Herbal cosmetics are the preparations consisting of one or more herbs or processed herbs in specified quantities to provide specific cosmetic benefits. These formulation include comminute or powered herbal substance , tinctures, extracts essential natural oils, expressed juices and processed exudates which are obtained by subjecting herbal substances to treatments such as extraction, distillation , expression , fractionation, fractionation ,purification or fermentation processes. Herbal cosmetics are formulated ,using different cosmetic ingredients to from the base in which one or more herbal ingredients are used to cure various skin ailments .

1. CHALLENGES FORMULATING IN HERBAL
COSMETICS
Submitted By: Shiva Kant Thakur, Submitted To: Dr. Himmat Singh Chawra
M. Pharm (Pharmaceutics), IInd Sem.
Subject: Cosmetics and Cosmeceuticals (MPH204T)
Department of Pharmaceutics, NIMS Institute of Pharmacy, NIMS University Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, 303121

2. CONTENT :-
 COSMETICS : INTRIDUCTION
 HERBAL COSMETICS
 HERBAL EXTRACTS FOR COSMETICS
 FORMULATION CHALLENGES
 CONSTRAINS OF HERBAL FORMULATION
 REFENCES

3. COMETICS
“Any article intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, sprayed, introduced to or applied
to any part of human body for cleaning, beautifying, promoting attractiveness or
altering the appearances of human body are cosmetics”
(Drug and cosmetics Act, 1940)

4. Influence of cosmetics:-
• “wearing more makeup has been positively correlated with women’s public self –
consciousness” (1982)
• “cosmetics allow women to feel better about themselves” (1987)
• “self- esteem /believe increases” (1970)
• “enhances social interactions” (1982)

5. Herbal cosmetics
 Herbal cosmetics are the preparations consisting of one or more herbs or processed herbs in
specified quantities to provide specific cosmetic benefits.
 These formulation include comminute or powered herbal substance , tinctures, extracts essential
natural oils, expressed juices and processed exudates which are obtained by subjecting herbal
substances to treatments such as extraction, distillation , expression , fractionation, fractionation
,purification or fermentation processes.
 Herbal cosmetics are formulated ,using different cosmetic ingredients to from the base in which
one or more herbal ingredients are used to cure various skin ailments .

6. Herbal extracts of cosmetics
 Herbal extracts as the name suggests, is the extract of herbs.
 Herbal extracts are as an ancient methodology as its references have been discovered in holy
Vedas and in Unani scriptures.
 Herbals extracts are processed for curing serval remedies and serve other health prospective.
 There exist a gigantic variety of herbal extracts, to name a few Ocimum
sanctum(Tulsi)Asparagus Racemosus (shatawari),Azadirachta indica (Neem), camellia Sinesis
(Green tea) etc.
 Herbal extracts in liquid and other forms have proved to be panacea in the diseases like cardiac
problems, digestive disorders and in mental fatigues. In some cases, herbal extracts accuracy
was detected more than allopathic medicines which are usually comprised of complex
chemicals.

7.  Herbal extracts have very less chances of side effects than any other medicines.
 Herbal extracts are cultivated all over the world and is prime name in horticulture sector at
present.
 In the present, masses are drifting towards nature and several cosmetics, fashionable items and
others are prepared from it. Cosmetics made up of herbal extracts for antimarks, cleansing and
hair-care are very popular for their reliability.

8. Challenges
• A key challenge is to objectively assess conflicting toxicological ,epidemiological and other
data and the verification of herbal materials used.
• Unlike conventional cosmetics, there is extremely insufficient documentation of herbal
cosmetics. Most herbal cosmetics depend on traditional methods or Ayurvedic formulation in
their manufacturing. Some of these are passed down through generations, while some are
documented.
• Even when documented , few of these can compare to the extensive clinical, pharmacological,
and toxicological documentation available for conventional beauty products.

9. Challenges
• Herbal ingredients needs special care and precautions the complete phase of extraction
process. proper drying conditions should be adhered. improper drying may lead to
unintentional adulteration .
 E.g. :- if digitalis leaves are dried above 65 .C decomposition of glycosides by enzymatic
hydrolysis.
• No specific standardization:- there is no single standard that will apply to herbal cosmetics
formulation ,so no any good way to decide whether ingredient can be used or not ,to which
extent and what standards.
 Since the processing of one batch often differed from another, a single company’s own product line may not
have a standard output.
 This makes compliance with certain rules difficult, especially in some developed markets.

