As the cosmetic and nutraceutical worlds differ on their definition of cosmeceutical, it is becoming more necessary to define this nebulous sector of cosmetics. The cosmetics world views the term “cosmeceutical” as a collision of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, where as the healthy food and supplement industry defines it as the crossover of nutraceuticals with cosmetics.
Currently, there is no regulation on the term; and the provoking, unclear boundary between nutrition and cosmetics is desperately in need of clarification. And, with an expected market worth of $2.5 billion by 2012, according to Kline, the cosmeceuticals market is in urgent need of answers.