The Microstructure of Nanocarrier System and its Application in Cosmetics

With the improvement of living standard, consumers have higher requirements on functions of cosmetics. Nanocarrier systems can offer remarkable features and have potential in targeted-oriented active molecule delivery. In order to improve the functions of cosmetics, nanocarrier system has been widely used in cosmetics. Nanoemulsions, liposomes and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) have attracted considerable attention as three main nanocarrier systems for cosmetics and personal care products. They have a lot of advantages such as improving stability, improving tissue macrophages distribution, increasing solubility, bioavailability, protection of actives from toxicity, enhancing pharmacological activity and intracellular uptake, targeted delivery and sustained delivery. In this paper, the definition, classification and micro-structure of these three carriers were reviewed. The applications of nanoemulsions, liposomes and NLCs in cosmetics were discussed. The beneficial aspects of nanoemulsions, liposomes and NLCs in cosmetics are very broad. They have very promising future for the delivery of cosmetic active components/ingredients and for the production of high-quality cosmetics.