Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Manicure or pedicure compositions
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-04
2003-04-29
Page, Thurman K. (Department: 1615)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Manicure or pedicure compositions
C514S772300, C514S772400, C514S772600, C514S781000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06555096
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a nail enamel composition with at least one of improved thixotropic properties, higher gloss, and improved clarity in the bottle. More specifically, the invention relates to the use of a urea-modified compound as a thixotropic agent in combination with a specific solvent system in a nail enamel composition. The urea-modified compound and specific solvent system can provide at least one of thixotropic properties, high clarity, and high gloss that are improved compared to nail enamel compositions having the urea-modified compound and a solvent system other than that of the claimed invention.
Various nail enamel compositions are known in the art. Nail enamel compositions typically contain, in an organic solvent or mixture of solvents, film-forming ingredients, plasticizing ingredients, and colorants. Generally, the composition also contains a thixotropic agent, which may act to thicken the composition in order to allow better spreading on the nail. The thixotropic agent may also act to suspend the colorant.
The classic thixotropic agent used in the prior art is a bentonite clay. Aromatic organic solvents in particular may cause these clays to swell, thus providing a gel with good thixotropic properties, i.e., rendering the composition capable of passing from a gelled state to a liquid state simply by stirring and capable of going from liquid to gel after standing. A composition containing such a gel thus may exhibit relatively good dispersion stability without sedimentation or separation over a long Period. Further, such compositions may not require the vigorous shaking that other compositions often require after extended periods of storage.
The clay thixotropes, however, may produce cloudy suspensions, rendering the composition opaque and often giving it a more or less yellowish color inside the bottle, unpleasant to the eye. Although this opacity is generally masked by the presence of colorants and/or pigments in the composition, the use of the clay thixotropes may diminish gloss in the final formulated nail enamel product. Thus the need remains for a thixotrope-containing nail enamel composition that will not affect the glossiness of the nail enamel and yet will have sufficient thixotropic properties such that the stability of the composition is not compromised.
Accordingly, the present invention is drawn to a nail enamel composition containing, in a cosmetically acceptable solvent system comprising diacetone alcohol and at least one additional solvent chosen from C
1
-C
6
alkyl acetates and C
1
-C
6
alkyl alcohols; at least one film-forming substance; and at least one urea-modified thixotropic agent wherein the urea-modified thixotropic agent is a urea urethane having the following formula:
R—O—CO—NH—R′—NH—CO—NH—R″—NH—CO—NH—R′—NH—CO—OR
R is chosen from C
n
H
2n+1
— and C
m
H
2m+1
(C
p
H
2p
O)
r
—; n is an integer having a value of from 4 to 22; m is an integer having a value of from 1 to 18; p is an integer having a value of from 2 to 4; and r is an integer having a value of from 1 to 10;
R′ is chosen from
and R″ is chosen from:
In one embodiment, the cosmetically acceptable solvent system comprises diacetone alcohol, at least one C
1
-C
6
alkyl acetate and at least one C
1
-C
6
alkyl alcohol.
The nail enamel composition of the invention may also contain a plasticizer and optionally a coloring agent.
The present inventors have discovered that the use of a urea-modified thixotropic agent with a solvent system comprising diacetone alcohol and at least one additional solvent chosen from C
1
-C
6
alkyl acetates and C
1
-C
6
alkyl alcohols, in place of the clay thixotropes of the prior art, may result in a clear suspension with improved gloss and improved clarity of suspension. In general, nail enamel compositions containing clay thixotropes only are difficult to process because their creation requires a great deal of high shear. Also, since the clay thixotropes are naturally occurring products, they can vary in quality and consistency. In contrast, the presently claimed compositions utilizing the urea-modified thixotrope in the claimed solvent system may be easy to produce consistently at optimum conditions because their creation may not require high shear processing.
Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiment(s) of the invention.
The presently claimed invention is drawn to a nail enamel composition which contains, in a cosmetically acceptable solvent system comprising diacetone alcohol and at least one additional solvent chosen from C
1
-C
6
alkyl acetates and C
1
-C
6
alkyl alcohols, at least one film-forming substance and at least one urea-modified thixotropic agent. The use of such a thixotropic agent with the claimed solvent system can give nail enamel compositions with at least one of higher gloss, high clarity, improved aesthetics in the bottle, excellent thixotropic properties, and improved application properties.
The urea-modified thixotropic agents used in the present invention are urea urethanes having the following formula:
R—O—CO—NH—R′—NH—CO—NH—R″—NH—CO—NH—R′—NH—CO—OR
wherein
R is chosen from C
n
H
2n+1
— and C
m
H
2m+1
(C
p
H
2p
O)
r
—; n is an integer having a value of from 4 to 22; m is an integer having a value of from 1 to 18; p is an integer having a value of from 2 to 4; and r is an integer having a value of from 1 to 10;
R′ is chosen from
and R″ is chosen from:
Such a urea-modified product can be purchased from BYK-Chemie in a dilute solution with N-methyl-pyrrolidone as solvent under the trade name of BYK®-410 and is generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,924, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. In one embodiment, the at least one urea-modified thixotropic agent may be present in an amount of from about 0.05 to about 1.00% relative to the weight of the composition. In another embodiment, the at least one urea-modified thixotropic agent may be present in an amount of from about 0.25 to about 0.75% relative to the weight of the composition.
The nail enamel composition of the invention may contain at least one additional thixotropic agent, used in conjunction with the at least one urea-modified agent. When such an additional thixotropic agent is present, the composition may comprise from about 0.10 to about 0.30% of the at least one urea-modified thixotropic agent relative to the weight of the composition and up to about 1.0% of the additional thixotropic agent. The additional thixotropic agent(s) may be chosen from conventional silica and bentonite clay agents.
Film forming substances useful in the present invention include, but are not limited to, conventional film-forming agents such as nitrocellulose, other cellulose derivatives, such as cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, and ethyl cellulose; polyesters; resins, such as polyurethane resins, alkyd resins, and polyvinyl resins such as polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylbutyrate; (meth)acrylic and vinyl copolymers such as styrene/butadiene copolymers, acrylate/vinyl acetate copolymers, acrylonitrile/butadiene copolymers, and ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers.
In one embodiment, the primary film-forming agent may be nitrocellulose, which is known to give hardness and resistance to abrasion. If a second film-forming substance is present, this second film-forming substance may, for example, be chosen from cellulose acetate butyrate, polyesters, polyurethanes, and acrylates. In one embodiment, the film-forming substance may be present in an amount of from about 5% to about 20% by weight relative to the weight of the composition, for example, from about 10% to about 14%. Suitable modifiers for the primary film-forming agent include arylsulfonamide resins such as arylsulfonamide formaldehyde or epoxy resins.
The presently claimed composition also may contain at least one plasticizer. Plasticizers useful in the presently claimed nail enamel composition include plasticizers commonly employed in nail varnish compositions.
Carrion Danuvio
Farer Alan
Frankfurt Chris
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
Howard S.
L'Oreal (S.A.)
Page Thurman K.
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