Novel approaches in herbal cosmetics.

Nutracosmetics are an emerging class of health and beauty aid products that combine the benefits of nutracosmetical ingredients with the elegance, skin feel, and delivery systems of cosmetics. Herbs and spices have been used in maintaining and enhancing human beauty because herbs have many beneficial properties, such as sunscreen, antiaging, moisturizing, antioxidant, anticellulite, and antimicrobial effects. As compared with synthetic cosmetic products, herbal products are mild, biodegradable, and have low toxicity profile. To enhance these properties, research is being done in the development of newer approaches, which could improve both the aesthetic appeal and performance of a cosmetic product. In this respect, the approaches studied and discussed include liposomes, phytosomes, transferosomes, nanoemulsions, nanoparticles, microemulsions, nanocrystals, and cubosomes.