Formulation and Evaluation of Sun Protection Factor of Poly Herbal Sunscreen Cream

Exposure to sunlight can trigger various biological responses ranging from sunburn, Erythema to skin cancer. Synthetic sunscreen formulation available in the market poses variety of adverse effects. Therefore formulation of herbal sunscreen formulation and evaluation of its sun protection activity is an important aspect in the cosmetic industry.The aim of the present study was to formulate and evaluate the sun protection factor of poly herbal sunscreen cream. In this study five sunscreen creams were formulated using various herbal oils and tested for physiochemical parameters such as color, spreadability, viscosity, limit test for lead, consistency, odour, appearance. Studies like thermal stability, phase separation, liquefaction, centrifugation to check stability and patch test for irritancy were done.The in-vitro SPF of the formulation was determined according to the UV spectrophotometry method of Mansur et.al. The sunscreen cream of formulation (F2) produced high absorbance at 290-320 nm wavelength range and SPF obtained was 1.7208±0.12.From the result obtained in the study we conclude that all the formulation , in particularly formulation F2 significantly contribute to the preparation of photo-protective cosmetic formulation which could prevent the skin from harmful effect of Ultra Violet radiation. These formulations will help in broadening the UV protection ability of the sunscreen along with the greatest advantage of avoiding the adverse and undesired effects of synthetic sunscreen compounds.