Cosmetic treatment method and assembly

Abstract

Cosmetic treatment method for adding fibers to natural eyelashes, comprising: a) applying an adhesive composition (A) to at least part of the eyelashes, b) bringing fibers (12) borne by an applicator (10) into contact with said adhesive composition (A) present on said eyelashes, c) moving the applicator (10) away from the eyelashes, so as to release fibers (12) which adhere to said eyelashes.

Claims

1. A cosmetic treatment method for adding fibers to natural eyelashes, comprising: a) applying an adhesive composition to at least part of the eyelashes, b) providing an applicator on which a plurality of fibers are borne, the fibers of the plurality of fibers being substantially parallel to one another on the applicator, the fibers of the plurality of fibers, when borne by the applicator, being not linked to one another other than via the applicator, c) bringing said plurality of fibers borne by the applicator into contact with the eyelashes and with said adhesive composition present on said eyelashes, the fibers of the plurality of fibers being substantially parallel to the eyelashes when brought into contact with the eyelashes, d) moving the applicator away from the eyelashes, so as to release fibers which adhere to said eyelashes.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive composition is applied in step a) to said at least part of the eyelashes in a continuous or discontinuous manner.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive composition is applied in step a) on the eyelashes, from the roots of the eyelashes, over a length of the eyelashes ranging from about 0.1 mm to about 10 mm.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein step c) is carried out by bringing fibers into contact with a top or lower part of an upper fringe of eyelashes.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein step c) is carried out by bringing fibers into contact with the same part of the upper fringe of eyelashes, which was treated by the adhesive composition.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein step c) is carried out by bringing fibers into contact with the top part of the upper fringe of eyelashes.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the applicator is brought close to the eyelashes in a tangential movement until the fibers contact the adhesive composition.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fibers of the plurality of fibers are arranged as a bundle of fibers on the applicator.

9. An assembly for the cosmetic treatment of adding fibers to natural eyelashes, for the implementation of the method as defined in claim 1, comprising: an adhesive composition (A) to be applied to the eyelashes, an applicator retaining a plurality of releasable fibers, the applicator having a longitudinal axis, the applicator making it possible to bring the plurality of fibers into contact with the adhesive composition applied to the eyelashes to enable them to adhere to said composition and to release fibers, the fibers of the plurality of fibers, when borne by the applicator, being not linked to one another other than via the applicator, wherein the applicator comprises a mechanical system comprising one or more parts that can be moved relative to one another, the mechanical system is configured to pass from a fiber retaining configuration to a fiber releasing configuration.

10. The assembly according to claim 9, wherein the applicator retains a mixture of fibers that differ from one another in color.

11. The assembly according to claim 9, comprising an adhesive applicator for applying the adhesive composition to the eyelashes.

12. The assembly according to claim 11, the adhesive applicator comprising a flocked end piece.

13. The assembly according to claim 9, wherein the adhesive composition comprises or is constituted of an adhesive material chosen among pressure sensitive adhesives.

14. The assembly according to claim 9, wherein the adhesive composition comprises or is constituted of an adhesive material chosen among acrylic polymers or copolymers.

15. Assembly according to claim 9, wherein the adhesive composition is an acrylates/ethylhexyl acrylate copolymer.

16. An assembly for the cosmetic treatment of adding fibers to natural eyelashes, for the implementation of the method as defined in claim 1, comprising: an adhesive composition to be applied to the eyelashes, an adhesive applicator for applying the adhesive composition to the eyelashes comprising a flocked end piece, an applicator retaining a plurality of releasable fibers, the applicator having a longitudinal axis, the applicator making it possible to bring the plurality of releasable fibers into contact with the adhesive composition applied to the eyelashes to enable them to adhere to said composition and to release fibers, wherein the applicator comprises a mechanical system comprising one or more parts that can be moved relative to one another, the mechanical system being configured to pass from a fiber retaining configuration to a fiber releasing configuration, and the mechanical system comprises a spring that grips the fibers between its coils, wherein the spring comprises ends attached to actuating levers that are operated manually, and/or the spring is compressed or released along said longitudinal axis, the applicator having a push button and two abutments near both ends of the spring, one abutment being movable along the longitudinal axis when actuating the push button.

