Understand: Your Most Burning Queries About Cosmetic Ingredients
Today, we will try to understand the ingredients of your cosmetics. This is a crucial step whether talking about your skincare or makeup routine. I can say that it’s even more important than applying products that you started following some beauty mentors or gurus.
Understanding cosmetics ingredients will not only help you investing in the right products and analyzing what is actually true for you but also connects you more with your own skin. With doing this you will know what you are putting on your skin whether in makeup or skin care products. As a result, you will get more healthy skin because you can choose what you want to use and what not.
Before understanding your cosmetic ingredients make sure to not judge the product only by the name of its ingredients(which happens in most cases). This applies to both positive and negative judgments we generally make by just listening to others.
For example, seeing alcohol inscribed on the ingredients list doesn’t always mean its bad. So, before coming to any inferences you need to dig deep into details wisely. Do your personal research and make a choice accordingly only believing in facts you collected logically.
To understand Cosmetics Ingredients, Always keep in mind these things:
Purpose:
Before jumping into any considerations its important to understand what purpose an ingredient serves in that product. There are certain names in the industry which have fixed reputation as good or bad. But just listening to others don’t make your final choices, a little research never hurts. Instead of making a decision based on the name of the product. Find out what they will do, is their functionality a useful boon for your skin or is harmful.
Try to get all insights by rich facts you can collect by searching on the internet easily. If still unsure after collecting data then contact a dermatologist, they can definitely help you better.
Irritants:
All products are not the same and so is their effect. By this, I simply suggest checking for the presence of irritant products. There are some cosmetic ingredients that do not suit well to all. Keep a check on ingredients you are allergic to.
If you are not sure about some product, then only a patch test is a wiser decision. Apply a small quantity of the product on some areas. If irritation persists; don’t use it again. If still unsure, you can apply it for more 1or 2 days, and analyze the results. Accordingly, decide if you want to use it or not.
What is active ingredient in cosmetics?
Active or Inactive:
Active and Inactive are terms which describe the presence of pharmaceutical drug as a cosmetic ingredient.
Here, Active is a term for any drug that is used in cosmetics for the purpose of its medicinal benefits. It means that it may do some changes to your skin like curing your acne as in case of acne creams, retinol ingredient in your anti-aging creams, etc. As per rules of FDA, if the cosmetic industry is using any drug as for medicinal purpose it needs to be described.
On the other hand, Inactive term is used for that pharmaceutical drug that is present as an ingredient in your cosmetics but not with the intend of doing any changes to your skin. In other words, inactive ingredients are beneficial but are not purposely present specifically to cure something medically.
Also, remember that an ingredient present may act as active in one and the same may occur as inactive in other. It all depends on the purpose of its use in that product. So, there is nothing to worry about it.
Quantity:
Another aspect to look for is the quantity or concentration of different ingredients that are available in your cosmetics. The quantity will tell you actually the concentration or amount of ingredients present.
If some drug or the ingredient is present in your cosmetics then before questioning or judging whether it’s good or bad alone by its name it is always a wise option to keep an eye on quantity also, as it will help to clear the picture of its use.