Effects of Depilatory Cream Formulation and Contact Time on Mouse Skin

    March 2023 in “ Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science ”
    Michelle N Reichert, Nathan J. Koewler, Ann M. Hargis, Jessica L Felgenhauer, Lynn Collura Impelluso
    TLDR Depilatory creams effectively remove hair but can cause skin injury in mice.
    This study evaluated the effects of two depilatory cream formulations on mouse skin, focusing on the duration of exposure. The standard body formula (BF) and the facial formula (FF) were tested on C57BL/6J (B6) and Crl:CD-1(ICR) (CD-1) mice. BF caused significant skin injury in both strains, while FF caused injury only in CD-1 mice. Both formulations resulted in skin erythema, with CD-1 mice showing the most severe erythema when treated with BF. Contact time did not influence histopathologic changes or erythema. For effective depilation, BF required at least 15 s for CD-1 and 30 s for B6 mice, while FF required 120 s for both strains. Despite being effective for hair removal, these creams caused skin injury that could impact research outcomes.
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