Hair care products have become more ingredient focused. Though this trend is quite positive from an awareness perspective, it is also essential to know that good hair care does not equate to the highest number of ingredients. Today’s consumers are label-savvy, research-driven, and looking for ingredients that target their needs.
Because of the rich tradition associated with them, multifunctional nature, and high demand for natural and tolerable actives among consumers, there have been many botanical ingredients that have become highly important in hair formulations. A longer ingredient list doesn’t necessarily make a formulation more effective. What really counts is the reason why this ingredient was chosen, what its function is, and how it interacts with the other ingredients present, shares By Dr. Panduranga K.R, Principal Scientist, Personal care R&D at Himalaya Wellness. However, the importance of a certain botanical ingredient is not only in its presence in formulations, but also in its proper compatibility with the particular hair/scalp problem. The real shift formulators want to see is consumers moving from counting ingredients to understanding them, connecting a specific concern such as hair fall, dryness, dandruff, or heat and colour damage to the ingredients that are actually formulated to address it.