Among the many aspects that contribute to the wellness of each individual, healthy and younger-looking skin play a relevant role, as clearly shown by the important growth of the skin-care products market observed in recent years. In this scenario, the field of cosmeceuticals appears particularly promising, being based on cosmetic products containing active ingredients. Among these, several peptides were proposed for cosmeceutical applications, thanks to their specific interaction with biological targets. In this mini-review, we report some of the most investigated and used peptides for cosmetic formulations, taking into account that cosmeceutical peptides are basically divided into three main categories (i.e., neurotransmitter inhibitors, carriers, and signal peptides). Special attention was payed to the scientific studies supporting the claimed biological activity of these peptides, as a fundamental aspect that should underpin the growth of this field in the framework of a sustainable wellness economy.
Cosmeceutical field, which merges cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, is nowadays a highly investigated research area, because a scientific demonstration of the claimed bioactivity of new cosmeceutical ingredients is increasingly requested. In fact, an aspect differentiating traditional cosmetics from cosmeceuticals is the identification and characterization of the active ingredients and demonstrating its efficacy in the claimed activity. An interesting group of bioactive cosmeceutical ingredients are peptides, which due to their particular properties, meets most of the requirements presented by the cosmeceutical industry when composing new formulas. In this context, beside bioactivity, two additional aspects have been recently considered, when dealing with peptides as cosmeceutical ingredients: bioavailability and stability. We describe herein novel methods applied in order to enhance peptides skin‐penetration and stability, reviewing both scientific articles and patents, issued in the cosmeceutical arena.
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