This question refers to that of cellulite which, for a very long time, was approached in the world of beauty and cosmetics solely from the angle of lipogenesis management. In this field, there is an almost unavoidable active king, which is caffeine. Its action on the management of the stock of cAMP is now well known and recognized. It was not easy to try a different approach, with equally different biological targets. This approach, framed by several patents, was therefore the subject of an original development in the form of a product, Top Model, launched in 2004, intended to reshape the silhouette by a double action. After a promising start, the product will undergo the tough law of the extremely competitive slimming market, in which the originality of the products, nor their effectiveness, is a guarantee of longevity. This idea of modulating the activity of adipocytes in a binary way will be taken up later within the framework of a whole series of active principles which one finds in many ranges of cosmetic ingredients. As always, it was not easy to be innovative too early!!!

Jean Claude Le Joliif

Binary cosmetic composition for the development of the female bust and the improvement of the silhouette: the Top Model case (2004)

This idea was born, a little over 10 years ago, from the observation that few slimming products at the time were effective enough to allow a real improvement in localized overweight.

The main reason was that, even when lipolysis was actually activated, few fatty acids were actually released. Indeed, their vocation is to settle as quickly as possible where there is space: that is exactly where lipolysis creates it. The results are therefore too often disappointing. Moreover, even if some fatty acids are released, they cannot disappear without muscle activity.

Another observation: the adipocyte, the adipose tissue cell responsible for storing fat, is capable of a certain autonomy. Indeed, the same message can be understood by the adipocyte either as a lipolysis stimulation signal or, on the contrary, as a lipolysis inhibition signal. This message can come from the so-called stress hormones catecholamines (adrenaline, but especially noradrenaline). More precisely, the adipocyte behaves differently depending on where it is. In women, when the adipocyte is located for example on the cheeks or chest, stress will generate lipolysis whose purpose is to release fat in the form of fatty acids. This activation is done via the stimulation of adipocyte beta-adrenergic receptors. Conversely, when the adipocyte is located in the thighs, stress will generate, on the contrary, an inhibition of lipolysis which is done via the activation of alpha-2 adipocyte adrenergic receptors. Finally, the adipocyte, by equipping itself with either beta receptor or alpha-2 receptor, determines itself how to understand the information it receives. In adipocytic areas specifically equipped with these alpha-2 receptors, such as the gluteo-femoral areas (thighs) of women, this inhibition is powerful because there are many more of these receptors. They also have much more affinity for catecholamines than the few beta-adrenergic receptors. The result is that catecholamines will bind primarily to alpha-2 receptors, thus blocking all lipolysis. In summary, depending on whether or not the adipocyte is equipped with certain receptors depending on its body location, its behaviour in front of the same signal can be totally different. This is what happens at rest, when in case of stress, catecholamines have the effect of emptying the adipocytes of the cheeks and breasts to fill those of the thighs, thus degrading the silhouette. The same is true in the case of caloric deprivation in women, where it is obvious that, the more the body mass decreases, the more the volume of the chest and cheeks decreases without much change in the thighs. This gives the person with caloric restriction an older appearance (breast ptosis, deeper wrinkles, loss of skin firmness) and unsatisfactory effects on the silhouette.

Hence the idea of having an action totally opposite to that of calorie diets or stress on the silhouette. That is, from : - release fat from localized gluten-femoral (thigh) overloads by blocking alpha-2 adrenergic receptors. This action was already possible with the state of the art at the time (see for example patents US5194259 and FR2964321*). ), - and especially to fix these fats thus released elsewhere so that the effects of this release are clearly perceptible. Patent FR2964321 : Use of Xylopia aethiopica as alpha-2 adrenergic receptor antagonist in the preparation of a composition for topical application as well as said compositions. The topical application of such a composition is likely to stop the local accumulation of fat and thus improve the aesthetic aspect of the skin.

The problem was then: where to fix these fatty acids thus released? The answer is quite obvious considering that the female breast consists of 80% adipocytes, the main difference between the appearance of a female breast and that of a male breast. Finally, the breast is probably the only place in the woman's body where fat is aesthetic! One of the objectives of our work has therefore been to make it possible, in local application, to fix these fatty acids without resorting to hormones. This has been made possible by the use of a powerful lipolysis inhibitor already used in cosmetics in other indications, as well as plant extracts naturally containing it. Top Model was born (see patent WO2004037221), the first cosmetic to both improve the silhouette and increase breast volume.

The only constraint to combine two different effects at two distant places of the body was that it was a double cosmetic composition to apply for one on the breasts (in pink on the photo above) and for the other on the thighs (in green). Self-assessment studies on unstructured analogue scales showed significant effects on these two parameters for 30% of subjects from the first week and more than 70% after four weeks. These conclusions were confirmed by the users when the product was marketed.

At the very beginning of its commercialization, Top Model, appeared incredible and the results showed the interest and the veracity of the concept. Today, certain plumping active ingredients available on the market could have an effect similar to or synergistic with those used in 2004 . The critical drawing, opposite, published on April 29, 2004 in a Danish newspaper shows, in any case, that the effect of this binary composition was well understood… even if the little girl explains to her mother that the latter inverted the two compositions!