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Background: Dry skin can trigger eczema that affects >10% of the US population. Dressing films have been developed to improve diseased skin, but there is limited knowledge about their effects, especially for dry skin‐related symptoms. We developed an electrospinning method that creates a coating film, called a fine fiber (FF) film, characterized by the production of a transparent, thin, flexible, and adherent membrane on the skin surface. Objective: The aim of this pilot study was to examine the effects of the FF film on dry skin. Methods: Three treatments (lotion only, lotion with the FF film, and lotion with an alternative film) were designed to treat subjects with rough skin on their lower legs. Twenty‐four females were enrolled and used either a water‐based lotion U or a petrolatum‐based lotion P and the FF film for 2 weeks followed by a regression phase for 1 week. Skin hydration and roughness scores were assessed as were the subjects' perceptions of the effects. Results: When the FF film was applied with lotion U, skin hydration was significantly improved even after 1 week, accompanied by a significant improvement of skin roughness and an increase in skin hydration by the end of the regression phase. An evaluation of moisture permeability suggested that the FF film, especially with lotion U, performed as a semipermeable membrane with optimal moisture healing effects on dry skin. Conclusion: The FF film together with a water‐based lotion is a promising treatment to quickly improve dry skin conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The lipid components and natural moisturizing factors (NMFs) of the stratum corneum (SC) are integral pieces of the self-regulating barrier strategy which comprises one of the most important functions of human skin and seems to be related to biomechanical responses of the SC. Objectives: This work presents the contributions of the lipid bilayers and NMFs to the barrier properties and mechanical responses of human SC. Methods: We performed 2 biomechanical experiments, substrate curvature testing and double cantilever beam cohesion measurements, on isolated human SC exposed to either water, a 1:1 mixture of acetone/ether, or a 1:1 mixture of chloroform/methanol for various durations. Results: We show that treating ex vivo SC with organic solvents results in lipid extraction which increases with duration of exposure. This extraction is tied to a remarkably linear increase in the levels and rates of biaxial stress development during drying/hydration cycles. This effect appears to be tied to the total amounts of lipids extracted. Furthermore, striking changes are seen in the intercellular cohesion properties of the tissue after solvent exposure. Interestingly, changes in drying stress profiles are not observed after treatment with water, which has been previously shown to remove NMFs from the tissue, and which therefore might be expected to induce changes in the drying behavior of the skin. However, changes in intercellular cohesion and the SC cohesion gradient are seen, suggesting impacts on the corneodesmosome protein binding junctions within the tissue. Conclusions: These results suggest that lipid loss causes marked increases in SC drying stresses, which may in turn contribute to changes in skin perception. NMF extraction may be important in vivo, but has remarkably little impact in isolated SC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]