17. The assembly according to claim 16, wherein one abutment of the applicator is movable along the longitudinal axis when actuating the push button, the other abutment being immobile.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Brief Description of the Figures

(1) The invention may be better understood from reading the following detailed description of non-limiting exemplary embodiments thereof and from examining the appended drawing, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a block-diagram illustrating the successive steps of the method according to the invention,

(3) FIG. 2 represents schematically and in perspective an example of a cosmetic assembly according to the invention,

(4) FIG. 3 is a photograph of the eyes and eyelashes of a person, one of the upper fringes of eyelashes being treated with the method according to the invention,

(5) FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C schematically illustrate an eye of a person respectively during the implementation of three steps of the method shown in FIG. 1,

(6) FIG. 5 shows schematically the measure of the distance between two fibers,

(7) FIG. 6 represents schematically, in perspective and in side view, an example of an applicator for holding and releasing the fibers,

(8) FIG. 7 shows partially and schematically, in perspective and in side view, the applicator of FIG. 6 holding fibers,

(9) FIG. 8 shows partially and schematically, in perspective and in side view, the applicator of FIG. 6 releasing fibers,

(10) FIG. 9 represents schematically, in perspective and in side view, another example of an applicator for holding and releasing the fibers,

(11) FIG. 10 shows partially and schematically, in perspective and in side view, the applicator of FIG. 9 in a holding position,

(12) FIG. 11 shows partially and schematically, in perspective and in side view, the applicator of FIG. 9 in a releasing position, and

(13) FIG. 12 shows partially and schematically, in perspective and in three-quarters view, the applicator of FIG. 9 holding fibers.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Detailed Description of Embodiments

(14) The method according to the invention is implemented with the aid of an assembly 5 (also called kit) according to the invention, shown in FIG. 2.

(15) The assembly 5 comprises an adhesive composition A contained in a container 13 and an applicator 10 that comprises a gripping portion 11 and fibers 12 which are held on the applicator 10 at a first end portion 25.

(16) The adhesive composition A may for example be chosen among the adhesive composition for eyelashes called DUO?, commercialized by American International Industries, or the one called Daitosol 5500GM, an acrylates/ethylhexyl acrylate copolymer commercialized by DAITO KASEI KOGYO. Another convenient adhesive composition may also be used.

(17) The container 13 comprises a threaded neck 21 and a cap 15 for closing the container by cooperating with the threaded neck 21, the cap 15 supporting an adhesive applicator 16. The adhesive applicator 16 comprises a shaft 17 and an application element 18 at a free end. A wiping element 19 fits, in this example, to the interior side of the neck 21. The application element 18 may be a flocked support. It is loaded with the adhesive composition A in the container 13 before passing through the wiping element 19 for being used in the first step 1 of the method.

(18) The applicator 10 comprises the gripping portion 11, which may have other shapes than represented. The fibers 12 have the first end 25, or root, bonded to the applicator 10 on a support surface 30 thereof and a second free end 26.

(19) A layer of an elastomer, for example the elastomer known as the SILFLO, commercialized by MONADERM under reference GOSILFLO), with a thickness of 0.050 mm, is spread out on a support of application. Before elastomer's reticulation, fibers are flocked on the support thanks to an electrostatic flocking process, materialized by a manual flocking device as the Microflocker from Campbell Coutts LTD Company. Fibers are caught in the elastomer by friction.

(20) As shown in FIG. 2, the fibers 12 are not linked to one another other than via the applicator 10. They are individually isolated. It is possible to use fibers of the same nature, diameter, length, shape or color, or fibers of different nature, length, diameter, shape and/or color for a same eyelash. The shape of the support surface 30 is a plane or not. In the present embodiment, the fibers 12 are locally oriented perpendicularly to the support surface 30 that bears them.

(21) The density of fibers is around 200 fibers/cm.sup.2.

(22) The mean-distance D or space between two adjacent fibers 12 on the applicator 10 measured at the root of the fibers 12, is preferably between 10 and 250 ?m. The measure of the distance is shown in FIG. 5. Each fiber 12, shown in cross-section, has, in this measure, a round shape. The measured distance between two adjacent fibers 12 is the littlest distance, a, b, and c respectively in this example, as shown. The mean-distance D is calculated as the mean of all distances, i. e. D=?d/n, with ?d being the sum of the individual distances and n being the number of fibers. In this example, ?d=a+b+c and n=3.

(23) The assembly 5 may be offered to a user within a same packaging, for example a box, blister pack, case or sachet. In one variant, the applicator 10 and container 13 are offered separately to the consumer.

(24) The method according to the invention for adding fibers 12 to the natural eyelashes of a person has at least the following successive three steps, as shown in FIG. 1.

(25) A first step 1 is implemented consisting in applying the adhesive composition A to at least part of eyelashes, preferably near the roots thereof. In one embodiment, only some of the eyelashes are concerned by the treatment, for example part of or all the eyelashes of the upper fringe. First step 1 is illustrated in FIG. 4A. The tip of the application element 18 loaded with the adhesive composition A comes into contact with the first millimeters of the top part of the upper fringe of eyelashes E on the roots thereof. The adhesive composition A is therefore applied only on the first millimeters of the eyelashes from the roots thereof, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, for example on the first 4 mm of the eyelashes from the roots thereof.

