Clays are used widely as facial masks to remove excess sebum, an oily substance released onto the skin. Smectite, illite, kaolinite, and in some cases, chlorite, are the dominant phyllosilicates in most commonly used clay facial masks. To date, the adsorption of human sebum has been proved only on smectite clays; in the present study the adsorption of two organic compounds found in human sebum by illitic, kaolinitic, and chloritic phyllosilicates was investigated. Illitic clays are often used in cosmetic clay masks, but usually contain some fine-grained non-clay minerals. The presence of carbonate, for example, can cause skin irritation because of its alkaline nature, and iron oxides and hydroxides reduce the adsorption properties of clays. The influence of the removal of these compounds on the adsorption properties of illitic clays was also investigated. The amounts of both compounds adsorbed were established by UV-VIS spectrophotometry. All samples were characterized by mineralogical composition, particlesize distribution, specific surface area, and cation exchange capacity (CEC). Oleic acid and squalene were adsorbed on all clay samples, but illitic and chloritic phyllosilicates showed the greatest adsorption capacity. After purification, the sizes of the particles decreased and the CEC values increased. Nevertheless, the dissolution of carbonates essentially had no influence on the adsorption properties, whereas the removal of iron oxides and hydroxides increased significantly the amounts adsorbed of both oleic acid and squalene.

Stanyl esters dissolved in margarine inhibit cholesterol absorption, lower sterol absorption in general, and lower serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and plant sterol levels. To find out whether stanyl esters inhibit absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and β-carotene in acute experiments, we performed two fat-tolerance tests fortified with vitamins (retinol 0.9–3.7 mg, α-tocopherol 70–581 mg), β-carotene (25–150 mg) and squalene (0.5 g) with and without 1 g of stanyl ester added to the test meal in ten healthy men. The concentrations or areas under the curves (AUC) of cholesterol, triacylglycerols, squalene and α-tocopherol, β-carotene and retinyl palmitate showed typical postprandial changes in serum, chylomicrons, VLDL and VLDL infranatant (intermediate-density lipoproteins, LDL and HDL) over 24 h after the test meal without stanyl esters, and they were not affected by the addition of stanyl esters. The post-absorptive serum campesterol concentration and campesterol : cholesterol were significantly lowered at 6–9 h by stanyl ester supplementation, reflecting reduced sterol absorption efficiency. Changes in vitamin and β-carotene AUC did not correlate with the given doses. In conclusion, the present study shows that stanyl esters dissolved in margarine do not detectably interfere in a short-term study with the absorption of α-tocopherol, β-carotene or retinol measured by a 24 h oral fat-load test.