Peptides have been identified that bind with high affinity to body surfaces, such as, hair,
skin, nails, teeth, gums, corneal tissue, and
oral cavity surfaces.
Peptide-based
body surface reagents formed by
coupling a
body surface binding peptide to a benefit agent are described. The
peptide-based
body surface reagents include
peptide-based hair conditioners,
hair colorants,
skin conditioners,
skin colorants, nail colorants, and oral care reagents. The
peptide-based hair conditioners and
hair colorants are comprised of a hair-
binding peptide coupled to a hair conditioning agent or a coloring agent, respectively. The peptide-based skin conditioners and skin colorants are comprised of a skin-
binding peptide coupled to a skin conditioning agent or a colorant, respectively. The peptide-based nail colorants are comprised of a nail-binding peptide coupled to a coloring agent. The peptide-based oral care reagents are comprised of an
oral cavity surface-binding peptide coupled to an oral care benefit agent. In all these compositions, the peptide may be directly coupled to the
active agent or the
coupling may be via a spacer.
Personal care compositions containing these peptide-based body surface reagents are also described.