The Science Bit | Active Ingredients

We all hear skincare gurus harp on about active ingredients - we've even got the habit of doing it ourselves now: within normal beauty conversation I hear myself uttering the words "active ingredients" numerous times. But what is an active ingredient - do any of use really know? And why oh why are they so important? Well, why don't we take a closer look.

Let's look at a definition: An active ingredient is the substance in a pharmaceutical drug that is biologically active. Some products may contain more than one active ingredient. The traditional word for the API is pharmacon or pharmakon (from Greek: (φάρμακον), adapted from pharmacos) which originally denoted a magical substance or drug. Active ingredients are the substances that directly affect changes in your skin. A good skin care product should contain at least one active ingredient in an effective concentration. Active ingredients can work as antioxidants, moisturizers, exfoliants, and treatments for photoaging (sun-damaged skin), rosacea, acne, and other skin concerns.

Put simply, an active ingredient is the ingredient within a product that give a direct effect on your skin. Whether is it Glycolic Acid, Niacinamide, or even our very own Syn-ake, it is not just the ingredient that counts, but the concentrations at which it is included within a formulation - just because an active ingredient is included within a products, it does not mean that the concentration is high enough to directly affect the skin. Here at skinChemists we truly believe that including ingredients in the highest strength we can in a product not only gives better results, but give you better value for money, and your products will last longer as you are using less. In the case of our Wrinkle Killer Snake Serum, the Syn-ake that relaxes muscle constriction, is included at the highest percentage on the market, at 4%. This gives us the edge over leading competitors, and more importantly, gives us better results!

So there we have a little look into the world of active ingredients - I hope you now have a better understanding of what you are putting on your skin!

Much love, the sC Team x