Active: Dimethicone . Inactive: Water ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is primarily an occlusive skin protectant and conditioning agent. It forms a breathable film that reduces water loss and improves slip, softness, and spreadability.
What does Active: Dimethicone . Inactive: Water do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is primarily an occlusive skin protectant and conditioning agent. It forms a breathable film that reduces water loss and improves slip, softness, and spreadability.
Is Active: Dimethicone . Inactive: Water clean?
From a clean-beauty perspective, it is low-irritation and generally well tolerated on skin. The friction comes from its synthetic polymer profile and frequent restriction by stricter clean standards due to persistence concerns.
Is Active: Dimethicone . Inactive: Water sustainable?
This material is synthetic, mineral-derived, and not readily biodegradable. It can persist in the environment, which is the main sustainability drawback rather than direct skin tolerance.
Is Active: Dimethicone . Inactive: Water COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic standards because it falls outside the allowed natural and nature-derived ingredient framework. Its low reactivity is favorable, but its synthetic origin and poor biodegradability are weak fits with Green Chemistry priorities.
How does Active: Dimethicone . Inactive: Water work chemically?
The molecule is a linear organosilicon polymer with a silicon-oxygen backbone and methyl side groups, which gives it high spreadability, water resistance, and low chemical reactivity. In skin-protectant products it is commonly used around 1 to 30%, is stable across normal cosmetic pH ranges, is water-insoluble, and usually needs emulsifiers or dispersion support in water-based formulas.
Last updated 2026-05-13