10. Challenges
• Few ingredients: only few ingredients of natural origin can be used as preparation is nature
based cosmetics. No synthetics surfactant , few preservation can only be used.so there is
uncertainly in best product preparation.
• The problem of formulating with less ingredients may lead to the formation of product that
may not work as will with synthetic chemical based competition .consumers shall do not want
to give up functionality for the sake of naturalness or sustainability as this is the beauty
business.

11. Challenges
• Stability problem:
Deterioration happens especially during storage ,leading to the loss of the active ingredients,
production of metabolites with no activity and ,in extreme cases ,the production of toxic metabolites.
Physical factors such as air , humidity ,light , and temperature can bring about deterioration directly
or indirectly.
• Safety and efficacy assessment has to be developed on each batch of manufacturing cycle
thus the task become more tedious and time consuming.

12. Challenges
• From the manufacturer points of view :- raw materials in bulk quantity and quality is hard
to obtain which leads breakage in continuous production cycle of herbal cosmetics.
• Raw materials obtained from different place with varying climate cannot be treated .as same as there
arises difference in herbal potency.
• No specific criteria is given which may lead to irregularity in production cycle.
• Poor quality of raw materials:- herbal cosmetics require the careful cultivation of plants and
herbs in their natural environment.
• The raw material for herbal cosmetics company cannot be mass produced in a factory.neither can
one reproduce these in a mater of minutes in a laboratory.

13. Constrains of herbal formulation
A. Constrains associated with handling of medicinal plants:
Indiscriminate harvesting and poor post – harvest treatment practices.
Lack of research on development of high-Yiedling varieties, domestication etc
Poor agriculture and propagation methods.
Inefficient processing techniques leading to low yield and poor quality products.
Poor quality and control procedures.

14. Constrains of herbal formulation
Lack of cGMP for preparation
Lack of R&D on product and process development.
Difficulties in marketing
Lack of trained personnel and equipment.
Lack of facilities to fabricate equipment locaily
Lack of access to latest technological and market information.

15. Constrains associated with the dealing of
herbal medicines.
Adulteration of herbal product can be made in various ways; commonly adulteration is made
by substituting other easily available or cheap plant species or sometimes by spiking of
product with synthetic constituents.
In addition , the processing of herbs, such as heating or boiling ,may alter the dissolution rate
,or even the functional activity of the organic constituents.
A host of environmental factors, including soil ,altitude, seasonal variation in temprerature,
atmospheric humidity ,length of daylight ,rainfall pattern ,shade, dew ,frost conditions , may
affect the levels of components in any given batch of an herb.

16. Constrains associated with the dealing of
herbal medicines.
Other factors ,including insects, planting density, competition with other plant species,
seeding time , and genetic factors, play an important role .
Plant collection for the use in botanicals is one of the factors of concern for quality ,plants
collected in the wild may include non targeted species, especially either by accidental
substitution or intentional adulteration.

17. Various herbal formulation

18. Reference :-
1. Joshi H. Potentials of traditional medicinal chemistry in the cosmetology industry; prospective
and perspectives. Anaplastology 2012;1:3.
2. Sahu AN, Jha S, Dubey SD. Formulation and evaluation of curcuminoid based herbal face
cream. Indo Global J Pharm Sci 2011;1:77-84.
3. Pandey S, Meshya N, Viral D. Herbs play an important role in the field of cosmetics. Int J Pharm
Tech Res 2010;2:632-9. Jain et al. Int J App Pharm, Vol 10, Issue 6, 2018, 47-53 51
4. Gediya SK, Mistry RB, Patel UK, Blessy M, Jain HN. Herbal plants: used as cosmetics. J Nat
Prod Plant Resour 2011;1:24-32.
5. Saha R. Cosmeceuticals and herbal drugs: practical uses. Int J Pharm Res Allied Sci 2012;3:59-
65.
6. Sharma HD, Paramesh R. Trends in ageing and skin care: Ayurvedic concepts. J Ayurveda Integr
Med 2010;1:110–3.
7. Top 7 Advantages of using Natural Cosmetics. Available from: www.thenewecologist.com. [Last
accessed on 12 Nov 2018]