Chitosan hybrids for cosmeceutical applications in skin, hair and dental care: an update

Cosmeceuticals are materials which can have benefits of cosmetics as well as pharmaceutics. Even though there are different kinds of materials used, biopolymer based are the most relevant one, owing to their excellent biocompatibility and functionality. Among many natural biopolymers, chitosan has been widely explored as natural biopolymer, which has found different applications including drug delivery and tissue engineering. Apart from such biomedical applications, it has shown potential benefits in the cosmeceutical area, due to its anti-microbial properties, excellent biocompatibility, and degradability. In addition to chitosan, its derivatives have also shown remarkable progress in the skin, hair, and dental care research areas. Recently, there have been significant improvements in the drug-loaded chitosan micro- and nanoparticles for various cosmeceutical application. This short report will be discussing about the innovative and emerging chitosan hybrid-based cosmeceuticals and their applications specifically in the area of the skin, hair, and dental care. In addition, detailed future perspectives will also be discussed.