Cosmetic products, from volumizing lipsticks to eye-lash growing mascara, from anti-wrinkle skin care facial creams to slimming anti-cellulite gels, from split-end repairing shampoos to anti-hair loss masks and lotions have all one thing in common today: they contain an increasing number of ingredients (sometimes 50 or more) and they all need to claim some activity, to tell a story that is based - more or less - on the ingredients contained in the formula and their purported properties.
This article intends to discuss a few misconceptions and ideas to keep in mind when choosing so called "active" cosmetic ingredients (especially new ones as they come out, innovation and novelty being the name of the game).
As by "Active", most readers will understand "biologically active", the article focuses more on skin care products than on shampoos/conditioners etc., which act mostly on physiologically dead tissue.