ABSTRACT
Cosmeceutical products ’ll the gap between cosmetic products that simply cleanse and improve beauty, and pharmaceuticals that cure and heal problems. They provide a health bene’t in addition to traditional cosmetic qualities. Healthy growth in the cosmeceutical market worldwide is primarily attributed to innovative technological knowledge. Technological innovations will continue to drive growth of cosmeceuticals in the cosmetic industry. In the cosmetic industry, chitosan is used as a base material (Minami et al., 1996), and its safety has been demonstrated in mice and rat experiments as a food additive and cosmetic base material (Mita, 1987; Seo, 1990). For cosmeceutical applications of chitosan and its derivatives, they have shown antioxidant, antiaging, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitory, fungicidal, and fungistatic properties, offering good ingredient characteristics for use in the cosmetics industry. Chitosan is the only natural cationic gum that becomes viscous on being neutralized with acid. These biomaterials are therefore used as ingredients in sun creams, lotions, and permanent waving lotions in the cosmetics industry (Mark et al., 1985).
