RESUMO
Cosmetic products are often inadequately preserved that provide favourable environment for microbial growth. These emphasize the need for regular investigation of cosmetics in terms of microbial quality and preservative capacity. This study aimed to evaluate the microbial quality, in vitro antibacterial activity and preservative capacity of several popular cosmetics collected from the neighbouring health-care stationary shops in Dhaka city from October 2019 to December 2019. Here, a total of five categories of seven different cosmetic products were subjected to evaluate microbial load, in vitro antibacterial activity and preservative capacity. Among the seven cosmetic products, the viable bacterial count in two cosmetics (All Clear and Sunsilk Shampoo) were found within the acceptable range that was <10³ CFU/ml. None of the cosmetics were found contaminated with fungus and pathogenic organisms. Conversely, three (one Mouthwash and two shampoo) products showed in vitro antibacterial activity against E. coli, S. aureus, Pseudomonas spp., Salmonella spp., Shigella spp. Only single cosmetic product (Cute coconut oil) did not meet the criteria of preservative capacity, while rest six products fulfil the requirements. Thus, our findings revealed a huge load of microorganisms in spite of having adequate preservative capacity in most of the tested products.