J. Cosmet. Sci., 69, 447–462 (November/December 2018) 447 Preparation and Evaluation of Cream Mask from Vietnamese Seaweeds NGO THI HOAI THU, HOANG THI LAN ANH, HOANG THI MINH HIEN, NGUYEN CAM HA, LUU THI TAM, TRAN XUAN KHOI, TRAN MAI DUC, and DANG DIEM HONG, Institute of Biotechnology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam (N.T.H.T., H.T.L.A., H.T.M.H., N.C.H., L.T.T., T.X.K., D.D.H.), Nha Trang Institute of Technology Research and Application, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Nha Trang, Vietnam (T.M.D.) Accepted for publication December 1, 2018. Synopsis Seaweed is rich source of natural bioactive compounds that could be exploited as functional ingredient for cosmetic applications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biochemical compositions and bioactivities of 10 seaweeds collected from coastal waters of Vietnam. The present study also prepared and evaluated cream mask from mixture of seaweeds extracted with water. The results showed that Caulerpa lentillifera, Sargassum crassifolium, Ulva reticulata, and Kappaphycus alvarezii are potential rich sources of protein, polysaccharide, carotenoids, and vitamins with high antibacterial, cell proliferation, moisture retention, and tyrosinase inhibitory activities. Physicochemical analysis of cream mask from a mixture of these seaweed extracts indicated that it is yellowish brown in color with a specifi c odor of seaweed, stable, and homogeneous for up to 12 months of storage, with a pH of 6.1, and high spread and adhesive abilities. No total aerobic mesophilic microorganisms, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, and heavy metals were detected in the seaweed mask cream. The seaweed cream mask was safe and caused no irritation to normal human skin, and it satisfi ed provisions of Circular No. 06/2011/TT-BYT dated January 25, 2011 of the Vietnam Ministry of Health, providing cosmetic management for the cosmetic products with anti-aging and moisturizing effects. INTRODUCTION Marine macroalgae or seaweed is taxonomically classifi ed into three major groups: green (Chlorophyta), brown (Phaeophyta), and red algae (Rhodophyta) (1). They are rich sources of highly bioactive secondary metabolites for applications in foods, pharmaceuticals, and cos- metics (2). It has been recognized that seaweed contains signifi cant amounts of mineral matter [1.1–2.5% dry weight (DW)], protein (1–30% DW), lipid (0.3–4% DW), poly- saccharides (15–65% DW), phytohormones, and pigments (2,3), in which seaweed extracts such as agar, carrageenan, and fucoidan have been used for nutritional and nutraceutical Address all correspondence to Dang Diem Hong at ddhong60vn@yahoo.com.

JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE 448 benefi ts, as well as in successful cosmetic formulation (4). Most of the investigations on the metabolites derived from seaweed have revealed their potential antioxidant, anti- infl ammatory, anti-wrinkle, anti-bacterial, and anti-aging properties, as well as their role in protection of the skin from ultraviolet rays, moisturizing, and whitening (5). Thus, seaweed is considered as low-costing, safe, and environmentally friendly raw materials for cosmetic industry. Vietnam has a 3,200 km coastline, with great diversity in its algal fl ora. A total of 827 species comprising 88 Cyanophyta, 180 Chlorophyta, 147 Ochrophyta, and 412 Rho- dophyta were compiled from various published sources (6,7). In addition, seaweed farm- ing area in Vietnam has 10.000 ha with the productivity of more than 101.000 tons per year. However, there is no report of the cosmetic applications using Vietnamese seaweed. Until now, researches on seaweed in Vietnam have concentrated on only sampling sur- veys, taxonomy, exploitation of natural bioactive compounds (as fucoidan), and cultiva- tion of economically important seaweed species such as Gracilaria spp., Kappaphycus alvarezii, and K. striatum (8). On the other hand, there still are few studies focusing on nutrition, biochemical composition of seaweed and their applications for functional food, traditional medicines, and biofertilizers (8,9). This study aimed to formulate and evaluate water extracts of four seaweeds, C. lentillifera, S. crassifolium, U. reticulata, and K. alvarezii, in cream mask with anti-aging and moisturizing effects. We fi rst screened potential spe- cies from 10 seaweeds based on the values of some biochemical components as content of polysaccharide, carotenoid, and vitamins. The four selected seaweed species were ex- tracted with water and performed various bioactivities such as antioxidant, antibacterial, cell proliferation, moisture retention, and tyrosinase inhibition in vitro. Finally, formula- tion of cream mask and evaluation of its physiochemical and microbiological characteris- tics from a mixture of four selected seaweeds were investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS MATERIALS Fresh seaweed species were collected from Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam (12°33′28.9″N 109°17′55.1″E) from February to May, 2017, including Caulerpa lentillifera J. Agardh 1837, Ulva lactuca Linnaeus, 1753, and Ulva reticulata (Forssk) (Chlorophyceae) Kappa- phycus alvarezii (Doty) Doty, and K. striatum (Schmitz) Doty (Pakaya) Gracilaria tenuis- tipitata C. F. Chang & B. M. Xia, 1976 and Gracilariopsis bailiniae J. Zhang & B. M. Xia, 1991 (Rhodophyceae) Sargassum oligocystum Montagne, 1845, S. crassifolium J. Agardh, 1848, and S. denticarpum T. Ajisaka, 1994 (Phaeophyceae). The identifi cation of scientifi c names of these seaweed species was carried out by Tran Mai Duc (Nha Trang Institute of Technology Research and Application, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology). All seaweed samples were cleaned, rinsed with seawater, dried under dim light, and stored at 2°–4°C until use. METHODS Biochemical composition analysis. The seaweed samples were washed in fresh water and sub- sequently dried at 60°C in an oven the dried samples were ground to particle size 1 mm