easy to handle and being well suited for the surface of the skin. WO90 / 14110 discloses pharmaceutical preparations, which may have the form of a self-supporting sheet, pad or wafer, of a desired size, shape and thickness, comprising an alginate insoluble in water and suspending agents such as xanthan gum alone, or Xanthan gum combined with locust bean gum. A gellan gum is also disclosed as a useful additional suspending agent. The suspending agents in the preparations can also act as gelling agents. The preparations optionally comprise anti-inflammatory agents, or the antiseptic agent, iodine. The sheet or wafer forms a preparation that can be flexible and applied on a plastic backing to form an integral surgical bandage, with the gel either exposed or covered with gauze. The gel preparations may comprise a calcium source, which is in combination with an alginate that acts to absorb exudate fluid from a lesion or wound on the skin. The preparations can also be left in situ on the skin and replaced at a rate of up to once or twice a week. JP-A-54 92618 describes a wet compress comprising an interlaced alginate gel of aqueous calcium ion, as a base, substances having an antiphlogistic and analgesic action, and water. Example 5 describes a wet compress comprising a mixture of locust bean gum, konjac powder, a 3% sodium alginate solution, a source of calcium monohydrate phosphate and a styrene-butadiene copolymer latex. The document teaches that the addition of water-soluble polymers increases the retention energy of a compress form and a highly elastic gel is obtained by adding locust bean gum and konjac morning, or only carrageenan. In addition, the addition of water soluble polymers such as konjac gum, and locust bean gum, among others, to the wet compress is shown to impede the release of water. In addition, gels containing a base of the wet compresses of the invention are taught that they are not required to release water. Although patches and devices of the art of the cosmetic and medical field provide advances to obtain desirable physical characteristics and in use, from a polysaccharide gel they do not disclose devices comprising the specific polysaccharide aqueous mixtures of the present invention, which have improved mechanical properties and / or present a desirable amount of syneresis, in order to provide a patch or device that is self-adhesive and effectively releases the ingredients comprised within the polysaccharide matrices such as beneficial agents and water to provide benefit from hydration, humidification or treatment in use. It has now surprisingly been discovered that less than 10% of an aqueous polysaccharide mixture consisting of a polysaccharide of red seaweed; a polysaccharide containing mannose, or mixtures thereof; and a fermentation polysaccharide or derivatives thereof, provides a sheet device, pre-formed with excellent characteristic in use, and improved syneresis and / or mechanical properties. The devices comprising the aforementioned aqueous polysaccharide mixture form a self-contained sheet device, which has a high flexibility to adapt to the contours of the skin, hair or nails, is thin, and still forms a high strength structure that It is easy to handle and apply to the white surface. The aqueous polysaccharide mixture is selected to provide a further sheet device, pre-formed with a desirable amount of syneresis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sheet device, preformed, comprising: (a) less than 10% of a polysaccharide mixture consisting of: (i) a polysaccharide of red seaweed; (ii) a polysaccharide containing mannose; selected from a galactomannan, glucomannan and derivatives and mixtures thereof and; (iii) a fermentation polysaccharide or derivatives thereof and (b) from about 30% to about 99.5% water, wherein device comprises less than 10% total polysaccharide. The pre-formed sheet devices of the present invention they show a desirable amount of syneresis, as well as provide excellent characteristics during use such as benefits of discretion, ease of handling, formability, hydration, wetting and cooling benefits after topical application. In addition, the pre-formed sheet devices of the present invention have excellent mechanical properties and form a high strength structure, from a thin aqueous polysaccharide mixture, which has a degree of elasticity and is flexible. According to a second aspect of the present invention, a cosmetic treatment method is provided which comprises applying to the skin, hair or nails, a device of the pre-formed sheet. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a use of a polsaccharide mixture consisting of: (i) a red seaweed polysaccharide; (I) a polysaccharide containing mannose; selected from a galactomannan, glucomannan and derivatives and mixtures thereof and; (Ii) a fermentation polysaccharide or derivatives thereof; to improve the strength, syneresis or flexibility of a pre-formed sheet device comprising water.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The foil, preformed devices of the present invention comprise water and a mixture of at least two water-soluble polymeric gel-forming agents, as well as various optional ingredients as indicated below. All levels and relationships are by weight of the total composition of the device, unless otherwise indicated. The term "pre-formed as used herein, means the device so described is manufactured in a product form having a predetermined thickness, shape and size, wherein the device can be removed from the package and placed or wrapped on the surface. objective with the fingers without the need to extend, rub, or cover the target area with the product form.The term "sheet device", as used herein, means that the described device is a patch or mask for application cosmetic or medical having a flat or non-planar topography, wherein the patch is a continuous, uni-, bi-, or multi-laminar sheet and the shape of which is predetermined according to the specific area of the skin, hair or nails that are going to be treated, and where the mask is a non-continuous, uni-, bi-multi-laminar sheet covering the facial area with openings for the eyes, nose or mouth.The term "syneresis", as used in the p resent, means the procedure through which a gel contracts after resting with the exudation of liquid. Without being limited by theory, it is believed that the gel compositions form three-dimensional matrices, which bind or encapsulate other ingredients of the composition. It is believed that syneresis involves a spontaneous separation from an initial homogeneous system to a coherent gel phase of a liquid. The exudate liquid is a solution whose composition depends on that of the original gel. When a device of the present invention is applied to a target area, the device loses some of its volume, so that the ingredients bound within the gel matrices, such as water or beneficial agents, are released into and penetrate the target area . The term "polysaccharide" as used herein, means a linear or branched polymer of natural or synthetically produced existence, of monosaccharide units which swells when dispersed in water at low dry concentrations and gels the aqueous phase. The term "non-occlusive" as used herein, means that the pre-formed sheet device thus described does not substantially block the passage of air and moisture through the surface of the skin, hair or nails. The pre-formed sheet devices of the present are suitable for topical application to the skin, hair or nails.

Polysaccharide mixture As an essential component of the preformed sheet devices described herein, the devices comprise a specific polysaccharide mixture. The polysaccharide mixture of the present invention forms a self-adhesive sheet device, which is independent. Optionally, in order to improve the integrity of the device, an occlusive or non-occlusive backing material, usually referred to as a "substrate" can be employed as an auxiliary for the device. In order to impart added strength to the pre-formed sheet devices, substances that act as gel reinforcing agents such as mono or multivalent salts can be incorporated into the polysaccharide mixture. Suitable cations for mono- or multivalent salts can be selected from potassium, sodium, ammonium, zinc, aluminum, calcium and magnesium ions, or mixtures thereof. Suitable anions associated with the aforementioned cations may be selected from chlorine, citrate, sulfate, carbonate, borate, and phosphate anions or mixtures thereof. It has been found that specific mixtures of polysaccharides in combination with water form gels having desirable aesthetics and good characteristics during use. In addition, the polysaccharides of the mixture of the present invention can be combined together at various percentages or ratios to modify the physical characteristics of the pre-formed sheet devices. The polysaccharide mixture herein provides improved syneresis or mechanical properties, such as flexibility or strength, from the pre-formed, aqueous sheet device. In a preferred embodiment, the polysaccharide mixture of the present invention improves the flexibility, strength and syneresis of a pre-formed sheet device. The pre-formed sheet devices of the present invention comprise less than 10% total polysaccharide. In general, the pre-formed sheet devices of the present invention preferably comprise less than 10%, most preferably less than 5% and especially less than 3% and preferably more than 0.5%, most preferably more than 0.7% by weight Dry the polysaccharide mixture. The polysaccharide mixture of the devices consists of (i) a red seaweed polysaccharide, (i) a polysaccharide containing mannose selected from a galactomannan, glucomannan and derivatives and mixtures thereof and (iii) a polysaccharide from fermentation or derivatives thereof.

Red seaweed polysaccharides The polysaccharides that are classified as red seaweed polysaccharides are isolated from marine species belonging to the class of Rhodophyceae. Red seaweed polysaccharides provide mechanical resistance to an aqueous gel. The red seaweed polysaccharides suitable for use in the present invention include industry-known agar under the trade designation (CTFA) as an agar-agar leaflet derived from several species of closely related Gelidium plant or red algae commercially available as "Agar. Agar 100"or" Agar Agar 150"from TIC Gums (Belcamp, MD, USA) or" Agar Agar K-100"from Gumix International Inc. (Fort Lee, NJ, USA); agarose commercially available as "Sea Plaque® from FMC (Philadelphia, PA, USA) and" Agarose Type 1-b "from Sigma-Aldrich Co. Ltd. (Poole, UK), carrageenan comprising the fractions lamba-, iota- and kappa-, which are water extracts obtained from several members of the Gigartinaceae or Solieriaceae families known in the industry under the commercial designation (CTFA) as chondrus, commercially available as "Gelcarin® 3 / LCM", or "Víscarin® XLV" , all from FMC (Philadelphla, PA, USA), and furcellaran commercially available from Gum Technology Corporation (Tucson, Arizona, USA) and Continental Colloids Inc. (Chicago, IL, USA), or a mixture thereof. red seaweed polysaccharide to be used in the present is selected from agar, agarose, capa-carrageenan and furcelarán, or mixtures thereof. Most preferably, the red seaweed polysaccharide to be used herein is selected from agar and manure, and mixtures thereof. As already indicated above, carrageenan is not a chemically homogeneous product, but it comprises the product group of sulfated lactams, with a proportion of the galactopyranose residues being present as a 3,6-anhydrogalactose residue. Certain fractions of carrageenans can also be isolated from extracts of red algae, which are chemically defined with respect to their structure and are designated with Greek letters. Only labmda, iota and kappa-carrageenan are of commercial importance. Their different properties are mainly explainable in terms of differences in the content of anhydrous galactose and sulfate ester groups. Furthermore, the presence of the sulphate groups has the consequence that the properties of carrageenan as an anionic polsaccharide can be modified by the presence of cations in the aqueous system. In this way, the gelation properties of kappa-carrageenan are greatly influenced by potassium ions and those of iota-carrageenan by calcium ions. On the other hand, the agar, an electrically neutral galactane having a high content of anhydrous galactose, gels independently of the addition of cations. Kappa-carrageenan has the highest content of anhydrous galactose and the lowest sulfate content among carrageenans and as a result has the best gel-forming properties.

Galactomanana Galactomannans are plant reserve polysaccharides, with which they occur in endosperm cells of numerous Leguminosae seeds. The collective term "galactomannan" includes all polysaccharides which are composed of galactose and mannose residues.

Galactomannans are polysaccharides containing mannose since they comprise a linear base structure of -D-mannopyranosyl units linked to (1? 4) - these rings are attached as branched, isolated galactopyranose residues via o-bonds (1). , 6) -glucoside. Galactomannans may also contain smaller amounts of other sugar residues. Suitable galactomannan for use herein are fenegreco gum; Lucerne clover; locust bean gum known, for example, in the industry under the trade designation (CTFFA) as pea gum, commercially available as "Seagul L" from FMC (Philadelphia, PA, USA); Tara gum commercially available from Starlight Products (Rouen, France) or Bunge Foods (Atlanta, GA, USA); guar gum derived from milled guar endosperms derived from ground endosperms of Cyamopsis tetragonolobus, commercially available as "Burtonite V7E", from TIC Gums (Belcamp, MD. USA), "Jaguar C" from Rhone-Poulenc (Marietta, GA, USA) , or "Supercol" (Wilmington, DE, USA); and cassia gum commercially available from Starlight Products Aqualon (Rouen, France); or mixtures thereof. Preferably, the galactomannans for use herein have an average of one to about 5 units of mansilo substituted with one unit of -OC-D-galactopyranosyl a (1-6), and are selected from guar gum, locust bean gum, gum Cassia or mixtures thereof.

