Abstract
Cosmetic and personal care products are globally used and often applied directly on the human skin. According to a recent survey in Europe, the market value of cosmetic and personal care products in Western Europe reached about 84 billion euros in 2018 and are predicted to increase by approximately 6% by the end of 2020. With these significant sums of money spent annually on cosmetic and personal care products, along with chemical surfactants being the main ingredient in a number of their formulations, of which many have been reported to have the potential to cause detrimental effects such as allergic reactions and skin irritations to the human skin; hence, the need for the replacement of chemical surfactants with other compounds that would have less or no negative effects on skin health. Biosurfactants (surfactants of biological origin) have exhibited great potential such as lower toxicity, skin compatibility, protection and surface moisturizing effects which are key components for an effective skincare routine. This review discusses the antimicrobial, skin surface moisturizing and low toxicity properties of glycolipid and lipopeptide biosurfactants which could make them suitable substitutes for chemical surfactants in current cosmetic and personal skincare pharmaceutical formulations. Finally, we discuss some challenges and possible solutions for biosurfactant applications.
Highlights
The skin is a complex structure that constitutes the largest organ of the human body
It is reported that the prolonged use of cosmetic and personal care products formulated with chemical surfactants could have negative effects on the human skin
Given that probiotic- and prebiotic-producing organisms are innocuous to the normal human flora, they could be used as substitutes for biosurfactants produced by pathogenic microorganisms, thereby increasing the acceptance of microbial biosurfactants in food, cosmetic and personal care products [106]
Summary
The skin is a complex structure that constitutes the largest organ of the human body. Their prolonged use and high concentration may cause solubilization of the epidermal and intracellular lipids of the skin, affecting the structural integrity and barrier functions of the skin [15] For these reasons, there has been an impetus for the replacement of chemical surfactants with other compounds that can be produced from cheaper and sustainable resources and, have properties such as low toxicity, biodegradability and compatibility with the human skin, thereby having less or no negative effects on the health of consumers and the environment [13,16,17,18]. This review, focuses on the potential beneficial effects of biosurfactants on the human skin, its microbiome and associated cells, that could make them suitable to substitute for chemical surfactants in current cosmetic and personal skincare pharmaceutical formulations; their antimicrobial, skin moisturizing and low toxicity properties
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