ABSTRACT
SUMMARY Although enormous amounts of time and money are spent on identifying the right drug or active ingredient to overcome skin ailments, relatively little effort is given to the design of the topical formulation in which that drug or active ingredient is ultimately applied on the skin. As a consequence, some or, in the worst case, all of the intrinsic activity of the active ingredient may be lost. Of course, this is not deliberate, but topical product developers are also people with certain habits, and it is only logical to use the same formulation base that was previously successful for that new drug, active ingredient, or cosmeceutical.
