The Materials Science of Cosmetics
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Steven Schnittger and Moitreyee Sinha, Guest Editors Abstract The cosmetics industry is increasingly using sophisticated materials and technologies in their products and to measure their effectiveness. Understanding how these products interact with skin, adhere to skin, and deliver a benefit or create a visible effect leads to better and safer products. An understanding of the optics and mechanics of skin and the cosmetics–skin interface is important for achieving various visual and functional effects. This issue reviews the underlying science and the technical challenges behind the development of materials for the personal care and cosmetics industry.
Introduction Cosmetics have existed since the origin of civilization. However, it is only in the last few decades that the field of cosmetics has emerged as a major scientific area overlapping a wide range of disciplines. The primary driver for this has been the development of functional cosmetics that are intended not only to improve the appearance but also to benefit the target, whether it is the skin, the hair, or the teeth.1 Today, many cosmetic products aim at hydrating the skin, reducing or slowing the signs of aged skin, or protecting the skin against the multitude of daily aggressions that it encounters. With this functional approach, products have become more diversified and require raw materials that are more efficacious, safe, bioavailable, and innovative.2 With continuous advances in the basic sciences and the development of new interdisciplinary sciences (e.g., molecular biology, biomimetics, nanotechnology), new sources for raw materials are being identified. The raw materials for cosmetic products not only are gathered from natural sources, but also can be specially synthesized or even produced from genetically manipulated microorganisms. The influence of advances in other areas of technology is apparent in the area of cosmetics. Liposomes, microparticles, microsponges, and nanoparticles, for example, have been translated from other
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application fields to pharmaceuticals and subsequently to cosmetics, with successful results. However, the availability and use of these sophisticated and active ingredients are not always sufficient for them to be optimally delivered to their targets and to sustain their activity. In a cosmetic formulation, the active component is embedded into a matrix, the “vehicle.” The vehicle contains the cosmetic actives and aids in the delivery of the active component to the application site. The science of combining the right ingredient with the
most appropriate vehicle forms a research field by itself.3 There has been enormous progress in the areas of dermatology and fundamental cutaneous biology over the past two decades.4 Along with this there has been rapid development in techniques to assess aging skin by noninvasive techniques that measure such parameters as the mechanical properties of the skin, cutaneous vasculature and vasoreactivity, physical and biochemical surface characteristics, permeability, and barrier funct
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