Glucomannan Glucomannan are polysaccharides containing mannose, which comprise an essentially linear base structure of glucose linked to - (1? 4) - and residues of mannose. The C-6 position of a mannose or glucose residue in the polysaccharide base structure can be substituted with an acetyl group. Acetyl groups are usually found in 1 x 6 sugar residues, 1 x 20 sugar residues. Suitable glucomannans or their derivatives for use herein have a mannose to glucose ratio of about 0.2 to about 3. Preferred glucomannans for use herein include konjac morning which is the generic name for the flour formed by grinding tuber root of the plant Amorphophallus konjac (yam of elephants), commercially available under the tradename "Nutrico® konjac flour" from FMC (Philadelphia, PA, USA); and tomorrow de konjac desacetilada; or mixtures thereof.

Fermentation polysaccharides or derivatives thereof Fermentation polysaccharides are polysaccharides that are commercially produced from the fermentation of microorganisms in a medium containing a nitrogen carbon source, a pH regulating agent and trace elements. Suitable fermentation polysaccharides, or their derivatives, for use in the present invention include gelatin gum known in the industry under the trade designation (CTFA) as gelatin gum, an ethereal polysaccharide gum with a high molecular weight produced through a fermentation of pure culture of a carbohydrate with Pseudomonas elodea, commercially available as "Kelcogel" from Kelco (San Diego, CA, USA), xanthan gum, which is a high molecular weight heteropolysaccharide gum produced through a fermentation of pure culture of a carbohydrate with Xanthomonas campestres, known in the industry under commercial designation (CTFA) as xanthan, commercially available, for example, as "Keltrol CG 1000 / BT / F / GM / RD / SF / T / TF", all from Calgon (Pittsburg, PA, USA), or "Kelzan" from Kelco (San Diego, CA, USA); born rubber, swarm, ramsana gum; curian; succinoglycan; weian gum; dextran, commercially available as "Sephadex G-25" from Pharmacia Fine Chemicals (Piscataway, NJ, USA) and derivatives thereof.; and sclerotium gum, commercially available as "Amigel" from Alban Muller International (Montreal, France), or mixtures thereof. Preferably, the fermentation polysaccharide or its derivatives is selected from gellan gum or xanthan gum, or mixtures thereof. Most preferably the fermentation polysaccharide is xanthan gum. When the fermentation polysaccharide is a gellan gum, it has been found, by the present inventors, that by varying the amount of gellan gum in the polysaccharide mixture the amount of syneresis exhibited by a sheet device can be altered. the present invention. The addition of gellan gum to a sheet device comprising a red seaweed polysaccharide typically decreases the amount of liquid exuded from the coherent gel phase. When the polysaccharide mixture comprises xanthan gum as the fermentation polysaccharide, synergistic interactions between the xanthan gum and the polysaccharide containing mannose are formed. The synergistic interactions result in modifications to the elasticity of the aqueous gel, furthermore the Interactions do not unduly interfere in the mechanical resistance provided to the gel by the red seaweed polysaccharide. From the viewpoint of providing improved syneresis and mechanical properties from a pre-formed sheet device, preferably the ratio of xanthan gum to polysaccharide containing mannose is from about 2: 1 to about 1: 4. In a preferred embodiment, the polysaccharide mixture comprises a polysaccharide containing mannose, which is a mixture of a galactomannan and glucomannan, and derivatives thereof. It is believed that in polysaccharide mixtures comprising either a glucomannan and / or a galactomannan, polysaccharide-containing mannose supplements the polysaccharide of red seaweed. This synergy is believed to arise due to the interactions between the polysaccharides. Red seaweed polysaccharides form double helical structures while glucomannans and galactomannans have areas of relative insubstitution over the base structure of the polymer. These areas of relative insubstitution on the base structure of the polymer interact with the helices of the red seaweed polysaccharides and contribute to the mechanical strength and flexibility of the pre-formed sheet devices of the present invention. All gels undergo syneresis, as defined here above, to a certain degree. Syneresis provides a mechanism for the beneficial delivery to a target area. The liquid layer exuded on the surface of the coherent gel phase is readily available for diffusion, facilitating a short wear time of the device. The sheet devices of the present invention desirably have a moderate amount of syneresis and preferably the devices herein are wet to the touch. A moderate amount of syneresis is seen by the inventors herein as a highly desirable property of a device comprising the polysaccharide mixture since the liquid exuded on the surface of the gelled device facilitates its adhesion to a white surface thereby avoiding the need for both. of an additional adhesive covering the gelled form or a substrate covered with adhesive in comparison, a gelled device exhibits very little syneresis, the device although wetting an area, probably does not provide good adhesion to the target area, while an excessive amount of syneresis results in a non-effective and non-attractive product. From the point of view of providing improved syneresis and mechanical properties, from a preformed sheet device, preferably in the polysaccharide mixture, the polysaccharide ratio of red seaweed to polysaccharide containing mannose is about 20: 1 to about 1: 5, most preferably about 7: 1 to about 1: 2.

Water As an essential feature of the preformed sheet devices herein comprises water. The total water content of a preformed sheet devices of the present invention is from about 30% to about 99.5%, preferably from about 40% to about 95%, most preferably about 50% to 85% by weight of the device.

Substrate In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pre-formed sheet devices herein comprise a substrate. A substrate is an occlusive or non-occlusive sheet that provides additional integrity and support to the device. Preferably, the substrate is non-occlusive. The liquid aqueous polysaccharide mixture can be coated or cast on a surface of a substrate. A wide variety of materials can be used as the substrate. The following characteristics are desirable: (i) sufficient wet strength for use, (ii) sufficient flexibility, (iii) sufficient softness and porosity, (iv) sufficient thickness, (v) sufficient hydrophilic character, so that the gel mixture of polysaccharide can be diffused and mixed in the substrate, (vi) sufficient compatibility with the polysaccharide mixture to avoid delamination, (vii) sufficient transparency or translucency and (viii) appropriate size. Non-limiting examples of suitable substrates that satisfy the above criteria include woven and non-woven materials; polymeric sheet materials such as thermoplastic films formed with apertures, formed films, plastic films with apertures, and hydroformed thermoplastic films; natural sponges; synthetic sponges; polymer mesh sponge; paper substrates; porous polymeric foams; collagen sheets; polymeric canvases and similar. Preferred substrates for use herein are paper substrates, non-woven materials and films formed, especially films formed with apertures, since they are inexpensive and are readily available in a variety of materials. By non-wovens it is meant a sheet, band, mat, pad or wadding made of directional or randomly oriented fibers, joined by friction and / or cohesion and / or adhesion, These materials generally exclude products that are woven, knitted, tufted, joined by stitching, incorporating threads or filaments of union, or felted through wet milling, in addition with or without needles., The nonwoven materials may be composed of a combination of layers of random and carded fibers. The fibers may be of natural or synthetic origin.

