Interest in clean beauty is rising due to minimalism in the formulation of cosmetics, rational use of water, and fewer chemical additives like preservatives, colorants, surfactants, and artificial fragrances. Green ingredients lead to the development of sustainable formulations with advanced performance and are less aggressive to human health and the environment. Currently, the electrospinning technique is used as a simple one-step manufacturing process to produce nanostructured cosmetics under mild temperature conditions. This study focuses on the utilization of rice bran oil (RBO) in the creation of sustainable nanostructured cosmetics for potential cosmetic and well-being applications. Four sustainable formulations were developed to optimize the creation of nanostructured cosmetics using ethyl cellulose and rice bran oil (RBO). Ethanol absolute and polyvinyl pyrrolidone have been chosen to compose the sustainable formulation due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. We studied four different RBO concentrations regarding morphology, encapsulation efficiency, biodegradability, and cytotoxicity. Nanostructured cosmetics present biomimetic surfaces, high RBO encapsulation ability, low mass loss at simulated physiologic conditions, and non-cytotoxicity. Therefore, the minimalist sustainable formulation does not contain any toxic solvents and incompatible harmful excipients, was nanostructured using a mild manufacturing process, and obtained high RBO entrapment.
Microneedle (MN) devices comprise of micron-sized structures that circumvent biological barriers in a minimally invasive manner. MN research continues to grow and evolve; the technology was recently identified as one of the top ten overall emerging technologies of 2020. There is a growing interest in using such devices in cosmetology and dermatological conditions where the MNs mechanically disrupt the outer skin barrier layer, creating transient pathways that allow the passage of materials to underlying skin layers. This review aims to appraise the application of microneedle technologies in skin science, provide information on potential clinical benefits, as well as indicate possible dermatological conditions that can benefit from this technology, including autoimmunemediated inflammatory skin diseases, skin aging, hyperpigmentation, and skin tumors. A literature review was carried out to select studies that evaluated the use of microneedles to enhance drug delivery for dermatologic purposes. MN patches create temporary pathways that allow the passage of therapeutic material to deeper layers of the skin. Given their demonstrable promise in therapeutic applications it will be essential for healthcare professionals to engage with these new delivery systems as they transition to the clinic.