Biocompatible anti-aging face mask prepared with curcumin and natural rubber with antioxidant properties

Natural rubber latex (NRL) is a biopolymer widely used in biomedical applications. In this work, we propose an innovative cosmetic face mask, combining the NRL's biological properties with curcumin (CURC), which has a high level of antioxidant activity (AA) to provide anti-aging benefits. Chemical, mechanical and morphological characterizations were performed. The CURC released by the NRL was evaluated by permeation in Franz cells. Cytotoxicity and hemolytic activity assays were performed to assess safety. The findings showed that the bio-logical properties of CURC were preserved after loading in the NRL. About 44.2 % of CURC was released within the first six hours, and in vitro permeation showed that 9.36 % +/- 0.65 was permeated over 24 h. CURC-NRL was associated with a metabolic activity higher than 70 % in 3 T3 fibroblasts, cell viability >= 95 % in human dermal fibroblasts, and a hemolytic rate <= 2.24 % after 24 h. Furthermore, CURC-NRL maintained the mechanical characteristics (range suitable) for human skin application. We observed that CURC-NRL preserved similar to 20 % antioxidant activity from curcumin-free after loading in the NRL. Our results suggest that CURC-NRL has the potential to be used in the cosmetics industry, and the experimental methodology utilized in this study can be applied to different kinds of face masks.

Automated summary

In this study, an innovative cosmetic face mask was proposed by combining curcumin, which has high antioxidant activity, with natural rubber latex. The results showed that curcumin was successfully released from natural rubber latex and exhibited no toxicity to cells and hemoglobin. Furthermore, curcumin-natural rubber latex maintained suitable mechanical characteristics for human skin application. These findings suggest that curcumin-natural rubber latex has potential for use in the cosmetics industry and the experimental methodology can be applied to different types of face masks.