Cosmeceuticals for Anti-Aging: Mechanisms, Clinical Evidence, and Regulatory Insights—A Comprehensive Review

Products with biologically active ingredients have emerged as a powerful category within the skincare and anti-aging sectors. Bridging the gap between pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, they offer therapeutic benefits supported by scientific evidence while maintaining the esthetic appeal of traditional skincare. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of cosmeceuticals with a particular focus on their anti-aging potential. This review highlights recent advances in cosmeceutical actives. Next-generation retinoids such as hydroxypinacolone retinoate and retinyl retinoate show comparable efficacy to tretinoin with improved tolerability, though current studies are small and short-term. Peptides, including signal, carrier, and neurotransmission-inhibiting peptides, offer multifunctional effects on extracellular matrix remodeling and wrinkle reduction, with supportive but modest clinical evidence enhanced by nanocarrier delivery. Antioxidants, particularly vitamin C and coenzyme Q10, are supported by controlled trials showing improvements in photoprotection, mitochondrial function, and wrinkle depth, though data are limited by sample size and follow-up. Botanical polyphenols are gaining prominence: nanoparticle-encapsulated epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) enhances anti-photoaging activity in preclinical studies; oral microencapsulated curcumin has shown visible benefits in nutricosmetic trials; and bakuchiol, a retinol-like meroterpene, demonstrated comparable efficacy to retinol with superior tolerability. Advances in delivery systems—including nanoemulsions, phospholipid complexes, and encapsulation technologies—improve stability, bioavailability, and skin penetration. In conclusion, retinoids, vitamin C, and AHAs/BHAs remain the most evidence-based actives, whereas newer bioactives and advanced formulations appear promising but require larger, long-term randomized trials to establish their role in dermatologic practice.