(26) In a second step 2, fibers 12 borne by the applicator 10 are brought into contact with the adhesive composition A. This second step 2 is illustrated in FIG. 4B. When the applicator 10 is brought into contact with the eyelashes coated with adhesive composition A, the second free ends 26 of fibers 12 come into contact with the adhesive composition A, as shown in FIG. 4B. The applicator 10 is arranged in order to make it possible to bring the fibers 12 into contact with the eyelashes E on which the adhesive composition A has been deposited.

(27) The user handles the applicator 10 by the gripping portion 11 and put the second free ends 26 into contact with the adhesive composition A coating part of the eyelashes E. The applicator 10 is preferably approached by a substantially tangential movement, i.e. a razing gesture, illustrated by the arrow in FIG. 4B, until the fibers 12 are in contact with the adhesive composition A adhered to the eyelashes. This position may be maintained from several seconds to several minutes until some of the fibers 12 borne by the applicator 10 adhere to the eyelashes E.

(28) As the holding force for holding the fibers 12 on the applicator 10 is lower than the adhesive force for adhesion of the fibers to the adhesive composition A present on said eyelashes E, the user, by moving the applicator 10 away from the eyelashes in a third step 3, allows to release the fibers which adhere to the eyelashes. This third step 3 is illustrated by FIG. 4C. In this example, some fibers 12 remain on the support surface 30 of the applicator 10. Other fibers 12 adhere to the upper fringe F1 of the eyelashes E. As the adhesive composition A is only applied on the first millimeters of the eyelashes E from the roots, only part of the fibers 12, including the second end 26 thereof, adhere to the eyelashes.

(29) It is to be noted that the method according to the invention may be at least partially implemented when the eye, whose eyelashes are treated, is closed.

(30) The result is shown in FIG. 3, wherein the upper fringe F.sub.1 of eyelashes on the left is provided with additional fibers 12, whereas the other fringes of eyelashes, especially the upper fringe F.sub.2 of eyelashes on the right, are not (comparative examples). The resulting effect looks very natural, as shown. Fibers 12 are positioned parallel to the eyelashes within the upper fringe F.sub.1. The length of the fibers 12, after deposition on the eyelashes, is for example between 0.5 and 20 mm.

(31) The invention is not limited to the shown embodiment.

(32) In particular, as a variant, the container 13 containing the adhesive composition A may be any container such as a tube, a bottle, a pressurized receptacle, a coated support, a pump-dispenser bottle or pot, this list not being limited.

(33) The fibers 12 may make an angle with the normal to the support surface 30, which may reach 45?.

(34) The fibers may be retained in various ways on the applicator 10, for example with the aid of a mechanical system, for example a spring, which may change configuration in order to release the fibers.

(35) Such an applicator 10 is shown in FIGS. 6 to 8.

(36) The applicator 10 has the shape of a pen in this example and comprises a spring 30 extending at an end 40 of the applicator 10 along the longitudinal axis X of the applicator 10. The spring 30 has two configurations, a retaining configuration shown in FIG. 7 and a releasing configuration shown in FIG. 8. In the retaining configuration, the fibers 12 are retained at their first end portions 25 between the coils 31 of the spring 30, the fibers 12 being locally substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis X of the spring 30. The spring 30 is operated manually by actuating a push button 34 at the other end 41 of the applicator 10 between the retaining and the releasing configurations. The applicator 10, in this example, has abutments 35 and 36 near both ends 37 and 38 of the spring 30, respectively, one abutment 35 being movable along the longitudinal axis X when actuating the push button 34, the other abutment 36 being immobile, i.e. fixed relative to a body of the applicator.

(37) Another example of an applicator 10 has been represented in FIGS. 9 to 12.

(38) In this example, the spring 30 is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis X of the applicator 10. The spring 30 comprises two ends 37 and 38 that are attached to actuating levers 42 and 43, respectively, more precisely to the ends of the actuating levers 42 and 43. The actuating levers 42 and 43 are operated manually between the retaining configuration shown in FIG. 10 (without fibers) and in FIG. 12 (with fibers 12), and the releasing configuration shown in FIG. 11 (without fibers).

(39) The invention is not limited to a particular system for retaining the fibers on the applicator 10, and rather than a spring, a system sensitive to a stimulus, such as a thermal or chemical stimulus, that makes it possible to modify the attachment force attaching the fibers to the applicator may be used. Use may for example also be made of an assembly of discs or lamellae that, when superposed and compressed, clamp the fibers.

(40) The fibers may also be retained on the applicator by means of a material in which the fibers are implanted while the material is in the fluid state.

(41) There may be fibers 12 of different colors retained by the applicator, in an organized or random manner, for application to a same fringe of eyelashes.