In addition, short or continuous filaments can be formed in situ. The non-woven materials may be composed of a variety of both natural and synthetic fibers. By natural it is meant that the fibers are derived plants, animals, insects or byproducts of plants, animals or insects. By synthetic it is meant that the fibers are obtained mainly from various man-made materials or from natural materials that have been further altered. The conventional base stock material is usually a fibrous web comprising any of the common synthetic or natural textile fibers or mixtures thereof. The natural fibers useful in the present invention are silk fibers, keratin fibers such as wool fibers, camel hair fibers and the like, and cellulosic fibers including wood pulp fibers, cotton fibers, hemp fibers, fibers of jute, flax fibers, and mixtures thereof. Synthetic fibers useful in the present invention include acetate fibers, acrylic fibers, cellulose ester fibers, modacrylic fibers, polyamide fibers, polyester fibers, polyolefin fibers, polyvinyl alcohol fibers, rayon fibers, polyurethane foam and mixtures thereof. Specific examples of some of these synthetic fibers and other suitable fibers and nonwovens prepared from them are described in W098 / 18444, incorporated herein by reference and include acrylics such as acrylon, creslan, and acrylonitrile-based fiber, orlon; cellulose ester fibers such as cellulose acetate, arnel and accelerate; and polyamides such as nylon. (for example nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 6161 and the like). Methods for making nonwoven materials are well known in the art and are generally described in WO98 / 18444, which is incorporated herein by reference. In the present invention, the non-woven layer can be prepared through a variety of processes including hydroentanglement, air entanglement, thermal bonding or thermobonding, and combinations of those processes. In addition, the substrates of the present invention can consist of a single layer or multiple layers. In addition, a multi-layer substrate may include films and other non-fibrous materials. The non-woven materials made from synthetic fibers useful in the present invention can also be obtained from a plurality of commercial sources. Examples of suitable nonwoven layer materials useful herein are described in WO98 / 18444 and include HEF 40-047, a hydroentanglement material with aperture containing about 50% or rayon and 50% polyester, and having a basis weight of approximately 51 grams per square meter (gsm), available from Veratec, Inc., Walple, MA; Novonet® 149-616, a material with thermo-joined grid patterns containing about 100% polypropylene and having a basis weight of about 60 gsm, available from Veratec, Inc., Walple, MA; and HEF Nubtex R 149-801, a hydroentanglement material with openings, with protuberances, containing about 100% polyester, and having a basis weight of about 84 gsm, available from Veratec, Inc., Walple, MA. Paper substrates made of natural materials consist of bands or sheets very commonly formed of a thin wire film from a liquid suspension of the fibers. See, C.A. Hampel et al., The Encvclopedia of Chemistrv, third edition, 1973, pp. 793-795 (1973), pp. 793-795 (1973). The American Encvclopedia, vol. 21, pp. 376-883 (1984); and G.A. Smook, Handbook of Pulp and Paper Technologies, Technical Association for Pulp and Paper Industry (1986); which are incorporated here by reference. Paper substrates made of natural materials useful in the present invention can be obtained from a wide variety of commercial sources. Suitable commercially available paper substrates useful herein include "Kimwipes EXL", available from Kimberley-Clark Corp., Roswell, GA, USA; AirtexR, an enhanced airlaid cellulosic layer having a basis weight of approximately 86 gsm available from James River, Green Bay, Wl; and Walkisoft.RTM., a raised airlaid cellulosic having a basis weight of about 90 gsm, available from Walkisoft E.U.A., Mount Holly, NC: Alternatively, the substrate may be a polymeric sheet material. Non-limiting examples of which include thermoplastic films formed with apertures, formed films, formed films with openings, apertured plastic films, and hydroformed thermoplastic films. The polymeric sheet materials can be prepared by methods well known in the patent literature. For example, according to the procedure described in the patent of E.U.A. 4, 324, 246 of Mullane and Smith, issued April 13, 1982, a sample of thermoplastic material, such as a polyethylene film with a thickness of 0.0038 cm, is heated above its softening point, which the temperature at the which thermoplastic material can be formed or molded and is less than the melting point of the material. The sheet form of hot thermoplastic material is then brought into contact with a hot forming screen. The forming screen is preferably a wire mesh screen with openings having a desired opening size, pattern and configuration. A vacuum is used to extract the hot film against the forming screen. In this way a film is formed against this screen or grid with a desired hole pattern and size. Although the emptiness is still applied to the film, a jet of hot air is passed over the film. The hot air jet perforates the film in a pattern and size of openings in the forming screen. The fluid-permeable sheets prepared in this way from the Mullane et al. Patent are conveniently referred to as "formed films". These sheet materials can also be made using a similar process method using a jet of water that is passed over the film. These materials are commonly referred to as "hydroformed films." A further example of said material is described in the patent of E.U.A. 4,609,518 to Curro et al., Issued September 2, 1986, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Another film substrate formed useful herein is a film formed with openings, a three-dimensional, elastic band exhibiting a fiber-like appearance and tactile printing, comprising a fluid-impervious plastic material, with the band having a multitude of openings, the openings being defined by a multitude of fiber type elements intersecting, as described in the US patent 4, 324, 314 of Rabel and Thompson, issued August 3, 1982, incorporated herein by reference. The sheet materials described in the U.S.A. 4,342,314 can be prepared using hydrophobic plastics such as polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, and the like and are well known for being used in absorbent products such as catamenials and the like. An example of such material is the formed film described in the above patent and sold as sanitary napkins by The Procter and Gamble Company as "DRI-WEAVE". Additionally, said materials can be treated on the surface to reduce their hydrophobic character. Alternatively, the substrate may be a polymeric mesh sponge as described in EP-A-702550 and WO98 / 18444 incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The substrate may also be a porous polymeric foam as described in the U.S. patent. 5,260,345, DesMarais et al., Issued November 9, 1993, and in the US patent. 4,394, 930 of Kroman, issued July 26, 1983, incorporated herein by reference. Polymeric foams in general can be characterized as the structures that result when a relatively monomer-free gas or a relatively monomer-free liquid is dispersed as bubbles in a liquid containing a polymerizable monomer, followed by the polymerization of the polymerizable monomers in the polymer. liquid that contains monomer that surrounds the bubbles. The resulting polymerized dispersion may be in the form of a porous solidified structure, which is an aggregate of cells. The boundaries or walls of said cells comprise a solid polymerizable material. The cells themselves contain the relatively monomer-free gas or the relatively monomer-free liquid which, before polymerization, has formed the "bubbles" in the liquid dispersion. Specifically, soft, flexible, microporous (open or closed cell) foam materials having a hydrophilic surface character and fluid retention characteristics are particularly suitable for this application. Examples of polymeric foam materials prepared by polymerizing a particular type of water-in-oil emulsions. Said emulsion is formed from a relatively small amount of an oil phase containing a polymerizable monomer and a relatively larger amount of a water phase relatively free of monomer. The discontinuous "internal" water phase, relatively free of monomer in this manner forms the "bubbles" dispersed around by the oil phase containing continuous polymerizable monomer. The subsequent polymerization of the monomers in the continuous oil phase forms the cellular foam structure. The aqueous liquid remaining in the foam structure formed after the polymerization can be removed by compressing and / or drying the foam. This type of polymerization emulsion is generally known in the art as a high internal phase emulsion or "HIPE" foam. Polymeric porous foams include foams prepared from water-in-oil emulsions of the present may be relatively closed cells or relatively open cells in character., depending on whether and / or the degree to which the walls or boundaries of the cell, ie the cell windows, are filled or collected with polymeric material. The polymeric foams useful in the present invention are those that are relatively open cell since the individual cells of the foam are, for the most part, not completely isolated from one another by the polymeric material of the cell walls. In this way, the cells in said substantially open cell foam structures have intercellular openings or "windows", which are large enough to allow easy transfer of fluid from one cell to another within the foam structure. In substantially open-cell structures of the type useful herein, the foam will generally have a cross-linked character with the individual cells being defined by a plurality of three-dimensionally branched, mutually connected bands. The strips of polymeric material forming the branched bands of the open cell foam structure can be referred to as "struts". In addition, of having open cells, preferably the porous polymeric foams useful herein are hydrophilic in nature. The polymeric foams herein must be sufficiently hydrophilic so that the polysaccharide gel mixture can diffuse and infiltrate the substrate and be sufficiently compatible with the polysaccharide mixture to avoid delamination. Although the polymeric porous foams of the present described above are designed to be used in various articles of management of. fluid such as diapers, catamenials and incontinence devices, these types of materials are useful as a substrate in the present invention. In another example a suitable porous substrate material can be formed from a flexible, thin, porous collagen sheet formation using a freeze drying process. This procedure creates a sheet of collagen material that has the internal structures of a porous foam with open cells. These materials are strong, flexible, highly compatible with the polysaccharide gel and have sufficient transparency or translucency to be suitable as a substrate in the present invention. Examples of commercially available collagen sheets due, useful herein include "Collagen Fiber Mask," available from Beauté Attica, Inc., Redmond, WA, USA.; "Professional Collagen Masks", available from Luminescence, Maple Plain, MN, USA; "Soluble Mash Collagen Lifting Masque" available from Five Star Formulators Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA; and "Mash Collagen Masks" available from Maybrook Inc., Lawrence, MA, USA. The substrate can also be a polymeric canvas (extruded fabric) as described in the US patent. 5,715,561 from Tuthill, Yeazell, and Girardot, issued February 10, 1998, incorporated herein by reference. The polymeric canvases can be tubular and the properties of these polymeric canvases can be described by the physical dimensions of the resulting structure (node width, length of strand, and average unit weight per repetition). The tubular canvas material may have diamond, square, hexagon, or other mesh openings and may be made from a variety of strong flexible polymers such as low density polyethylene. For example, a diamond mesh canvas is a plastic fabric made through an extrusion process using counter rotating die heads, each of which has multiple extrusion holes located at the edge of each side. The counter-rotation of the die heads causes the extruded filaments or strands to be aligned in two directions at angles towards the machine direction of the extruded pipe. The threads are periodically used to form nodes. The two strand directions are typically at acute angles to each other, so that the strands form diamond patterns with nodes at each corner. The patent of E.U.A. 3,957,565 to Livingston et al. Describes a procedure in greater detail. Although these polymeric canvases (extruded point) are designed to be used as a personal cleansing implement, these types of canvases can be used as a substrate in the present invention. The substrate can be made in a wide variety of shapes and configurations including flat pads, thick pads, thin pads and having sizes ranging from a surface area of about 0.25 cm2 to about 1000 cm2. The exact size and shape will depend on the desired use and characteristics of the product, especially convenient are forms that are designed to fit comfortably and conveniently to the face, neck, hands, feet of users, and other body parts. These shapes can be square, circular, triangular, rectangular, oval or other shapes that are mixed points of these, such as shapes that can be described as "butterflies", "moons", "semicircles", "donuts", or others. The substrates of the present invention may comprise two or more layers, each having different textures. The different textures may result from the use of different combinations of materials or the use of different manufacturing processes or a combination thereof. In addition, separate layers of the substrate can be fabricated to have different colors, thus helping the user to further distinguish the surfaces.

Beneficial Agents A preferred embodiment of the present invention, the preformed foil devices herein comprise a safe and effective amount of one or more beneficial agents. The term "safe and effective amount" as used herein means a quantity of a beneficial agent highly sufficient to modify the condition to be treated or to provide the skin, hair or nails with the desired benefit, but low enough to avoid effects serious side effects, to a reasonable ratio of benefit to risk within the scope of medical judgment. What is a safe and effective amount of the beneficial agent will vary with the specific agent, the agent's ability to penetrate through the skin, in or on the hair and / or nails, the age of the user, the health condition of the user , and the condition of the user's skin, hair or nails and other similar factors. The beneficial agents include pharmaceutically acceptable salts and by "pharmaceutically acceptable salts" is meant any of the commonly used salts which are suitable for use in contact with human tissues, without undue toxicity, irritation, incompatibility, instability, irritation, allergic response and the like. In general, the preformed sheet devices of the present invention comprise from about 0.01% to about 40%, preferably from about 0.05% to about 30%, and most preferably from about 0.1% to 20% by weight of the devices. minus a beneficial agent or mixtures thereof. The beneficial agents useful herein may be categorized by their therapeutic benefit or their postulated mode of action. However, it should be understood that the beneficial agents useful herein may, in some cases, provide more than one therapeutic benefit or operate through more than one mode of action. Therefore, classifications are made here for safety and convenience and are not intended to limit the beneficial agent to that particular application or listed applications. The following beneficial agents are useful in the preformed sheet devices of the present invention.

Active against acne The active ingredients against acne can be effective to treat and prevent acne vulgaris, a chronic disorder of the pilosebaceous follicles. The condition involves inflammation of the pilosebaceous apparatus resulting in lesions, which may include papules, pustules, cysts, pimples and severe scarring. The bacteria Corynebacterium acnes and Staphylococcus epidermis are usually present in postulated contents. Examples of useful acne-active ingredients include the keratolytics described in WO98 / 18444. Other useful actives include retinoids such as retinoic acid (e.g., cis and / or trans) and their derivatives (e.g., esters); retinol and its esters (for example, retinyl propionate, retinyl acetate); abiotic acid; adapalene, tazarotene, allantoin, aloe extracts, arbic acid and its salts, ASEBIOL (available from Serobiologiques laboratories located in Somerville, NJ), azaleic acid, rosewood extracts, belamcanda chinensis, benzoquinolinones, benzoyl peroxide, berberine, BIODERMINE (available from Sederma located in Brooklyn, NY), bioflavonoids such as a class of bisbobol, s-carboxymethyl cysteine, carrot extracts, casein oil, clove extracts, citral, citronella, climazol, COMPLETECH MBAC-OS (available from Lipo , located in Paterson, NJ), CREMOGEN M82 (available from Dragoco, located in Totowa, NJ), extracts of cucumber, dehydroacetic acid, and its salts, dehydroepiandrosterone and sulfate derivative, dichlorophenyl-midazoliumoxane, d, l-valine and their esters, DMDM hydantoin, erythromycin, escinol, ethyl hexyl monoglyceryl ether, ethyl 2-hydroxy undecanoate, farnesol, farnesyl acetate, geraniol, geranium geraniol, glabridin, gluconic acid, gluconolactone, glyceryl monocaprate, glycolic acid, grapefruit seed extract, lipid gugu, HEDERAGENIN (available from Maruzen located in Morristown, NJ), spirit, inositol, hops extract, hydrogenated rocina, acid 10- hydroxydecanoic, ictiol, interleukin-1 alpha antagonists, KAPILARINE (available from Greentech, located in Saint Beauzire, France), ketoconazole, lactic acid, lemon oil, LOCHOCHALCONE LR15 (available from Maruzen located in Morristown, NJ), linoleic acid, LIPACIDE C8CO (available from Seppic located in Paris, France), lovastatin, 4-methoxysalicylic acid, metronidazole, nemocycline, mucurosi, nee seed oil, niacinamide, nicotinic acid, and its esters, nisin, panthenol, 1-pentadecanol, extract of peony, peppermint extract, fenadeltron extract, 2-phenyl-2-benzothiophene derivatives, floretin, PHLORGINE (available from Secma located in Pontrieux, France), phosphatidyl choline, proteolytic enzymes, kecetin, red sandalwood extract, rosemary extract, rutin, artemisia extract, salicin, salicylic acid, serine, skullcap extract, Siberian saxifrage extract, silicol, sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium sulphoacetamide, SOPHORA EXTRACT (available from Maruzen located in Morristown, NJ), sorbic acid, sulfur, sunder bati extract, tea tree oil, tetrahydroabietic acid, threonine, thymus extract, thioxolone, tocopherol and its esters, trehalose 6-undecyle thic acid, 3-tridicen-2-ol, triclosan, tropolone, UNITRIENOL T27 (available from Unichem, located in Chicago, IL), vitamin D3 and its analogues, white thymus oil, willow bark extract, wogonin, ylang ylang, glycerol zinc, zinc linoleate, zinc oxide, zinc pyrithione, zinc sulfate, zwitterionic surfactants (for example cetyl dimethyl botaine) and mixtures thereof.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory actives (NSAIDS) Examples of suitable nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory actives and their esters for use herein in WO98 / 18444, incorporated by reference. Other non-limiting examples of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) include fluflenamic acid; panthenol and ether and ester derivatives thereof, for example, panthenol ethyl ether, panthenyl triacetate; pantothenic acid and its salts and ester derivatives, especially calcium pantothenate; aloe vera, bisabolol, allantoin and compounds of the orozuz family (the genus / plant species Glycyrrhiza glabra), including glycyrrhizic acid, glycyrrhizic acid and its derivatives, for example, salts such as ammonium glycyrrhizinate, and esters such stearyl glycyrrheinate .

Topical Anesthetics Examples of topical anesthetic drugs suitable for use herein are benzocaine and bupivacaine. Other suitable examples are described in WO98 / 18444, incorporated herein by reference.

