Do your cosmetics contain the “right number” of active ingredients?
The “right number” of active ingredients in a cosmetic product is often debated… But as you will see, everything is not that complicated!
An explanation in 3 points:
1 - Know the different categories of ingredients present in your cosmetics.
2 - Evaluate the “right number” of active ingredients in the formulation of a product
3 - Evaluate the concentration of each asset
1 - Different categories of ingredients:
- Active ingredients are ingredients that have demonstrated dermo-cosmetological properties: anti-wrinkle, moisturizing, nourishing, exfoliating, etc.
- The excipients will determine the nature of the product: cream, serum, balm, milk, lotion, etc.
- The additives will stabilize, preserve, color and perfume the product.
It is therefore the “active ingredients” contained in a product which determine its effectiveness and which act on the skin in order to provide it with real benefit.
But what is the “right number of assets”?
2 - The number of assets
In the cosmetics industry, many opinions differ.
Some advocate the effectiveness of a product through a large number of active ingredients, while others, supporters of the “Less is more” philosophy, assert that the effectiveness of a product is found in the simplicity of its formula.
So how do you sort this information?
If the effectiveness of cosmetics is closely linked to its active ingredients, we must ensure that each provides a real benefit.
As long as an asset provides additional benefit, then it is legitimate to incorporate it into the formula. If its benefit is not verified, it will be useless and will only increase the price of the product.
As an example, we have assembled 18 active ingredients in the L'ILLUMINANT mask , ensuring that each active ingredient provides its own benefit. In the LA SUPERBE anti-aging cream , 14 active ingredients, in the LA SUPERBE UNIVERSELLE face cream , 12 active ingredients, and in the EYE AND LIP CONTOUR , 13 active ingredients.
In summary, neither too much nor too little: the right number to obtain optimal performance without impacting the price unnecessarily.
3 - The concentration of each active ingredient
The concentration of an active ingredient in a product is defined by its percentage in the formula.
In cosmetics, each active ingredient is different: it is incorrect to think that the effectiveness of a product is always based on the high concentration of all of its active ingredients.
Sometimes a high concentration will increase effectiveness: for example caffeine in certain slimming products.
Conversely, for certain active ingredients, a low concentration will give greater effectiveness: for example Bisabolol (soothing active ingredient present in the L'ILLUMINANT mask ) is more effective when its concentration is limited to 1 or 2%.
For these reasons, we use our active ingredients at known optimal concentrations for use, whether, for example, in the LE LUMINEUX serum or the ANTI-IMPERFECTION LOTION .
In conclusion
The effectiveness of a product therefore relies on perfect mastery of the art of formulation and flawless knowledge of the properties of the selected active ingredients. Their concentrations require precision, as does their choice based on their virtues and the benefits that we wish to bring to the product.