Delivery of active molecules to the hair follicle for the purpose of hair growth promotion or inhibition is complicated by the concomitant undesired delivery of the molecules to interfollicular epidermis. We describe a new formulation designed to specifically penetrate the vacant hair follicle during epilation while avoiding epidermal cells. Using a combination of short chain esters and ethanol we were able to deliver an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide to human hair follicles from normal skin biopsies causing structural follicular damage and diffuse apoptosis in the outer root sheath as visualized by histology and cleaved caspase 3 staining.

The application lasted less than a minute and epidermal keratinocytes structure and viability were not affected by the operation. The selectivity of the method, ease of application and known safety of the ingredients used make this method a novel and promising approach to the treatment of hair growth disorders.

Targeted hair follicle delivery of hydrophilic molecules