Based on recent patents and the scientific literature on the use of nanotechnology in cosmetics, this
review shows that this emerging technology is about to become a crucial tool, not only for scientific
research on – but also for industrial development of – new cosmetic products. Whereas nanotechnology is presently being developed for both creating new packaging materials and manufacturing
equipment for cosmetics, it is within the area of cosmetic materials formulation that one currently
finds the highest number of nanotechnology-related patents and scientific reports. In formulations,
nanomaterials are already being employed or being suggested for future use as carriers of active
substances, as more general formulation aids and as active ingredient sperse.The types of nano materials under consideration differ vastly in chemical and physical properties and include NPs of biological
substance slike amino acids, peptides and proteins,metal ssuch as silver, gold, titanium and zinc,oxides
like alumina, titania and silica,carbon nanomaterialssuch as fullerenes,graphene and CNTs,lipid-based
NPs,as well as a number of native, modified and synthetic polymers