Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Crosspolymer ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is a synthetic elastomer used as a texture modifier, film former, and sensory enhancer. It gives slip, cushion, soft-focus blurring, and a drier finish in primers, foundations, moisturizers, and sunscreens.
What does Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Crosspolymer do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is a synthetic elastomer used as a texture modifier, film former, and sensory enhancer. It gives slip, cushion, soft-focus blurring, and a drier finish in primers, foundations, moisturizers, and sunscreens.
Is Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Crosspolymer clean?
Clean-beauty frameworks often flag this ingredient because it is a synthetic, non-biodegradable polymer rather than a skin reactivity concern. It is typically well tolerated on skin, but its class can appear on restricted lists focused on environmental persistence and microplastic-style polymer criteria.
Is Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Crosspolymer sustainable?
This material is petrochemical and mineral-derived, with limited biodegradability and high environmental persistence. It is not a renewable feedstock ingredient, and end-of-life concerns are the main sustainability issue.
Is Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Crosspolymer COSMOS-approved?
This ingredient is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic standards. From a Green Chemistry perspective, it has low skin reactivity and strong functional efficiency, but poor biodegradability and non-renewable sourcing weigh against it.
How does Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Crosspolymer work chemically?
The molecule is a high-molecular-weight, crosslinked inorganic-organic polymer with a flexible Si-O backbone and methyl side groups, designed to swell in compatible nonpolar carriers rather than dissolve. It is generally used around 0.5% to 10% depending on the supplied gel form, is stable across normal cosmetic pH ranges, and is valued for inertness, volatility-free slip, and oil-phase thickening.
Last updated 2026-05-14