A Review on Herbal Sunscreen - Abstract
Herbal cosmetics are now become more interesting by people as compared to synthetic cosmetic products. Herbal sunscreen is available in various forms which can be topically available. The objective of this study is to collect current data regarding herbal sunscreens development, to review guidelines for its development and to overview use of herbal extracts and natural molecules in herbal sunscreen. Sunscreen products protect the skin from the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation which helps in the reduction of sunburn and other skin problems. Its function is based on its capability to absorb, reflect or scatter the sun’s rays. The Sun protection factor
(SPF) of a sunscreen is calculated by comparing the amount of time demanded to produce sunburn on sunscreen guarded skin to the amount of time demanded to cause sunburn on unguarded skin. Sun protecting agents are involved in various classes of compounds bearing enormous biological activities like antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimutagenic effect etc. Studies in the research have shown that natural products (herbs) plays the essential role in sun protection by their photoprotective activity such as curcumin, garlic compounds caffeic and ferulic acid, apigenin, genistein, resveratrol, nordihydroguaiaretic acid, carnosic acid, silymarin, tea polyphenols, Capparis spinosa extract. So, this review concluded that the natural sunscreen is safe and easy to use by creating barrier between skin and ultraviolet radiation.