Artificial Tanning Agents and Accelerators Artificial tanning agents can help simulate a natural tanning effect by increasing melanin in the skin or producing the appearance of elevated melanin in the skin. Non-limiting examples of artificial bronzing agents and accelerators include glucose tyrosinate, and acetyl tyrosine, brazilin, caffeine, coffee extracts, DNA fragments, isobutyl methyl xanthine, methyl xanthine, PHOTOTAN (available from Laboratorios Serobiologiques located in Somerville, NJ), prostaglandins , tea extracts, theophylline, UNIPERTAN P2002 (available from Unichem, located in Chicago, IL), and UNIPERTAN P27 (available from Unichem, located in Chicago, IL); and its mixtures. Other useful artificial bronzing agents herein are described in WO98 / 18444.

Antiseptics Examples of suitable antiseptics for use herein include alcohols, benzoate, sorbic acid and mixtures thereof.

Antimicrobial and antifungal assets Antimicrobial and antifungal assets can be effective in preventing the growth and proliferation of bacteria and fungi. Non-limiting examples of antimicrobial and antifungal agents include ketoconazole, cycloopyrox, benzoyl peroxide, tetracycline, acelaic acid and its derivatives, ethyl acetate, alantolactone, isoalantolactone, alknet extract (alanine), anise, arnica extract (helenaline acetate and 11, 13-dihydrohelenaline), aspidium extract (floro, lucinol-containing extract), rosewood extract (berberine chloride), sweet bay extract, laurel berry bark extract (miricitrin), benzalkonium chloride, chloride of benzethonium, benzoic acid and its salts, benzoin, benzyl alcohol, thistle, tubercle seed, bloodthirsty, rose oil, burdock, butyl paraben, oil of each, CAE (available from Ajinomoto located in Teaneck, NJ), cayputi oil , cangzu, caraway oil, cascarillo bark (sold under the trade name ESSENTIAL OIL), cedar leaf oil, chamomile, chaparral, chlorphenecine, chloroxylenol, cinnamon oil, olive oil e citronella, clove oil, dehydroacetic acid and its salts, dill seed oil, DOWICIL 200 (available from Dow Chemical located in Midland, Ml), echinacea, elenoic acid, epimedium, ethyl paraben, FO-T, galbanum , pimpernel, GERMALL 115 and GERMANLL II (available from ISP-Sutton Labs located in Wayne, NJ), German chamomile oil, giant black centaury, GLYDANT (available from Lonza located in Fairlawn NJ), GLYDANT PLUS (available from de Lonza located in Fairlawn NJ), grapefruit seed oil, hexamidine diisetionate, hinochitiol, honey, honeysuckle flower, hops, mmortel, YODOPROPINIL BUTIL CARBAMIDE (available from Lonza located in Fairlawn NJ), isobutyl paraben, isopropyl paraben, JM ACTICARE (available from Microbial Systems International located in Nottingham, UK), juniper raspberries, KATHON CG (available from Rohm and Haas located in Philadelphia, PA, USA), lavender, lavender, lemon balm oil, lemon, methyl paraben, peppermint, mustard, chrysanthemum, myrrh, neem seed oil, ortho phenyl phenol, OLIVE LEAF EXTRACT (available from Bio Botánica, located in Hauppauge, NY), parsley, patchouli oil, peony root, PHENONIP (available from Nipa Labs located in Wilmington, DE), phytosphinesin, pine oil, PLANSERVATIVE (available from Field Research, located at Raffles Quay, Singapore), propil paraben, purslane, quilaria, rhubarb, geranium rose oil, rosemary, mugwort, salicylic acid, sassafras, savory, liguric, sodium metabisulphite, sodium sulfite, SOPHOLIANCE (available from Soliance located in Compiegne, France), acid sorbic and its salts, sphingosine, stevia, esotras, tannic acid, tea, tea tree oil (cajeputi oil), thymus, triclosan, triclocarban, tropolone, turpentine, umbeliferota (antifungal) and cassava or mixtures thereof. Other examples of antimicrobial and antifungal actives useful herein are described in WO98 / 18444.

Skin softening agents Skin softening agents can be effective in preventing or treating inflammation of the skin. The softening agent improves the appearance benefits of the skin of the present invention, for example, said agents contribute to a more uniform and acceptable skin tone or color. Non-limiting examples of skin softening agents include absintio, acacia, aesine, arraclán extract, allantoin, aloe, APT (available from Centerchem, located in Stamford, CT), arnica, tragacanth, tragacanth root extract, azulene, BAICALIN SR 15 (available from Barnet Products Dist. located in Englewood, NJ), skullcap, Baizu, Canada balsam, bee pollen, BIOPHYTEX (available from Laboratories Serobiologiques located in Somerville, NJ), bisabolol, black cohosh, black cohosh extract , blue cohosh extract, blue cohosh, eupatorium, borage oil, borage oil, borage seed, bromelain, calendula, calendula extract, CANADIAN Willowbark eXTRACT (available from Fytokem), candelilla wax, cangzu, phytosterols, canola pepper, carboxypeptidase, celery seed, celery stalk extract, CENTAURIUM (available from Sederma, located in Brooklyn, NY), centaur extract, camazulene, chamomile, chamomile extract, chaparral, p uro extract pure tree, chickweed, chicory root extract, chicory root, chirata, chisao, colloidal oatmeal, comfrey, comfrey extract, CROMIST CM GLUCAN (available from Croda, located in Parsippany, NJ), darutosida , urian angelica, DEVIL'S CLAW (available from MMP located in Plainfield, NJ), divalent metals (such as magnesium, strontium, manganese), grass, wild cherry, EASHAVE (available from Pentapharm, located in Basel, Switzerland), eleuthero, ELHIBIN (available from Pentapharm, located in Basel, Switzerland), enteline 2 (available from Secma, located in Pontrieux, France), ephedra, epimedium, esculósida, ass grass, eyebright, EXTRACT LE-100 (available from Sino Lion, located in World Trade Center, NY), roots, magarza, fisina, forsitia fruit, ganoderma, gaoben, GATULINE (available from Gattefosse, located in Saint Priest, France), gentian, germanium extract, gíngko biloba, ginkgo, ginseng extract , American ranunculacea, extract of go rhonid, gotu kola, grape fruit extract, guaiac wood oil, gugal extract, helenaline esters, henna, honeysuckle flower, horehound extract, horse chestnut, horsetail, huzhang, hypericum, ichthyol, everlasting, ipecuacana, tears of david, azofaifo, tail extract, LANACHRYS 28 (available from Lana Tech, located in Paris, France), lemon oil, lianquio, sweet stick, ligusticum, ligustrum, ligustrum root, scourer, mace, flower of magnolia extract Manjista, margaespidina, margaespidina, matricide, Microat IRC (available from Nurture, located in Missoula, MT), mistletoe, Modulene (available from Seporga located in Sophia Antipolis, France), extract of mung, musk extract oats, orange, panthenol, papain, peony bark, peony root, PHYTOPLENOLIN (available from Bio Botanica, located in Hauppauge, NY), PREREGEN (available from Pentapharm, located in Base, Switzerland), purslane, QUENCH T (available from Centerchem, located at n Stamford, CT), quilaria, red sage, remanía, rubarba, rosemary, rosamarínico oil, royal jelly, rue, routine, sandalwood, Yankee, sarsaparilla, palmetto, SENSILINE (available from de Silab, located in Brive, France) , SIEGESBECKIA (available from Sederma, located in Brooklyn, NY), stearyl gliciretinate, STIMUTEX (available from Pentapharm, located in Basel, Switzerland), esotrax, sweet birch oil, sweet rubilla, tagetos, tea extract, thymus extract , gensing tienchi, tocopherol, tocopheryl acetate, triclosan, batadilla, urimei, ursolic acid, white pine bark, witch hazel, xinyi, bastard sagebrush, yeast extract, cassava, and mixtures thereof.

Sunscreen Agents Suitable sunscreen agents useful herein are described in WO98 / 18444 incorporated herein by reference. Other examples of sunscreens which are useful in the present include p-methoxycinnamate, diethanolamine, dioxybenzone, ethyl dihydroxypropyl PABA, glyceryl aminobenzoate, dihydroxyacetone, menthyl anthranilate, methyl anthranilate, octal dimethyl PABA, red oil, sulisobenzone, triethanolamine salicylate , and mixtures thereof.

Skin barrier repair aids Skin barrier repair aids are skin care aids that can help repair and fill the natural moisture barrier function of the epidermis. Suitable examples of skin barrier repair aids include brassicasterol, caffeine, campesterol, canola-derived sterols, CERAMAX (available from Quest, located in Ashford, England), CERAMIDA 2 (available from Sederma, located in Brooklyn, NY), CERAMIDA HO3TM (available from Quest, located in Ashford, England), CERAMIDE II (available from Queso, located in Ashford, England), CERAMIDA IIIB (available from Cosmoferm, located in Delft, The Netherlands), CERAMIDE IS 3773 (available from Laboratorios Serobiologiques, located in Somerville, NJ), CERAMINOL (available from Inocosm, located in Chatenay Malabry, France), CERASOL (available from Pentapharm, located in Base, Switzerland), CEPHALIP (available from Pentapharm, located in Base, Switzerland), cholesterol, cholesterol hydroxystearate, cholesterol stearate, 7- dehydrocholesterol, DEMATEIN BRC (available from Hormel, located in Austin, MN), DEMATEIN GSL (available from Hormel, located in Austin, MN), ELDEW C L 301 (available from Ajinomoto, located in Teaneck, NJ), ELDEW PS 203 (available from Ajinomoto, located in Teaneck, NJ), FITROBROSIDE (available from Pentapharm, located at Base, Switzerland), GENEROL 122 (available from Henke, located in Hoboken, NJ), glyceryl serine amide, lactic acid, LACTOMIDE (available from Pentapharm, located in Base, Switzerland), lanolin, lanolin alcohols, lanesterol, n-laurylglucamide of lipoic acid, lipoic acid, n-acetyl cysteine, serine , n-acetyl-L-serine, n-methyl-L-serine, NET STEROL-ISO (available from Barnet Products, located in Englewood, NJ), niacinamide, nicotinic acid and its esters, nicotinyl alcohol, palmitic acid, panthenol, pantethin, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, PHYTO / CER (available from Intergen, located in Purchaser, NY), PHYTOGLYCOLIPOD MILLET EXTRACT (available from Barnet Products Distributor, located in Englewood, NJ), PHYTOSPHINGOSINE (available from Gist Brocades, located in King of Prussia , PA), PSENDOFILAGGRIN (available d e Brooks Industries, located in South Plainfield, NJ); QUESTAMIDE H (available from Cheese, located in Ashford, England), serine, stigmasterol, cytosterol, stigmastanol, sterols derived from soybean, sphingosine, s-lactoil glutathione, stearic acid, SUPER STEROL STRESS (available from Croda, located in Parsippany, NJ ), thioctic acid, THSC CERAMIDE OIL (available from Field Research, located at Raffles Quay, Singapore), thymol glycine, tocopheryl nicotinate, vitamin D3 and analogues or derivatives thereof, and Y2 (available from Ocean Pharmaceutical), or mixtures thereof.

Anti-wrinkle and anti-atrophy active ingredients Anti-wrinkle and anti-atrophy skin can be effective to fill or rejuvenate the epidermal and / or dermal layer. These assets generally provide these desirable skin care benefits by promoting or maintaining the natural process of descaling and / or developing skin matrix components (eg, collagen and glycosamine glycans). Non-limiting examples of anti-wrinkle and anti-atrophy skin actives include nicotinic acid and its esters, nicotinyl alcohol, estrogen and estrogenic compounds, or mixtures thereof. Other suitable skin anti-wrinkle and anti-atrophy actives useful herein are described in WO98 / 18444.

