Guidelines for Formulating Anti-Pollution Products

Anti-pollution skin care and cosmetic products are witnessing a significant growth in the last couple of years due to worsening air quality across the world, and increasing awareness and concern regarding the adverse impact of various environmental pollutants on skin. The various pollutants, like particulate matter, oxides of nitrogen and sulphur, ozone, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons damage skin by different mechanism resulting in skin dryness, loss of firmness, dark spots, uneven skin tone, fine lines and wrinkles, aggravation of acne, and inflammation. The task of developing globally harmonized products is very challenging due differences in skin types according to ethnicity, variation in seasonal weather pattern, differences in benefit expectations, and variances in personal care and cosmetics usage habits of consumers in different regions of the world. However, an increasing understanding about the mechanism by which various pollutants damage the skin manifesting into various extrinsic signs of skin damage and development of various actives that counter the impact of different environmental aggressors has helped formulators to develop different products and to establish efficacy by in vitro and in vivo tests. The article summarizes approaches for formulation development, and a list of few actives classified based in their mechanism action is given. A representative list of products based on their mechanism of action is also given and few potential opportunities for the future are suggested