ADDITIVES IN BEAUTY INDUSTRY
ACTIVATED CHARCOAL ISN’T
THE ONLY BIZARRE INGREDIENT TO HAVE BECOME A FAD IN THE BEAUTY
INDUSTRY; WE LOOK ATSOME UNUSUAL AND EVEN STRANGE ADDITIVES
In a report published by
online journal Medical Daily, experts feel the popularity may just be
a bandwagon effect, but a beauty company has claimed that activated
charcoal can absorb “100-200 times its weight in impurities”
A follow-up report by NY
Daily News even quotes a dermatologist, Craig Kaffert, as suggesting
that the products’ success despite lack of scientific proof is down
to human fascination for the strange. “Using a pitch-black product
to purify the skin sounds both intriguing and cool… the uniqueness
of the ingredient itself, especially its colour, is likely the main
driver behind the recent surge in popularity of activated charcoal
facial cleansers and masks,” he says.
Whether or not the
positive properties of activated charcoal are proved in the time to
come, here’s a list of some unusual beauty ingredients that
definitely have a host of benefits.
AMBERGRIS
Chances are you’ve read
this term on high-end perfume labels and not given it a second tho
thought. It’s a fancy word, albeit, for whale faeces. Ambergris is
valuable because it enables the scent to last a lot longer. Of late,
however, perfumers have been looking for cheaper and natural
ingredients to replace it.
CACARMINE
It sounds like just
another element. Creams, shampoos, gels, face packs and bath salts —
they all have been making use of these algae because of their rich
blend of minerals and vitamins. Seaweed is very effective as a
moisturiser, and it soothes the skin. In massage creams, it is used
to restore the skin’s elasticity and suppleness. While in all these
uses, the seaweed is frozen and then crushed into a fine green paste
to be added to products, it can also be ground or powdered. The
latter method is used when making soaps, creams, sprays and powders.
It is always used in limited quantities.
FERROUS OXIDE
CRYSTALLINE GUANINE in
lipsticks to make them smooth and easily spreadable by helping fend
off free radicals.
Green coffee bean extract
has astringent from the periodic table, but it’s actually the term
used for cochineal beetles, which impart a bright red hue to
lipsticks and hair dyes. The beetles are crushed after soaking in hot
water and dried. Writing the scientific name definitely helps here,
because if your bottle of calamine lotion reads ‘rust’, chances
are that you won’t buy it. It is also used as a pigment in
pink-coloured cosmetics, and may be listed as ‘pigment brown 6’
or ‘pigment red 101’.The material, obtained from fish scales or
even bird droppings, gives a shimmer or pearly effect. You will find
it in items like eyeshadow and nail polish. In countries like Japan,
facial treatments that use droppings from nightingales are popular
because they impart a clear, bright skin tone.
BULL SEMEN
As disgusting as it
sounds, high-end salons in UK will describe this ingredient as
‘Viagra for hair’. Apparently, it has high protein content, and
is used mixed with a plant called Katera. It isgreat for dry and
damaged hair.
CACTUS
Who knew the prickly plant
would offer so many benefits? Cactus flowers are known to have strong
antioxidant properties that prevent fine lines and wrinkles. They
also help to maintain natural moisture of the skin. Expect to see
them in moisturisers, face washes, body butters and even lip balm.
HT140820
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