Inactive: Dimethicone ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is primarily a conditioning film-former and skin protectant that adds slip, reduces tack, and helps limit water loss from the skin surface. It can also improve spreadability and reduce foaming in emulsions and anhydrous formulas.
What does Inactive: Dimethicone do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is primarily a conditioning film-former and skin protectant that adds slip, reduces tack, and helps limit water loss from the skin surface. It can also improve spreadability and reduce foaming in emulsions and anhydrous formulas.
Is Inactive: Dimethicone clean?
This ingredient is generally well tolerated on skin and has low sensitization potential, but it has clean-standard friction because many frameworks flag non-biodegradable synthetic polymers. Its concern profile is more environmental and standards-based than irritation-based.
Is Inactive: Dimethicone sustainable?
This material is synthetic and relies on mineral and petrochemical inputs rather than renewable feedstocks. It is not readily biodegradable and can persist in aquatic and sediment environments after rinse-off use.
Is Inactive: Dimethicone COSMOS-approved?
This ingredient is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic standards. From a Green Chemistry perspective, it scores poorly on renewable sourcing and end-of-life biodegradability, despite being chemically stable and low-reactivity in formulas.
How does Inactive: Dimethicone work chemically?
The molecule is a hydrophobic, methyl-substituted siloxane polymer with variable chain length, which controls viscosity from light fluids to thicker gums. Typical use ranges from about 0.5% to 5% in lotions and hair care, with higher levels in primers and barrier-style products, and it is broadly stable across cosmetic pH ranges, heat, and oxidation.
Last updated 2026-08-19