I owe this month's post to my friend Patrice André, with whom we recently had a very interesting discussion, followed by an exchange on a rather particular aspect: the simplification of the form. So I suggest you discover the concept that was at the heart of our discussion: simplicity (contraction of simplicity and complexity).
To put it simply, simplexity is an art that does not consist in simplifying a complex product, but rather in making a priori simple a product which cannot be simplified under penalty of not fulfilling its function. This is man's way of trying to describe nature*. Nature is so complex that man cannot reproduce it. He believes that by making complicated, he brings added value and that he raises the energy level of his pitiful creations. But it's not worth anything!
The first time I heard of this term, it was about design where a real effort is made to improve comfort of use**. But this notion applies to many fields such as design, art (especially with artists like Constantin BrâncuÅŸi) or management*. Americans often use another term: KISS, for"keep it simple, stupid", to say that the simplest things are sometimes the most effective. To come back to cosmetics and the simplification of formulas, we can also use the term"simplexicity".
The complicated in cosmetics is to do worse with 50 ingredients than what could be done with a dozen or less. The"complicator", a new term for the formulator, thinks that the effects are additive and does not imagine that there …
