Formulating O/W Emulsions with Plant-Based Actives: A Stability Challenge for an Effective Product

Abstract

Quality, safety, and efficacy concerns added to instability, poor absorption, and the dispersion of actives are common problems while formulating plant-based cosmetics. Furthermore, a correct balance between the stability of the emulsion, the sensory profile, and the high efficacy has to be considered to formulate an effective product. In this paper, we demonstrate that rheology is a methodological tool that can be used while designing a new product. In particular, we developed an O/W emulsion which is easy to spread on irritated skin, and that can soothe the redness and discomfort caused by the exposure to both physical and chemical irritating agents. The green active mixture consists of three natural raw materials: Bosexil®, Zanthalene®, and Xilogel®. Each ingredient has a well-demonstrated efficacy in terms of soothing, anti-itching, and moisturizing properties respectively. Starting from the selection of a new green emulsifying system, through the analysis of the rheological properties, we obtained a stable and easy-to-apply o/w emulsion. The efficacy of the optimized product was assessed in vitro on intact and injured skin using the SkinEthic™ Reconstituted Human Epidermis (RHE) as a biological model.

Innovative Skin Product Emulsions with Enhanced Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and UV Protection Properties Containing Nanoparticles of Pure and Modified Chitosan with Encapsulated Fresh Pomegranate Juice

“…Defects in the viscosity of the final formulations would potentially provoke phase separation and liquefaction. For the improvement of the long term stability of the prepared emulsions as well as the increase of their viscosity during storage, the addition of acrylic polymers in the aqueous phase of O/W emulsions has been proposed [ 76 ]. Furthermore, it was found that the addition of various nanoparticles during storage results in an augmentation of the emulsion’s viscosity.…”

Green Consumer Behavior in the Cosmetics Market

“…Producers are widening their palette of natural cosmetics to ride the trend of changing consumer attitude [40]. The science of rheology is an efficient tool of cosmetic products, which includes green cosmetics activities, the supply of consumer demands, and the stability of the product ( Figure 2) [41]. The original factors of rheology as a powerful tool for cosmetic product design, we have been supplemented based on our analyses.…”

“…The main source of extracting bio-active natural ingredients are plants, most notably herbs and spices [46]. Plant-based active ingredients usable in both traditional pharmaceutical products and functional cosmetics for a longer period, can be applied to the current trend of the green cosmetics market with their well-documented biological effects [41].…”

“…Rheology as powerful tool for cosmetic product design (Graphical abstract) based on Semenzato et al[41].…”

Grape skin extracts as a sustainable source of antioxidants in an oil‐in‐water emulsion: an alternate natural approach to synthetic antioxidants using principal component analysis

“…It also seemed likely that the colour changes of Kyoho skin emulsions were due to Kyoho skin and extracts that probably changed the colour of the formulated emulsion. These findings agreed with those of earlier studies (Khan et al ., 2010; Semenzato et al ., 2018), who observed the addition of plant extracts resulted in changes to structure and visual colour of emulsions.…”