It isn’t the pretty packaging that makes a beauty product so good, it’s what lies inside. Your favourite tubes and bottles house goopy, runny formulas. Most of them are filled with the usual moisturisers, oils and binding agents that take second place to the star ingredients that products are best known for. These are seven of those ingredients that are make products more effective with a wide range of benefits.

1. Lemon

Without lemon, our list would be incomplete. Almost every brand has a product or range that’s enriched with the magic of lemon, whether it be in face scrubs or daily lotions. Lemon is filled with Vitamin C and acetic acid, which are excellent lightening agents. Plus, its citrus fragrance is always a bonus in any product.

2. Argan Oil

We all know that argan oil is much-loved for the tresses but did you know that it is also popular in makeup and skin care products too? Micellar water and serums often contain a blend of oils including the Moroccan favourite which, is an excellent nourishing agent. Besides that, entire lipstick ranges are made with Argan oil to give the puckers a moisturised base along with colour.

3. Charcoal

You may think that black powdery charcoal is the last thing you’d find in a beauty product but that was proved false during the past year. From sheet masks with activated charcoal to toothpastes with it, the ingredient grew massively in popularity because of its apparent ability to pull out toxins and dirt from the skin and brighten the teeth.

4. Haldi

Before you shrug off haldi as just another ingredient your grandmother loved, you might want to think again. Haldi has found fame in the beauty world, especially in Ayurvedic products. You will find it in night creams, face washes and scrubs because of how it brightens and disinfects the skin without bleeding one’s wallet dry.

5. Honey

Honey isn’t just for your kitchen shelf anymore. Along with being stirred into milk and added to desserts, the beauty benefits of honey have made it a winner in the skincare sphere. Honey is known to be an excellent healer as well as a humectant, which encourages skin moisturisation. In fact, it is so beloved that people have even taken to replacing their face wash with it. Believe it!

6. Vitamin A

If there is only one vitamin that you could pick from them all, make sure it’s Vitamin A. This star performer has been shining for years in beauty. It is known not just for promoting good eyesight, but also for repairing skin damage as well as slowing down signs of ageing. The popular ingredient retinol is also a member of the Vitamin A family so you can see where it gets its popularity from.

7. Clay

Now here’s one ingredient that oily-skinned girls everywhere are eternally grateful for. Clay comes in many forms, from the globally famous Aztec clay to Australian pink clay to volcanic clay. All of their benefits are more or less the same – controlling oil, absorbing excess of it and removing debris. No wonder clay masks are so popular for those Saturday nights in.