Skin repair assets Skin repair assets can be effective to repair the epidermal and / or dermal layer. Non-limiting examples of skin repair actives include acyin 27-deoxyactein cimicifugoside (cimygoside), adapalene, tazarotene, ademethionine, adenosine, aletris extract, lectins derived from aloe, 3-aminopropyl diacid phosphate, AMADORINE (available from Barnet Products, located in Englewood, NJ), anise extract, AOSINE (available from Secma, located in Pontrieux, France), arginine aminobenzoate, ASC III (available from E. Merck, located in Darmstadt, Germany), ascorbic acid, ascorbyl palmitate, Asian acid, asiaticocosides, ARLAMOL GEO (available from ICI, located at Wilmington, DE), azaleic acid, benzoic acid derivatives, bertoletia extracts, butylinic acid, BIOCHANIN A, BIOPEPTIDE CL (available from Sederma, located in Brooklyn, NY), BIOPEPTIDE EL (available from Sederma located in Brooklyn, NY), biotin, blackberry bark extract, lily extracts, black cohosh extract, blue cohosh extract, botulinum butanoyl acid, catecholamines, calconas , pure tree extract, cis-retinoic acid, citric acid esters, clover extracts, coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinone), coumestrol, CPC PEPTIDE (Barnet Products, located in Englewood, NJ), daidezin, simicaria extract, darutoside, debromine laurinterol, 1-decanoyl-glycerol-phosphonic acid, dehydrocholesterol, dehydrodicreosol, dehydrodeugenol, dehydroepiandosterone, DERMOLECTIN (available from Sederma, located in Brooklyn, NY), dehydroascorbic acid, dehydroepiandosterone sulfate, diantol, 2,4-dihydrobenzoic acid, diosgenin, disodium ascorbyl phosphate, dodecanedioic acid, EDERLINE (available from Seporga, located in Sophia Antipolis, France), ELESERYL SH (available from Laboratorios Serobíologiques, located in Somerville, NJ), ENDONUCLEINE (available from Laboratorios Serobiologiques, located in Somerville, NJ), ecuol, ergoteros, eriodictiol, estrogen and its derivatives, atocin, eitrobic acid, farnesol, farnesil acetate, hemp extract, FIBRASTIL (available from Sederma, located in Brooklyn, NY), FIBROSTIMULINES S AND P (available from Sederma, located in Brooklyn, NY), FIRMOGEN IS 8445 (available from Laboratorios Serobiologiques, located in Somerville, NJ), flavonoids (especially flavanones such as unsubstituted flavanone and calconas such as unsubstituted chalcone and monohydroxy and dihydroxychalcones), formono netina, forsythia fruit extract, gallic acid esters, gamma amino butyric acid, GATULINE RC (available from Fattlefosse, located in Saint Priest, France), genistein, genistein, genetic acid, gentisyl alcohol, gingko bilboa extracts, extracts of ginseng, ginsenoside, RO, Rß-i. Re-2, Rß-3, Rc, RD, RE, RF, RF-2, RG-I, RG-2, pyranosyl-1-glucocortassol, glutathione and its esters, glycitein, 4-salicylic heptyloxy acid, hesperitin , hexahydrocurcumin, HMG-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, hops extracts, 11-hydroxy undecanoic acid, 10-hydroxydecanoic acid, 25-hydroxycholesterol, ISOFAVONE SG 10 (available from Barnet Products, located in Englewood, NJ), kinetin, esters of L-2-oxo-thiazolidin-4-carboxylic acid, inhibitors of lactate dehydrogenase, 1-lauryl-lyso-phosphatidyl choline, lectins, LICHOCHALCONE LR15 (available from Maruzen, located in Morristown, NJ), liquorice extract, acid lipoic, lumisterol, liteolin, magnesium-ascorbyl phosphate, melatonin, melibiose, metalloproteinase inhibitors, methoprene, metoprénic acid, 4-methoxy salicylic acid, mevalonic acid, MPC COMPLEX (available from CLR, located in Berlin, Germany), N- acetyl cysteine, N-methyl serine, N-methyl taurine, N, N'-bis (lactyl) cysteam ina, naringenin, neotigogenin, 5-octanoyl salicylic acid, O-demethylangoensin, oleanolic acid, pantin, phenylalanine, photoanetone, phytic acid and its salts, piperidine, placental extracts, pratensein, pregnenolone, pregnenolone acetate, pregnenolone succinate, premarin, chyloic acid, raloxifene, REACTOR FACTOR 1 (available from Sederma, located in Brookiyn, NY), REPAIR FACTOR SPC (available from Sederma, located in Brookiyn, NY), retinal, retinoates (esters of alcohols of 2 to 20 carbon atoms) , retinol, retinyl acetate, retinyl glucuronate, retinyl linoleate, retinyl palmitate, retinyl propionate, REVITALIN BT (available from Pentapharm, located in Base, Switzerland), s-carboxymethyl cysteine, salicylic acid, SEANAMINE FP (available from Laboratorios Serobiologiques, located in Somerville, NJ), sodium-ascorbyl phosphate, soy extracts, spleen extracts, tachisterol, taurine, tasarotene, thymolen, thymus extract, thyroid hormones, tigogenin , tocopheryl retinoate, toxifolin, trasn-retinoic acid, traumatic acid, tricholine citrate, triphoside, uracil derivatives, ursolic acid, vitamin D3 and its analogs, vitamin K, vitex extract, yam extract, yamogenin and ketamine and mixtures thereof.

Lipids Examples of suitable lipids include cetyl ricinoleate, cholesterol hydroxystearate, cholesterol stearate, CREMEROL (available from Amerchol, located in Edison, NJ), ELDEW C1301 (available from Ajinomoto, located in Teaneck, NJ), lanolin, MODULAN ( available from Amerchol, located in Edison, NJ), OHLAN (available from Amerchol, located in Edison, NJ), petrolatum, fitantrioil and SUPER STEROL ESTERES (available from Croda, located in Parsippany, NJ), or mixtures thereof.

Skin lightening agents Skin lightening agents can actually reduce the amount of melanin in the skin or provide such effect through other mechanisms. Skin lightening agents suitable for use herein are described in EP-A-758,882 and EP-A-748,307, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other examples of skin lightening agents include adapalene, aloe extract, aminotyrosine, ammonium lactate, anethole derivatives, apple extract, arbutin, ascorbic acid, ascorbyl palmitate, azelaic acid, bamboo extract, bearberry extract, tubercle Bletilla extract, Bupléurum extract, pimpernel extract, BURNET POWDER (available from Barnet Products, located in Englewood, NJ), butyl hydroxy anisole, butyl hydroxy toluene, chuanxiong, symmetry, deoxiarbutine, 1,3-diphenyl propane derivatives, acid 2,5-dihydroxybenzole and its derivatives, 2- (4-acetoxyphenyl) -1, 3-ditan, 2, (4-hydroxyphenyl) -1, 3-ditan, ellagic acid, escinol, estragole derivatives, esculoside, esculetin, FADEOUT (available from Pentapharm, located in Basel, Switzerland), fangfeng, fennel extract, gallic acid and its derivatives, ganoderma extract, gaoben, GATULINE WIHITENING (available from Gatterfosse, located in Saint Priest, France), genísitic acid and its derivatives, alcohol gentisilic, glabridin and its derivatives, glucopyranosyl-1-ascorbate, gluconic acid, glucosamine, glycolic acid, glycyrrhizinic acid, green tea extract, 4-hydroxy-5-methyl-3 [2h] -furanone, hydroquinine, 4-hydroxyanisole and its derivatives, 4-hydroxy benzoic acid derivatives, hydroxy caprylic acid, inositol ascorbate, kojic acid, lactic acid, lemon extract, licorice extract, LICORICE P-TH (available from Barnet Products, located in Englewood, NJ), acid linoleic, magnesium-ascorbyl phosphate, MELFADE (available from Pentapharm, located in Basel, Switzerland), MELAWHITE (available from Pentapharm, located in Basel, Switzerland), extract of morus alba, blackberry root extract, nicotinic acid and its esters , nicotinyl alcohol, 5-octanoyl salicylic acid, parsley extract, phellinus linteus extract, placenta extract, pyrogallol derivatives, retinoic acid, retinol, retinyl esters (acetate, propionate, palmitate, linoleate), derivatives of 2,4-resorcinol, 3,5-resorcinol derivatives, Russian fruit extract, rucinol, salicillic acid, song-yi extract, SOPHORA POWDER (available from Barnet Products, located in Englewood, NJ), 4-tioresorein, derivatives of 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzyl, tranexamic acid, TYROSLAT 10,11 (available from Fytokem), vitamin D3 and its analogues, yeast extract or mixtures thereof.

Sebum inhibitors Sebum inhibitors can reduce the production of sebum in the sebaceous glands. Examples of suitable sebum inhibitors include aluminum hydroxychloride, ASEBIOL (available from Laboratorios Serobiologiques, located in Somerville, NJ), BIODERMINE (available from Sederma, located in Brookiyn, NJ), clivazole, COMPLETECH MBAC-OS (available from Lipo, located in Peterson, NJ), corticosteroids, cucumber extracts, dehydroacetic acid and its salts, dichlorophenyl imidazole dioxolan, ketoconazole, LICHOCHALCONE LR 15 (available from Maruzen), niaciinamide, nicotinic acid, and its esters, nicotinic alcohol, fluoretine, PHLOROGINE (available from Secma, located in Pontrieux, France), pyridoxine and its derivatives, S-carboxymethyl cysteine, SEPINCONTROL AS, spironolactone, thioxolone, tocopherol, UNITRIENOL T27 (available from Unichem, located in Chicago, IL), and ZINCIDONE (available from UCIB, located in Clifton, NJ), and mixtures thereof.

Sebum stimulants Sebum stimulants can increase the production of sebum through the sebaceous glands. Non-limiting examples of sebum stimulants include brionic acid, COMPLETECH MBAC-DS (available from Lipo, located in Paterson, NJ), dehydroepiandrosterone (also known as DHEA), oryzanol, and mixtures thereof.

Skin Perception Agents Non-limiting examples of skin-sensing agents suitable for use in the present invention include agents that impart a cold sensation, such as camphor, thymol, 1 -mentol and derivatives thereof, eucalyptus, carboxamides.; methanéteres, and methanesters; and agents imparting a heat sensation such as cayenne tincture, cayenne extract, cayenne powder, vanillyl amide nonanoate, nicotinic acid derivatives (benzyl nicotinate, methyl nicotinate, phenyl nicotinate, etc.), capsaicin, extract of naturtium officinale, extract Zanthoxylum piperitum and ginger extract, or mixtures thereof.

Protease inhibitors Protease inhibitors are compounds that inhibit the process of proteolysis, that is, the separation of proteins into smaller peptide fractions and amino acids. Examples of inhibitors suitable protease include AE COMPLEX (available from Laboratories Seporgia located in Sophia Antipolis, France), ALE (available from Laboratories Seporgía located in Sophia Antipolis, France), AOSAINE (available from Secma Biotechnologies Marine located in Pontrieux, France) , aprotinin (available from Pentapharm AG located in Basel. Switzerland), areca catechu extracts, BLUE ALGAE eXTRACT (available from Collaborative Labs. Inc., located in East Setauket, NY), CENTAURIUM (available from Sederma located in Brookiyn, NY) , CMST (available from Bioética Inc. located in Portland, ME), DERMOPROTECTINE (available from Sederma located in Brookiyn, NY), DISACOSIDE HG 60 (available from Barnet Products located in Englewood, NJ), ELHIBIN (available from Vegetech located in Glendale , CA), HYPOTAURINE (available from Sogo Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. located in East Setauket, NY), IN CYTE HEATHER (available from Collaborative Labs. Inc., located in East Setauket, NY), MICROMEROL ( available from Pentapharm AG located in Basel. Switzerland), PEFABLOC SP (available from Pentapharm AG located in Basel, Switzerland), SEPICONTROL AS (available from Seppic located in Paris, France), SIEGESBECKIA (available from Sederma located in Brookiyn, NY), SOPHORINE (available from Barnet Products located in Englewood, NJ), THIOTAINE (available from Barnet Products located in Englewood, NJ), and mixtures thereof.

