Essential oils used in dermocosmetics: Review about its biological activities.

Introduction: Currently, the demand for the use of constituents of natural origin in cosmetic formulations in detriment of synthetic compounds is noticeable. Several studies assess the potential of essential oils when incorporated into various cosmetic formulations and study their biological activities. This work intends to prepare a literature review on essential oils tested in dermocosmetic formulations and whose biological activities were evaluated through in vitro and/or in vivo tests.

Solvent-Free Microwave Extraction of Essential Oil: Influence on Their Chemical Composition and on the Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities.

Solvent-free microwave extraction (SFME) is a combination of microwave heating and dry distillation performed at atmospheric pressure without the addition of water or organic solvents that has been proposed as a green method for the extraction of essential oils from aromatic and medicinal herbs. In this work, SFME and the conventional techniques of steam distillation (SD) and hydrodistillation (HD) were compared with respect to the extraction and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of essential oil. The main constituent of essential oils obtained using different methods was 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol).