Nanoemulsions having reversible continuous and dispersed phases

A nanoemulsion comprising:

• (A) an aqueous phase including:
• (1) water or a water solution, and
• (2) one or more water-soluble organic nanostructure stabilizers, in which the water or water solution has a content less than 75% by weight of the aqueous phase, each of the water-soluble organic nanostructure stabilizers has a content less than 99% by weight of the aqueous phase, and at least one of the water-soluble organic nanostructure stabilizers is urea, xylitol, or glucosamine, and
• (B) an oil phase including:
• (1) an oil or an oil solution,
• (2) an organic gel thickener, and
• (3) a hydrophilic surfactant having a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance value greater than 8.0,
• in which the oil or oil solution has a content less than 80% by weight of the oil phase, the organic gel thickener has a content less than 60% by weight of the oil phase, and the hydrophilic surfactant has a content less than 60% by weight of the oil phase, wherein the water or water solution constitutes 2.5% by weight or more of the nanoemulsion, a weight ratio of the aqueous phase to the oil phase is 1:40-100:1, the aqueous phase is dispersed as nanosized droplets in the oil phase or the oil phase is dispersed as nanosized droplets in the aqueous phase, and the nanoemulsion is self-preserving, in the absence of an anti-microbial preservative, and has reversible continuous and dispersed phases.