Skin Tightening Agents Non-limiting examples of skin tightening agents include BIOCARE SA (available from Amerchol, located in Edison, NJ), egg albumin, FLEXAN (available from National Starch located in Bridgewater, NJ), GATULINE LIFTING (available from Gattefosse located in Saint Priest, France), PENTACARE HP (available from Serobiologiques laboratories located in Somerville, NJ), VEGESERYL (available from Serobiologiques laboratories located in Somerville, NJ), and mixtures thereof.

Anti-pruritus ingredients Non-limiting examples of anti-pruritus agents include STIMUTEX ((available from Pentapharm AG located in Basel, Switzerland), TAKANAL (available from Ikeda-Distributor, located in Tokyo, Japan), ICHTHYOL (available from International Sourcing-Distributor , located in Upper Saddle River, NJ), OXYGENATED GLYCERYL TRIESTERES (available from Seporgia Laboratories located in Sophia Antipolis, France), and mixtures thereof.

Agents for inhibiting hair growth Nonlimiting examples of suitable agents for inhibiting hair growth include 17-estradiol, adamantiguanidinas, amidines adamantyl, adenylosuccinate synthase inhibitors, anti-angiogenic steroids, inhibitors of aspartate transcarbamylase, betamethasone valerate , bisabolol, copper ions, turmeric extract, cycloxygenase inhibitors, cistern path inhibitors, dehydroacetic acid, dehydroepianandrosterone, diopir extract, epidermal growth factor, epigallocatecin, essential fatty acids, donut herb oil, gamma-transpeptidase inhibitors, ginger oil, glucose metabolism inhibitors, inhibitors of metabolism of glutamine, glutathione, green tea extracts, heparin, KAPILANNE (available from International Sourcing Distributor, located in Upper Saddle River, NJ), L-5-diaminopentanoic acid, L-asparginase synthase inhibitors, linoleic acid, inhibitors of lipoxygenase, longa extract, mimosinamine dihydrochloride, mimosine, nitric oxide synthase inhibitors, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, ornithine decarboxylase inhibitors, ornithine aminotransferase inhibitors, panthenol, phorhetur, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, leiona extract, kinase inhibitors C protein, 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, compu these reagents of sulfhydryl, thioxolone, beta 1 of transformation growth factor, urea, zinc ions, and mixtures thereof. 5-alpha reductase inhibitors Non-limiting examples of 5-alpha reductase inhibitors include CLOVE 55 ((available from Barnet Products located in Englewood, NJ), ethinylestradiol, genistein, genistin, Licohalcone LR-15, palmito extracts, SOPHORA EXTRACT ( available from Maruzen located in Morriston, NJ), ZINCIDONE (available from UCIB, located in Clifton, NJ), and mixtures thereof.

Deescamation enzyme enhancers These agents improve the activity of endogenous desquamation enzymes. Non-limiting examples of desquamation enzyme enhancers include N-methylserine, serine, trimethylglycine and mixtures thereof.

Anti-glycation agents Anti-glycation agents prevent sugar-induced entanglement of collagen. A suitable example of an anti-glycation agent includes AMADORINE (available from Barnet Products located in Englewood, NJ). Preferred examples of beneficial agents useful in the present invention include those selected from the group consisting of salicylic acid, niacinamide, tocopheryl nicotinate, benzoyl peroxide, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, flavonoids (eg, favonone, chalcone), farnesol, phytantriol, glycolic acid, lactic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, acetylsalicylic acid, 2-hydroxybutanoic acid, 2-hydroxypentanoic acid, 2-hydroxyhexanoic acid, cis-retinoic acid, trans-retinoic acid, retinol, retinyl esters (eg, propionate, retinyl), phytic acid, n-acetyl-n-cysteine, lipoic acid, tocopherol and its esters (for example, tocopheryl acetate), azelaic acid, arachidonic acid, tetracycline, ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen, hydrocortisone, acetaminophen, resorcinol, phenoxyethanol, phenoxypropanol, phenoxyisopropanol, 2,4,4-ether, -trichloro-2'-hydroxy diphenyl, 3,4,4'-trichlorocarbanilide, octopirox, lidocaine hydrochloride a, clotrimazole, miconazole, ketoconazole, neomycin sulfate, theophylline, and mixtures thereof. Very preferred are those selected from the group consisting of niacinamide, panthenol, glycolic acid, lactic acid, salicylic acid, acetylisalicylic acid, 2-hydroxybutanoic acid, 2-hydropentanoic acid, 2-hydrohexanoic acid, retinol and its esters, tocopherol and its esters and mixtures thereof. For cosmetic methods of treating the skin, hair or nails, the beneficial agent is preferably selected from active anti-wrinkle and anti-atrophy skin, active against acne, artificial bronzing agents and accelerators, skin repair actives, the skin barrier, skin lightening agents, skin permeation agents, skin softening agents, lipids, sebum inhibitors, sebum stimulants, sunscreen agents, protease inhibitors, skin tightening agents, anti-pruritus ingredients, and de-scaling enzyme enhancers or mixtures thereof.

Moisturizers Preferred preformed sheet devices comprise at least one humectant. The humectants can be added to achieve a plasticizing effect and to increase the moisture characteristics of the device in preformed sheet when applied to the surface targets. Certain humectants such as hexylene glycol can also contribute to the antibacterial and characteristic properties of a preformed sheet device of the present invention. Furthermore, without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that incorporating humectants into the preformed sheet devices of the present invention increases the stability of the devices so that they are less likely to undergo decomposition under extreme temperature conditions. In general, the preformed sheet devices of the present invention comprise about 1.0% to 45%, preferably about 5% to about 40%, most preferably about 10% to about 30%, by weight of a humectant. Suitable humectants for use in the present invention are described in WO98 / 22085. WO98 / 18444 and WO97 / 01326, all incorporated here by reference. In addition, suitable humectants include amino acids and their derivatives such as proline and arginine aspartate, 1,3-butylene glycol, propylene glycol and water and extract of codium tomenstosum, collagen, amino acids or peptides, creatinine, diglycerol, gum-1 biosaccharide, glucamine salts, glucuronic acid salts, glutamic acid salts, polyethylene glycol glycerin ethers (eg, glycereth 20) glycerin, glycerol monopropoxylate, glycogen, hexylene glycol, honey, and extracts or their derivatives, starch hydrollts hydrogenated, hydrolysed mucopolysaccharides, inositol, keratin amino acids, LAREZ A-200 (available from Larex), glucosamino glycans, methoxy PEG 10, methyl glucet-10 and 20 (both commercially available from Amerchol located in Edison, NJ), methylglucose, 3- methyl-1,3-butanediol, n-acetylglucosamine salts, panthenol, polyethylene glycol and their derivatives (such as PEG 15 butanediol, PEG 4, PEG 5 pentairitritol, PEG 6, PEG 8, PEG 9, pentaerythritol, 1,2-pentanedioyl, PPG-1 glyceryl ether, PPG-9, 2-pyrrolidone-5-carboxylic acid and its salts such as glyceryl pea, saccharide isomerate, SEACARE (available from Secma), sericin, silk amino acids , sodium acetyluronate, sodium ialuronate, sodium poly-aspartate, sodium polyglutamate, sorbet 20, sorbet 6, sugar and sugar alcohols and their derivatives, such as glucose, mannose and polyglycerol sorbitol, trehalose, triglycerol, trimethylpropane, salts detris (hydroxymethyl) amino methane, and yeast extract, or mixtures thereof. Preferably, the humectants for use herein are selected from glycerin, butylene glycol, hexylene glycol, panthenol and polyethylene glycol and their derivatives and mixtures thereof.

Emulsifiers / surfactants The preformed sheet devices of the present invention optionally may also comprise one or more surfactants and / or emulsifiers. Emulsifiers and / or surfactants generally help to disperse and suspend the discontinuous phase within the continuous phase.

