Skin Whitening Cosmetics: Feedback and Challenges in the Development of Natural Skin Lighteners
With the public’s growing interest in skin whitening, lightening ingredients only used under dermatological supervision until recently, are more and more frequently incorporated into cosmetic formulas. The active agents that lighten skin tone are either natural or synthetic substances, and may act a...
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2016-10-01
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doaj-5dcfd481ff2a47f693ffe16982a1d9f42020-11-24T21:00:00ZengMDPI AGCosmetics2079-92842016-10-01343610.3390/cosmetics3040036cosmetics3040036Skin Whitening Cosmetics: Feedback and Challenges in the Development of Natural Skin LightenersPauline Burger0Anne Landreau1Stéphane Azoulay2Thomas Michel3Xavier Fernandez4Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut de Chimie de Nice UMR7272, 06108 Nice, FranceUniversité Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut de Chimie de Nice UMR7272, 06108 Nice, FranceUniversité Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut de Chimie de Nice UMR7272, 06108 Nice, FranceUniversité Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut de Chimie de Nice UMR7272, 06108 Nice, FranceUniversité Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Institut de Chimie de Nice UMR7272, 06108 Nice, FranceWith the public’s growing interest in skin whitening, lightening ingredients only used under dermatological supervision until recently, are more and more frequently incorporated into cosmetic formulas. The active agents that lighten skin tone are either natural or synthetic substances, and may act at various levels of melanogenesis. They are used to treat various skin pigmentation disorders or simply to obtain a lighter skin tone as whiter skin may be synonymous of wealth, health, youth, and/or beauty in different cultures. However, recent studies demonstrated the adverse effects of some of these ingredients, leading to their interdiction or restricted use under the European Directive and several other international regulations. After an overview of skin whitening practices and the associated risks, this article provides insight into the mechanisms involved in melanin synthesis and the biological assays available to attest the lightening activity of individual ingredients. The legislation dealing with the use of skin lighteners is then discussed. As traditional depigmenting agents such as hydroquinone and corticosteroids are of safety concern, the potential of natural extracts has been investigated more and more; finally, a synthesis of three years of research in our laboratory for such plant extracts will be given.http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9284/3/4/36skin lighteningwhitening agentsmelanogenesisplant extractsbiological assays |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Pauline Burger Anne Landreau Stéphane Azoulay Thomas Michel Xavier Fernandez |
spellingShingle |
Pauline Burger Anne Landreau Stéphane Azoulay Thomas Michel Xavier Fernandez Skin Whitening Cosmetics: Feedback and Challenges in the Development of Natural Skin Lighteners Cosmetics skin lightening whitening agents melanogenesis plant extracts biological assays |
author_facet |
Pauline Burger Anne Landreau Stéphane Azoulay Thomas Michel Xavier Fernandez |
author_sort |
Pauline Burger |
title |
Skin Whitening Cosmetics: Feedback and Challenges in the Development of Natural Skin Lighteners |
title_short |
Skin Whitening Cosmetics: Feedback and Challenges in the Development of Natural Skin Lighteners |
title_full |
Skin Whitening Cosmetics: Feedback and Challenges in the Development of Natural Skin Lighteners |
title_fullStr |
Skin Whitening Cosmetics: Feedback and Challenges in the Development of Natural Skin Lighteners |
title_full_unstemmed |
Skin Whitening Cosmetics: Feedback and Challenges in the Development of Natural Skin Lighteners |
title_sort |
skin whitening cosmetics: feedback and challenges in the development of natural skin lighteners |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Cosmetics |
issn |
2079-9284 |
publishDate |
2016-10-01 |
description |
With the public’s growing interest in skin whitening, lightening ingredients only used under dermatological supervision until recently, are more and more frequently incorporated into cosmetic formulas. The active agents that lighten skin tone are either natural or synthetic substances, and may act at various levels of melanogenesis. They are used to treat various skin pigmentation disorders or simply to obtain a lighter skin tone as whiter skin may be synonymous of wealth, health, youth, and/or beauty in different cultures. However, recent studies demonstrated the adverse effects of some of these ingredients, leading to their interdiction or restricted use under the European Directive and several other international regulations. After an overview of skin whitening practices and the associated risks, this article provides insight into the mechanisms involved in melanin synthesis and the biological assays available to attest the lightening activity of individual ingredients. The legislation dealing with the use of skin lighteners is then discussed. As traditional depigmenting agents such as hydroquinone and corticosteroids are of safety concern, the potential of natural extracts has been investigated more and more; finally, a synthesis of three years of research in our laboratory for such plant extracts will be given. |
topic |
skin lightening whitening agents melanogenesis plant extracts biological assays |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9284/3/4/36 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT paulineburger skinwhiteningcosmeticsfeedbackandchallengesinthedevelopmentofnaturalskinlighteners AT annelandreau skinwhiteningcosmeticsfeedbackandchallengesinthedevelopmentofnaturalskinlighteners AT stephaneazoulay skinwhiteningcosmeticsfeedbackandchallengesinthedevelopmentofnaturalskinlighteners AT thomasmichel skinwhiteningcosmeticsfeedbackandchallengesinthedevelopmentofnaturalskinlighteners AT xavierfernandez skinwhiteningcosmeticsfeedbackandchallengesinthedevelopmentofnaturalskinlighteners |
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