DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF UNANI FACE PACK (UFP) FOR SKINCARE.

Farheen Begum*, Mohammad Idris

ABSTRACT

Contrary to the common belief that the cosmetics and perfumery belong to the modern times, as a matter of fact, well before the coinage of the word cosmetics, from the Greek language kosmeticos meaning adorn or embellish (for making more attractive, beautiful & decorated), the Arab physicians had laid foundation of a new branch of knowledge in the form of Ilm-ul-zeenah (science of beauty), i.e. nothing but cosmetology. Nowadays revolution comes in the branch of cosmetics, and it has become most popular branch. However, in the modern cosmetic preparations, numerous synthetic chemicals are used which have a lot of side effects. Now, the world is revisiting the herbal heritage for skincare in non-conventional stream of medicine, such as Unani medicine. Natural remedies are more acceptable in the belief that they are safer with fewer side effects than the synthetic ones. In Unani system of medicine, there is a broad range of preparations derived from natural sources for skincare. Numerous formulations are mentioned in the Unani classical literature for skincare. The formulations are named as ghaza, ghamra, ghaliya, ghusool, ubtan, kohal etc. But the uses of above mentioned formulations in the prescribed dosage forms are not easy as these are time taking and involve lengthy and laborious procedures for the users. So, there is a need to improve the processing of these dosage forms which can be used easily. There is no formulation available in Unani cosmeceuticals to combat such situations and compete modern cosmetics. Hence, a pharmaceutical strategy has been envisaged to overcome these shortcomings. An innovative approach has been made to formulate, design and develop a user-friendly dosage form for skincare, which is ready to use. Thus, Unani Face Pack (UFP) was designed and developed for skincare. The ingredients were selected after an exhaustive search of Unani classical literature. They possess the jali (detergent) and tehseen-e-laun (complexion enhancer) properties. In the current literature, all ingredients have been reported as having significant anti-microbial and anti-oxidant activity. The UFP was evaluated by a battery of physico-chemical tests. Based on the observations and results of the undertaken study, it is concluded that UFP based on Unani single drugs is a best Unani cosmeceutical formulation for skincare.

Keywords: Unani cosmeceutical formulation, jali, tehseen e laun.