A surfactant may also be useful if the product is intended to clean the skin, hair or nails. For convenience, hereinafter emulsifiers will be referred to under the term "surfactants", thus "surfactants" will be used to refer to surface active agents if they are used as emulsifiers or for other surfactant purposes such as like cleaning the skin, hair or nails. Known conventional surfactants can be used in the composition, provided that the selected agent is chemically and physically compatible with the essential components of the composition, and provides the desired characteristics. Suitable surfactants include silicone materials, non-silicone materials, and mixtures thereof. The compositions of the present invention preferably comprise about 0.01% to 15% of a surfactant or mixtures of surfactants. The surfactant or mixture of surfactants selected will depend on the pH of the composition and the other components present. The preferred surfactants are non-ionic. Among the nonionic surfactants which are useful herein are the condensation products of alkylene oxides with fatty acids (ie, alkyl ether esters of fatty acids). These materials have the general formula RCO (X) nOH wherein R is an alkyl group of 10 to 30 carbon atoms, X is -OCH2CH2 (ie, is derived from ethylene glycol or oxide) or -OCH2CHCH3- (ie, it is derived from propylene glycol or oxide), and n is an integer from about 6 to about 200. Other nonionic surfactants from the condensation products of alkylene oxides with two moles of fatty acids (i.e., alkylene oxide diesters of fatty acids). These materials have the general formula RCO (X) nOOCR wherein R is an alkyl group of 10 to 30 atom, X is -OCH2CH2 (ie, is derived from ethylene glycol or oxide) or -OCH2CHCH3- (ie, is derived of propylene glycol or oxide), and n is an integer of about 6 to about 100. Other nonionic surfactants are the condensation products of alkylene oxides with fatty alcohols (ie, alkylene oxide ethers of fatty alcohols). These materials have the general formula RCO (X) nOR 'wherein R is an aliphatic group of 10 to 30 atom, X is -OCH2CH2- (ie, is derived from ethylene glycol or oxide) or -OCH2CHCH3- (ie, is derived from propylene glycol or oxide), and n is an integer from about 6 to about 100, and R 'is H or an aliphatic group of 10 to 30 carbon atoms, examples of which include PEG 40 hydrogenated castor oil, available under the tradename "Cremophor RH 40" from BASF (Parsippany, NJ, USA); PEG 60 hydrogenated castor oil, available under the name "Cremophor RH 60" from BASF (Parsippany, NJ, USA); isocetet-20, available under the trade name "Arlasolve 200" from ICI (Wilmington, MA, USA); and olet-20, available under the tradename "Volpo 20" from Croda Chemicals Ltd. (Goole, North Humberside, England). Other nonionic surfactants are the condensation products of alkylene oxides with both fatty acids and fatty alcohols [ie, wherein the polyalkylene oxide moiety is esterified on one end with a fatty acid, and etherified (i.e. , connects through an ether link) on the other end with a fatty alcohol]. These materials have the general formula RCO (X) nOR 'wherein R and R' are an alkyl group of 10 to Atom, X is -OCH2CH2- (ie, is derived from ethylene glycol or oxide) or -OCH2CHCH3- (derived from propylene glycol or oxide), and n is an integer from about 6 to about 100, examples of which include ceteth-6, ceteth-10, ceteth-12, ceteareth-6, ceteareth-10, ceteareth-12, steareth-6, steareth-10, steareth-12, stearate of PEG-6, stearate of PEG-10, stearate PEG-100, PEG-12 stearate, PEG-20 glyceryl stearate, PEG-80 glyceryl seboate, PEG-10 glyceryl stearate, glyceryl cocoate • PEG-30, glyceryl cocoate of PEG-80, glyceryl seboate of PEG-200, dilaurate of PEG-8, distearate of PEG-10, and mixtures thereof. Other nonionic surfactants which are useful herein are alkyl glucosides and alkyl polyglucosides, which are described in greater detail in WO98 / 18444, incorporated herein by reference. Other more nonionic surfactants include polyhydroxy fatty acid amide surfactants, which are described in greater detail in WO98 / 04241. Other suitable nonionic surfactants for use herein include sugar esters and polyesters, esters and alkoxylated sugar polyesters, fatty acid esters of 1 to 30 carbon atoms of fatty alcohols of 1 to 30 carbon atoms, alkoxylated derivatives of fatty acid esters of 1 to 30 carbon atoms of fatty alcohols of 1 to 30 carbon atoms, alkoxylated ethers of fatty alcohols of 1 to 30 carbon atoms, polyglyceryl esters of fatty acids of 1 to 30 carbon atoms, esters of polyols of 1 to 30 carbon atoms, polyol ethers of 1 to 30 carbon atoms, alkyl phosphates, polyoxyalkylene ether fatty phosphates, fatty acid amides, acyl lactylates and mixtures thereof. Examples of these surfactants that do not contain silicon include; polysorbate 20, polyethylene glycol 5 sterol sterol, steareth-20, ceteareth-20, methyl glucose diolsterather of PPG-2, polysorbate 80; polysorbate 60, available under the tradename "Tween 60" from ICI (Wilmington, MA, USA); glyceryl stearate, sorbitan monolaurate, sodium stearate of polyoxyethylene 4 lauryl, polyglyceryl-4 isostearate, hexyl laurate, methyl glucose distearate ether of PPG-2, and mixtures thereof. Among the preferred nonionic surfactants are those selected from ceteareth-12, sucrose cocoate, steareth-100, polysorbate-60, hydrogenated castor oil from PEG-60, isoceteth-20, oleth-20, stearate from PEG-100. and mixtures thereof. Other emulsifiers suitable for use herein are polyoxypropylene, polyoxyethylene ethers of fatty alcohols. These materials have the general formula R (CH2CHCH3O) x- (CH2CH2O)? -H, wherein R is an alkyl group of OC? 0-C3o or an alkyl group of 10 to 30 carbon atoms, x has an average value from 1 to 20 e and has an average value of from 1 to 30, examples of which include PPG-6-Decytetradeceth-30 available under the tradename of "Pen 4630" from Nikko Chemicals Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan); PPG-6-Decytetradeceth-20 available under the tradename "Pen 4620" from Nikko Chemicals Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan); and PPG-5-Ceteth-20, available under the tradename "Procetyl AWS" from Croda Chemicals Ltd. (Goole, North Humberside, England). Another emulsifier useful herein are mixtures of fatty acid which are based on a mixture of sorbitan fatty acid ester or sorbitol and sucrose fatty acid ester, as described in more detail in WO98 / 22085, incorporated herein by reference. The hydrophilic surfactants useful herein alternatively or additionally may include any of a wide variety of cationic, anionic, amphoteric, and anionic surfactants, as is known in the art. See, for example, McCutcheon's Detergents and Emulsifiers. North American Edition, (1986), published by Allured Publishing Corporation; US-A-5,011, 681 of Ciotti et al., Issued April 30, 1991; patent of E.U.A. 4,421, 769 of Dixon et al., Issued December 20, 1983, and patent of E.U.A. No. 3,755,560 to Dickert et al., Issued August 28, 1973; These four references are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. A wide variety of cationic surfactants are useful herein, cationic surfactants suitable for use herein are described in W098 / 18444. A wide variety of anionic surfactants are useful herein. See, for example, US patent. 3,929,678 to Laughiin et al., Issued December 30, 1975, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Exemplary anionic surfactants include the alkenyl isethionates (eg, from 12 to 30 carbon atoms), alkyl and alkyl ether sulfates and their salts, alkyl and alkyl ether phosphates and their salts, alkyl methyl taurates (eg, from 12 to 30 carbon atoms) and soaps (for example, alkali metal salts, such as potassium or sodium salts) of fatty acids. Amphoteric and zwitterionic surfactants are also useful herein. Examples of amphoteric and switerionic surfactants which can be used in the compositions of the present invention are those which are broadly described as derivatives of aliphatic secondary and tertiary amines, wherein the aliphatic radical can be a straight or branched chain and wherein one of the aliphatic substituents contain from about eight to about 22 carbon atoms (preferably from 8 to 18 carbon atoms), and one contains a group of their anionic solubilization in water, for example, carboxy, sulfonate, sulfate, phosphate or phosphonate. Examples are alkyl imino acetates, iminodialkanoates, and aminoalkanoates, imidazolinyl derivatives and ammonia. Other suitable amphoteric and switerionic agents are those selected from the group consisting of betaines, sultaines, hydroxy sultaines, alkyl sarcosinates (eg, from 12 to 30 carbon atoms), and alkanoisarcosinates. The preformed sheet devices of the present invention may optionally contain an emulsifier or surfactant that contains silicone. A wide variety of silicone emulsifiers is useful herein. These silicone emulsifiers are typically organopolysiloxane organopolysiloxanes, also known to those skilled in the art as silicone surfactants. Silicone emulsifiers include dimethicone copolyols. These materials are polydimethylsiloxanes which have been modified to include polyether side chains such as polyethylene oxide chains, polypropylene oxide chains, mixtures of these chains, and polyether chains containing portions derived from both ethylene oxide and polyether oxide. propylene. Other examples include dimethicone copolyols modified with alkyl, that is to say they contain pendant side chains of 2 to 30 carbon atoms. Other useful dimethicone copolyols include materials that have various cationic, anionic, amphoteric and switerionic pendant options.

Oil-soluble conditioning agents The present invention can also further comprise oil-soluble conditioning agents. Examples of conditioning agents useful as oil-soluble conditioning agents include those selected from the group consisting of mineral oil, petrolatum, branched chain hydrocarbons of 7 to 40 carbon atoms, alcohol esters of 1 to 30 carbon atoms of carboxylic acids of 1 to 30 carbon atoms, alcohol esters of 1 to 30 carbon atoms of dicarboxylic acids of 2 to 30 carbon atoms, monoglycerides of carboxylic acids of 1 to 30 carbon atoms, diglycerides of carboxylic acids of 1 to 30 carbon atoms carbon, triglycerides of carboxylic acids of 1 to 30 carbon atoms, monoesters of ethylene glycol of carboxylic acids of 1 to 30 carbon atoms, diesters of ethylene glycol of carboxylic acids of 1 to 30 carbon atoms, monoesters of propylene glycol of acids carboxylics of 1 to 30 carbon atoms, propylene glycol diesters of carboxylic acids of 1 to 30 carbon atoms or, monoesters and polyesters of fatty acid sugar of 1 to 30 carbon atoms, polydialkyl siloxanes, polydiarylsiloxanes, polyalcaryl siloxanes, cyclomethicones having from 3 to 9 silicon atoms, vegetable oils, hydrogenated vegetable oils, alkyl ethers of 4 to 20 carbon atoms of propylene glycol, dialkyl ethers of 8 to 30 carbon atoms, and mixtures thereof. These agents are described in greater detail in W098 / 18444, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Thickening Polymers The pre-formed sheet devices in the present invention can also comprise thickening polymers, preferably about 0.01% to 5%, preferably about 0.05 to 3% and most preferably about 0.1 to 2% by weight of a polymer thickener The thickening polymers can be combined with the polysaccharide mixture described herein to modify the properties of said gels. The thickening polymers can be chemically or physically entangled or used in the polysaccharide mixture per se. Suitable thickened polymers useful herein include polyvinylpyrrolidones, poly-2-etl-2-oxazoline, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene oxide, polyvinyl ethers, copolymers of polyvinyl ethers and polyvinylpyrrolidone and derivatives thereof, methyl vinyl ether and anhydride. maleic, ethylene and maleic anhydride copolymers; polymers based on acrylic acid or its derivatives such as polyacrylic acids; polyethylene glycol monomethacrylate, polydimethylacrylamide, polyacrylic acid salts such as ammonium polyacrylate and sodium polyacrylate; and copolymers of acrylamide and N.N'-methylenebisacrylamide and acrylamide; and polyacrylamide.

Additional polysaccharides The pre-formed sheet devices of the present invention may also comprise additional polysaccharides. As described above, the sheet device of the present invention contains less than 10% total polysaccharide (dry weight). Additional polysaccharides, if present, contribute to the total dry weight of the polysaccharides comprising the device. Additional suitable polysaccharides include brown seaweed polysaccharides such as include algin, alginic acid, alginate salts such as (calcium, potassium, aluminum or sodium) and propylene glycol alginate; marine invertebrate extracts such as chitosan, and hydroxpropyl chitosan and derivatives; starch or its derivatives; natural fruit extracts such as pectin and arabia; exudates from natural plants such as karaya gum, tragacanth gum, gum arabic, tamarind gum, and gati gum. And resinous rubbers such as such as shellac, damar gum, copal gum and gum rubber; or mixtures thereof. Further suitable examples of additional polysaccharides present herein are cellulose and its derivatives as described in W098 / 28785, incorporated herein by reference.

Light diffusing agents The devices of the present invention may also comprise light diffusers or matte agents, particularly organic or organosiloxane particles such as nylon powder 12, silicone elastomer powders (eg, dimethicone / vivnil dimethicone crosslinker polymer) ) and polyalkylsilsquioxane powders (such as Tospearl® 145A from GE Silicones).

Other optional ingredients The compositions of the invention may comprise a wide variety of other optional components. These additional components must be pharmaceutically acceptable. CTFA Cosmetic Inqredient Handbook: Second Edition, 1992, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a wide variety of non-limiting cosmetic and pharmaceutical ingredients commonly used in the cosmetics industry, which are suitable for use in compositions of the present invention. Non-limiting examples of functional classes of ingredients are described on page 537 of this reference. Examples of these and other functional classes include: abrasives, absorbers, antibiotics, anti-cake agents, anti-dandruff agents, antiperspirant agents, antioxidants, vitamins, biological additives, bleaches, bleach activators, brighteners, detergency builders, regulatory agents of pH, chelating agents, chemical additives, dyes, cosmetics, cleansers, cosmetic astringents, cosmetic biosides, denaturing agents, dental treatments, deodorants, de-scaling actives, depilators, drug astringents, dyes, color transfer agents, enzymes, external analgesics , flavors, film formers, fragrance components, insect repellents, molds, opacifying agents, oxidant dyes, oxidizing agents, pest control ingredients, pH adjusters, pH regulators, pharmaceutical actives, plasticizers, preservatives, radical scavengers , whitening agents s skin, hair or nails, conditioners for skin, hair or nails, penetration enhancers in the skin, hair or nails, stabilizers, surface conditioners, reducing agents, temperature depressants and heat generators. Also useful herein are the steric components such as colorants, essential oils and skin, hair or nail curing agents. Other optional materials herein include pigments, suitable pigments for use in the compositions herein may be organic and / or inorganic. Materials that have a low color or luster such as matte finishing agents, and also light diffusing agents are also included within the term pigment. Examples of suitable pigments are iron oxides, iron oxides of aciglutamate, titanium dioxide, ultramarine blue, dyes D and C, carmine and mixtures thereof. Depending on the type of composition, a mixture of pigments will normally be used. The pH of the sheet devices of the present invention is preferably from about 3 to 9, most preferably from 4 to 8. The preformed sheet devices of the present invention are patches or masks, having a size and shape adapted to conform to the desired target area. The exact size and shape will depend on the intended use and the characteristics of the product. The preformed sheet devices herein are suitable for topical application to the nails or cuticles, to the hair or scalp, to a human skin or part of it, legs, hands, arms, feet, or human torso. The devices herein may have shapes, for example, box, circular, rectangular, oval, or other shapes that are mixed materials such as shapes that can be described as "semicircles", "donut" or others. The surface area for devices configured to be fixed on the face has a surface area ranging from 0.25 cm2 to approximately 500 cm2, preferably from about 1 cm2 to about 400 cm2. The devices herein have a thickness of from about 0.5 mm to about 20 mm, preferably from about 1 mm to about 5 mm. The preformed sheet devices of the present invention can also be made and used in the form of use for the hands, use for the feet, or body wrapping. Typically, the use for the hands will comprise a glove for the hand or any portion thereof, and the use for the feet will comprise a sock for the foot or any portion thereof. As used herein, the term "glove" means that it is inclusive of "mitten". Preferably the hand accessory comprises a glove body having an average section from 1 to 4 fingers receptacles connected to the middle section, a thumb receptacle connected to the mid section, a palm side and an opposite back side . Preferably, the accessory for use on the feet comprises a sock body forming a tubular skin portion having a closed end and an open end. The devices of the invention can also be made or used in the form of a body wrap. The body wrap is wrapped radially around any part of the body having a longitudinal axis. Their ends can communicate with each other, or their length can be reduced in order to only partially wrap.

