Surface Science of Cosmetic Substrates, Cleansing Actives and Formulations

Dear Colleagues,

The design of cosmetic products is currently a multidisciplinary task that requires marrying the economic and ecological aspects with the consumer demand for better products. The only way to successfully meet this challenge is via a broad perspective that includes a deep understanding of the most fundamental physicochemical bases that govern the behavior of the target substrates for cosmetic treatments, e.g., hair or skin, and their interactions with cosmetic formulations, an approach which requires analyzing the important role of the interface between the cosmetic substrate and the environment.

External agents, including pollution, mechanical stresses, and thermal treatment, can lead to a degradation of the physicochemical properties of cosmetic substrates which in most cases cannot be biologically repaired. Hence, cosmetic treatments are the only alternative providing a partial reparation of aesthetic damages. In particular, cosmetic formulations mostly work by repairing the external surface of cosmetic substrates, which means that it is very important to come up with a rational design of formulations that contains cleverly chosen ingredients to take advantage of their interaction at the surface of cosmetic substrates for the reparation process.

The current switch toward more eco-friendly ingredients is irreversible. Natural and biodegradable formulations need to maintain the standards in terms of performance of the properties expected in the cosmetic substrate. The interactions of these new ingredients with hair and skin must be revisited to create new structure–property correlations.   

The goal of this Special Issue is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current understanding of the surface aspects of cosmetic science, including both experimental and theoretical approaches to the study of substrates and formulations of cosmetic interest. Therefore, the Special Issue is open to interdisciplinary contributions aiming to push the limits of knowledge beyond the current state of the art.

Dr. Gustavo Luengo
Dr. Samiul Amin
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cosmetics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• surface science
• colloids
• reparation
• surfaces
• polymers
• surfactants
• ecosustainability
• adsorption