Traditional cosmetic products are developed to improve the beautification or
appearance purpose only without addressing the underlying cause and associated
adverse effects. These cosmetic products contain different types of chemical substances
(most commonly preservatives, solvents for dyes, perfumes, etc.) that may be harmful
(allergic reactions are very frequent, carcinogenicity) to the human body. Another
important factor that needs to be considered is the barrier function of the skin, which
causes the ineffectiveness of most traditional cosmetic products. The stratum corneum
layer is the outermost layer of skin, which is impermeable to most of the substances.
These reasons necessitate the design, development, and evaluation of cosmetic
products by integration of pharmaceutical technologies. Pharmaceutical technology
provides an exhaustive and science-based application of materials, processes, and
equipment for the development of different types of cosmetic products. It is now
extensively reported that a suitable selection of biocompatible ingredients, used in
appropriate proportions in cosmetic products, has shown improvement in the
beautification of hair, skin, and nails with less adverse effects, decreased application
frequency, deeper penetration into skin layers, reduction in overall cost, and
minimization in the root causes of skin, hair, and nail problems. Nanotechnology-based
(niosomes, liposomes, etc.) cosmetic products are the most commonly investigated
platforms in recent years. In the initial sections, this chapter contains basic aspects of
cosmetics and its challenges. In subsequent sections, important aspects of
pharmaceutical technology and the intersection of pharmaceutical technology in
cosmetics are discussed. Further, applications of pharmaceutical technology-mediated
cosmetic products are summarized.
Keywords: Biocompatibility, Cosmetics, Liposomes, Niosomes, Nanotechnology, Pharmaceutical technology.