In any case, the wrappings must exhibit excellent conformity to the shape of the body part. Typically, said body parts will include the user's back, upper arm, lower arm, upper leg, lower leg, neck and torso. After application of the device, it can be left on the target area for about 3 hours, preferably about one hour, most preferably less than 15 minutes. The preformed sheet devices can then be removed in one piece. Depending on the beneficial agent (or beneficial agents) contained therein, the preformed sheet devices of the present invention can have at least one of the following uses: moisturizing the skin, hair or nails, smoothing fine lines and wrinkles; treat acne cosmetic mind; firm the skin; give reinforcement; soften exfoliate; improve and / or standardize the tone and / or texture of the skin; rinse skin, hair or nails; condition the skin or hair; tan; reduce the appearance of pores; absorb or control secretions; protect and / or soothe the skin, hair or nails, muscles, headaches or pains; reduce swelling and / or dark circles; stimulate the healing of wounds; heat, cool or cool the skin; mitigate inflammation; clarify the complexion; decongest; reduce swelling; treat dermatological conditions; bulge, purify; provide fragrance; reduce the bacterial growth of microorganisms; healing; repel insects, remove hair, dirt or unwanted makeup and color or whiten the target area where the device is applied. Preferably, the preformed foil devices herein are used to hydrate the skin, hair or nails; soften fine lines and wrinkles; and improving and / or uniforming the tone and / or texture of the skin.

Methods Exudate Release Test The amount of syneresis of a pre-formed sheet device of the present invention is measured in the polysaccharide gel mixture comprising the device through an exudate release test. Data were generated on the release of exudate from the gels presented herein, by the following method: a gel formulation of interest was prepared as described below. Although still a hot liquid (> 80 ° C), 9 grams (+/- 0.1 g) were emptied into a hollow receptacle with a diameter of 91 mm, for example, the lid of a Falcon-1029 Petri dish. This receptacle was hermetically sealed to reduce evaporative losses. The gel was allowed to solidify without being interrupted with cooling to room temperature. The gel was stored at room temperature overnight before taking the readings. The cover was removed and the receptacle with the sample stopped (+/- 0.005g). Three pieces of filter paper (9.0 cm Whatman-1 14 Wet Stemgthened) were stacked on the flat gel surface. A load of 200 g of flat bottom with a diameter of 9.0 cm was placed on the filter paper to ensure a close contact with the surface of the gel. After one minute, the filler was removed and the filter paper detached moderately from the gel. The paper must impart a matte surface clearly visible to the gel, which confirms good contact by the filter paper. The sample was reweighed and the loss of mass was calculated by differences. This was reported as grams of exudate released for the gel disk with a diameter of 9 cm described above.

Gel compression rupture test The mechanical properties of the preformed sheet devices of the present invention are measured by the gel compressive failure test. The parameters of interest are the gel strength (measured by the compressive force required to break a molded gel cylinder) and the gel flexibility (measured by the degree of compression of the gel at the point of rupture). A detailed description of the test method is as follows. The compression failure test was performed using a texture analyzer (TA) Stable Micro Systems (SMS), model TA-XT2Í available from Stable Micro Systems Ltd. (Godalming, Surrey, UK). The system was controlled through SMS's Texture Expert Exceed software (version 2.03) operating with Windows-98. An aluminum compression plate with a diameter of 100 mm (probe P-100) was attached to a 50 kg load cell. This was mounted inside the TA Probe Carrier, the extended arm whose vertical path is under the control of the computer. To create test samples, a gel formulation of interest was prepared as described below. Gel discs of a precise cylindrical solid form (diameter of 26 mm by depth of 12 mm) were formed in molds. The molds with the sample were hermetically sealed against evaporation during storage. These gel discs were stored at room temperature overnight. Each gel disk was removed from its mold just before the test and inspected for defects. Any gel discs with defects (eg trapped air bubbles) were dried out since these defects can impact the measured mechanical properties. The flawless gel disc was then centered under the P-100 compression plate. The Expert Exceed Texture software was started in force / compression mode. The compression plate is prefixed to a starting height of 12.0 mm. Its rate of descent was set at 0.8 mm / second and the total fixed distance traveled at 10.8 mm (ie the measurement was stopped when the gel disk was compressed at 90% of its original height). The data was automatically gathered in strength and position of the compression plate at the speed of 200 pps (points per second). The software was prefixed to mark the position of the compression plate at the maximum strength obtained. This maximum force is the resistance to rupture, that is, the force required to break the gel disc. The distance traveled by the plate from its original starting height is the gel break point represents the degree of deformation of the gel. The maximum strength at the point of rupture is averaged across the samples (typically 5 samples) and reported in newtons. The uniaxial deformation (compression) at the gel break point was expressed as a percentage of its original molded height, ie: % compression = distance traveled by the plate (measured in mm) at a maximum force X 100 12 mm (height of the original molded sample) If the gel breakage has not occurred at the end of the 10.8 mm stroke (ie, 90% compression) the gel is classified as "no break" under these test conditions. The invention is illustrated through the following examples. 1 Kelgum ™ is a mixture of 1: 1 xanthan gum and locust bean gum supplied by Kelco. 2"Kiniwipes EX-L" available from Kimberley-Clark Corp., Roswell, GA, USA. 3"Collagen Fiber Mask" available from Beauté Attica, Inc., Redmond, WA, USA. The polysaccharide gums were mixed with water to form a uniform dispersion (this can be facilitated by predispersing the polysaccharides in a non-solvent, for example polyhydric alcohol), and any additional components were added. The mixture was heated with stirring to a first temperature above the gel point of the mixture (approximately 90 ° C) to completely hydrate the polysaccharide gums. The liquid gel was then filled into a properly configured mold. Preferably, the gel was dispensed through injection molding. This eliminates any defect that can be introduced when cutting the gel and thus improves the robustness of the device. Injection molding also allows the devices to be easily formed with varying regions of thickness and other structural features. Alternatively, the liquid gel can be cast on a sheet. The liquid gel is then cooled to a second temperature colder than the first temperature a, or below the gel point of the mixture (e.g., room temperature) to fix the gel structure. Then, the device can be removed from the mold or appropriately shaped patches of the gel sheet can be cut. The devices of the present are then packaged in materials having a low water vapor permeability to minimize the drying of the device during storage. Suitable packaging for the devices herein includes sealed bags or trays. If the device is packed in a bag, preferably it is protected before use. This protection can be provided through a release liner such as a plastic film, which provides easy release for the device. If a substrate is to be used, (Examples 1, 4 and 6) it can be placed in the mold suitably configured prior to dispensing the gel or it can be placed on the surface of the liquid gel during the cooling step. In some compositions, metal ions (eg, Ca2 +, K +) may be included in the formulation (Examples 3 and 4) to increase the gel strength of the device. In this case, the metal ions are added in the form of an aqueous solution and are agitated in the hydrated liquid gel as the final addition to the mixture. The above method can be modified as necessary, depending on the nature of any of the additional components. For example, if non-aqueous components are present, the liquid gel can be homogenized immediately before molding or casting to ensure dispersion of the non-aqueous components. Similarly, if heat-sensitive ingredients are incorporated, the formulation must be cooled to an appropriate temperature (depending on the ingredient) after the hydration step of the gum, and the heat-sensitive ingredient is added at this stage. The liquid gel can be degassed, for example, through vacuum to remove air bubbles dispersed within the liquid. This degassing step, if followed, may be the final step immediately before dispensing the liquid gel. As shown above, the preformed sheet devices of the present exhibit desirable amounts of syneresis and have excellent strength and flexibility.

Claims (17)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. - A pre-formed sheet device comprising: (a) less than 10% of a polysaccharide mixture consisting of: (i) a red seaweed polysaccharide; (I) a polysaccharide containing mannose; selected from a galactomannan, glucomannan and derivatives and mixtures thereof and; (iii) a fermentation polysaccharide or derivatives thereof and, (b) from about 30%) to about 99.5% water; wherein device comprises less than 10% total polysaccharide.

2. A device in pre-formed sheet according to claim 1, further characterized in that the red seaweed polysaccharide is selected from agar, agarose, kappa-carrageenan, and furcelarán, or mixtures thereof.

3. A device in pre-formed sheet according to any of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that the red seaweed polysaccharide is selected from agar and agarose, or mixtures thereof.

4. A device in pre-formed sheet according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the galactomannan is selected from locust bean gum, guar gum and cassia gum, or mixtures thereof.

5. - A pre-formed sheet device according to any of claims 1 to 4, further characterized in that glucomannan is selected from konjac morning and morning de-acetylated konjac, or mixtures thereof.

6. A device in pre-formed sheet according to any of claims 1 to 5, further characterized in that the fermentation polysaccharide or its derivatives are selected from xanthan gum and gellan gum or mixtures thereof.

7. A pre-formed sheet device according to any of claims 1 to 6, further characterized in that it comprises less than 5% of the polysaccharide mixture.

8. A device in pre-formed sheet according to any of claims 1 to 7, further characterized in that the ratio of polysaccharide to red seaweed to polysaccharide containing mannose is from 20: 1 to about 1: 5.

9. A pre-formed sheet device according to any of claims 1 to 8, further characterized in that the polysaccharide ratio of red seaweed to polysaccharide containing mannose is from about 7: 1 to about 1: 2.

10. A device in pre-formed sheet according to any of claims 1 to 9, further characterized in that it comprises a beneficial people selected from active anti-wrinkle and antiatrophy of the skin, active against acne, artificial tanning agents and accelerators, active of skin repair, skin barrier repair aids, skin lightening agents, skin perception agents, skin softening agents, antimicrobial and antifungal actives, lipids, sebum inhibitors, sebum stimulants, sunscreen agents, antiseptics, topical anesthetics, steroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, protease inhibitors, skin tightening agents, anti-pruritus ingredients, hair growth inhibiting agents, 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, anti-inflammatory agents glycation and de-scaling enzyme enhancers or mixtures thereof.

11. A device in pre-formed sheet according to any of claims 1 to 9, further characterized in that it comprises a beneficial agent selected from active anti-wrinkle and antiatrophy of the skin, active against acne, artificial tanning agents and accelerators, active of skin repair, skin barrier repair aids, skin lightening agents, skin perception agents, skin softening agents, lipids, sebum inhibitors, sebum stimulants, sunscreen agents, protease inhibitors, skin tightening agents, anti-pruritus ingredients, and de-scaling enzyme enhancers or mixtures thereof.

12. A device in pre-formed sheet according to any of claims 1 to 11, further characterized in that it comprises a substrate.

13. A pre-formed sheet device according to any of claims 1 to 12, further characterized in that it comprises at least one humectant.

14. A device in pre-formed sheet according to any of claims 1 to 13, further characterized in that it is in the form of a mask or patch having a shape and size adapted to conform to the nails or cuticles, to the hair or scalp, the face of a human being, or part of it, arms, legs, hands, feet, or human torso.

15. A cosmetic treatment method, comprising applying to the skin, hair or nails a pre-formed sheet device as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, 11, 12, 13 6 14. 16.- The use of a polysaccharide mixture consisting of: (i) a red seaweed polysaccharide; (ii) a polysaccharide containing mannose selected from a galactomannan, glucomannan and derivatives and mixtures thereof and; (iii) a fermentation polysaccharide or derivatives thereof to improve the strength, syneresis or flexibility of a pre-formed sheet device comprising water. 17. A device in pre-formed sheet according to any of claims 1 to 13, further characterized in that it is in a form selected from the group consisting of: use for the hands, use for the feet; and body wrap.