Nano carriers in cosmetics delivery

Zeeshan Ahmad, Usama Ahmad, Juber Akhtar

Department of Pharmaceutics, Integral University, Lucknow, India

Nano carriers are extremely small vehicles with size ranging from 1 nm to 1000 nm. Various types of nano carriers used in cosmetics include Liposomes, Cubosomes, Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), Fullerene, Nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC), Niosome, Nanocapsule, Virosomes, Dendrimers, Microsponges, Nanocrystals, Nanosilver and Nanogold. Nano-emulsions are commonly used in cosmetic products, such as conditioners or lotions. Nanoemulsions combine traditional cosmetic ingredients, such as water, oils and surfactants, in a two-phase system in which droplets sized 10–100 nm are dispersed in an external (aqueous) phase. Liposome’s and Niosomes are globular vesicles with diameters between 25 and 5000 nm and are composed of amphiphilic molecules which associate as a double layer (unilamellar vesicles) or multiple double layers (multilamellar vesicles). Liposomes are mainly composed of phospholipids, whereas niosomes use nonionic surfactants, such as polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers or esters. Sunscreens contain insoluble, mineral-based materials whose performance depends on their particle size. Mineral particles, such as TiO2, reflect and scatter UV light most efficiently at a size of 60–120 nm. The surface of these particles is frequently treated with inert coating materials, such as aluminum oxide or silicon oils, in order to improve their dispersion in sunscreen formulations. Sunscreen products containing mineral UV filters protect from the harmful effects of UV exposure, including skin ageing, herpes and skin cancer.