The cosmetic industry talks a lot about active ingredients and how to deliver their benefits to the skin. Neurocosmetic functional ingredients are different, they not only have a direct action on the skin, but also communicate with the nervous system and can potentially affect the brain's responses to topical and oral treatments.
Indeed, many emotions such as stress and happiness are felt at the skin level, resulting in different skin reactions such as paleness, blushing or glowing. The connection mechanisms between the skin and the brain should be useful in choosing functional ingredients that can interact with both systems and achieve specific results. There are a number of natural ingredients that can fulfill this dual function of acting on the nervous system to provide the benefits of improving “well-being” while maintaining its topical use.
Neurocosmetic functional ingredients can act by following two main mechanisms. The first acts directly on the endings of cutaneous nerve fibers, as modulators of the release of neurotransmitters. Botulinum-like peptides that promote the relaxation of facial musculature to achieve wrinkle smoothing are an example. They can also act by modulating the functions of non-nerve cells as agonist/antagonist molecules of neuropeptide receptors or modulators of neurotransmitter effects.
In conclusion, neurocosmetic functional ingredients, by targeting the interactions between the skin and the nervous system, can play a significant role in balancing the skin, providing a soothing effect, resulting in smoother, more radiant, healthier and less wrinkled skin contributing to the reduction of the inflammatory response.
