The Effects of Topical Almond Oil and Tretinoin on Facial Wrinkles

The natural cosmetic market is a multi-billion dollar industry. Nutraceuticals and food-based cosmetics are a growing trend within dermatology. Almonds are a rich dietary source of a range of fatty acids, phytochemical polyphenols, and antioxidants. Our previous study was a double blinded study that compared almond consumption interventions to a calorie matched intervention over 16 weeks. The study determined that that there was a statistically significant 8.41% improvement in wrinkle severity in the women that received almond supplementation. This proposal aims to now understand how the topical application of almond oil may influence the appearance of wrinkles and facial tone in post-menopausal women. Almond oil is rich in fatty acids and alpha-tocopherol. Tocopherol inhibits melanogenesis in melanocytes and topical alpha tocopherol has been shown to improve skin antioxidants and hyperpigmentation. A challenge of almond oil is that it is prone to oxidation due to its high unsaturated fatty acid concentrations. However, tocopherol has also been shown to improve almond oil stability.