METHOD FOR PREPARING A TREATMENT PRODUCT AND A TREATMENT PRODUCT
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention is concerned with a treatment product to be used in the field of skin treatment and a method of preparing the same.
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND
Peat has traditionally been used as a skin treatment substance. It is used in a very finely divided form and is prepared by means of mixers from natural peat. Depending on the growth of marsh, peat has a whole lot of skin treatment ingredients. Most known of the treatment substances within peat are the flavonoides, humine acids and many compounds with the origin in the flora, which are concentrated in the lower layers of marsh from which the raw material of the treatment peat is taken.
There are, however, several problems connected to its use. The drying up of the treatment peat is a problem during the treatment which phenomena has been tried to prevent by covering the treatment area with a plastic film or by performing the treatment e.g. in a steam sauna, whereby the treatment peat will not dry up. Furthermore, it is relatively difficult to remove dry treatment peat from the skin after the treatment.
Honey is another substance that treats skin and which has been used in the treatment of skin. It has been seen that honey absorbs moisture from the skin and produces hydrogen peroxide by means of glucose oxidase, hydrogen peroxide having a cleaning effect on the skin. Reference is made to the article of researcher Peter Molan in the magazine BEEWORLD 1 - 2, 1992.
The object of the invention is to develop a new type of treatment product having the good properties of peat but having considerably decreased disadvantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The method of the invention for preparing a treatment product is characterized in that 20 - 10 percent of weight honey is mixed with 80 - 90 percent of weight treatment peat, the substances in the mixture are let to react with each other for achieving the desired effect in 5 - 10 minutes and the product is immediately used thereafter.
However, even a little additional amount of honey already has some effect and there is no clear limit to achieve the effect. The given amounts have been considered to be optimal.
After careful mixing of peat and honey, the honey is let to penetrate into the peat, preferably for ca 10 - 15 minutes, to achieve the desired reaction. Thereafter the mixture is immediately used.
When adding 10 - 20 percent of weight of honey to the treatment peat, a treatment peat product with new properties is achieved.
Normally, honey is in a stable state in view of storage and is formed by bees. In a mixture of honey and peat, the honey absorbs moisture from the peat and starts a reaction as an influence of glucose oxidase enzymes that prevent growth of bacteria and fungi, whereby hydrogen peroxide (H202) is formed. The reaction is 10.000 - 100.000 times stronger and together the effects of honey and peat are stronger than used separately, as they complement each other by achieving a new effect compared to what takes place in the honey in a normal storage of the honey. When honey is used for healing wounds, it absorbs moisture from the skin and starts the reaction. When it is mixed with peat it gets the moisture still easier, as peat contains 85 % of water and thanks to the mixing, the reaction starts faster and is finished sooner. The
treatment product is made use of during the reaction. It is known that hydrogen peroxide has cleaning effects. The antioxidants of both honey and peat at the same time protect the skin from the harmful effects of hydrogen peroxide.
Thanks to the pealing effect of peat also the treating and nutritious substances of honey, such as fructose and glucose molecules, can penetrate the skin easier and into the tissues compared to the use of honey alone. The warmth of the peat treatment makes the absorption of honey to the skin tissue possible during the treatment of the skin.
The acidity of honey is as high or higher than that of the treatment peat, and that is why the effect of honey does not change the decreasing effect that peat has on the growth of bacteria and fungi.
Furthermore, the honey changes the consistence of treatment peat to be in gel form and is thus easier to apply.
The addition of honey also makes the drying up of the peat on the skin considerably slower and makes it easier to remove the peat mask.
Compared to traditional peat treatments, the addition of honey decreases some treatment reactions that now and then take place, such as a strong increase in the blood circulation of the skin. Better treatment results have also been achieved with the honey-peat of the invention with respect to the flexibility, moisture, softness and the balance of tallow excretion from skin.
A useful peat in the invention is some commercial peat product that is accepted as a skin treatment substance by the EU, for example skin peat original® from the company Polar Health Oy. The honey has to be flowing honey. A crystallized honey does not work in the invention as well as flowing honey. Preferably, it is honey that is accepted for food use.
In the following some examples of the treatment product and its use are presented which show the good properties of the product.
EXAMPLE 1
80 percent of weight of treatment peat achieved from Polar Health Oy, which peat is known with the trademark hoitoturve original® (Eng. treatment peat original®) and 20 percent of weight of flowing commercial honey from the company SAM Oy were carefully mixed together in a vessel. The mixture was let to stand for 8 minutes so that the honey could penetrate the peat and start the production of hydrogen peroxide. The temperature of the mixture was 35°C in the test. The mixture was immediately used after that by testing it to 10 persons. Also conventional treatment peat was tested with the same persons.
The test was carried out in the institute of Suomen kosmetologien yhdistys (Eng. the association of Finnish cosmeticians). The peat mask was applied on the face by means of a spatula as a thin layer so that no skin was exposed (the thickness of the substance was 1 - 2 mm). The mask was let to work for 15 minutes and was then removed and finally it was dried by a moist sponge. Before the applying of the substance a perforation of the skin was performed.
All test persons stated that the treatment product of the invention stayed moist on the skin in spite of that it was not protected in any way and furthermore the treatment product was easier to apply over the skin than the earlier tested conventional treatment peat. It was also more tightly on the skin and did not chap. The treatment peat of prior art dried up on the skin and was more difficult to apply.
EXAMPLE 2
A treatment product of the invention containing 90 % of weight of treatment peat, which is known with the trademark hoitoturve original® (Eng. treatment peat original®) and 10
percent of weight of flowing commercial honey was tested with a group of test persons. A conventional treatment peat was also tested with the same persons.
In this example, the persons to be treated visited the sauna after which they washed the skin and applied the treatment substance on the skin by themselves.
All test persons agreed on that the treatment product of the invention stayed moist on the skin in spite of that it was not protected in any way and that the product also was easier to apply over the skin than a conventional treatment peat.
Thus, the treatment product of the invention has a lot of advantages compared to the products of prior art. Firstly, it prevents drying up of it on the skin and it is easy to remove. Furthermore, it is considerably easier to apply over the skin and it is more tightly on the skin than the earlier known products.
Furthermore, the commonly known reaction is stronger in the honey in the treatment product of the invention than in normal conditions. The moisture transferred in the invention from the peat starts the production of hydrogen peroxide in the honey by means of glucose oxidase enzymes. The mixing of honey and treatment peat in the invention starts a reaction wherein more hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is formed than if the substances would be used alone. Thus, a synergistic effect is achieved with the treatment product, which is higher than if the substances would be separately used.