PEG/PPG-17/18 Dimethicone ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is an amphiphilic emulsifier and surface modifier that helps combine water with oils, pigments, and volatile carriers. It also adds slip, spreadability, and light conditioning in skin care, makeup, hair care, and sunscreen systems.
What does PEG/PPG-17/18 Dimethicone do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is an amphiphilic emulsifier and surface modifier that helps combine water with oils, pigments, and volatile carriers. It also adds slip, spreadability, and light conditioning in skin care, makeup, hair care, and sunscreen systems.
Is PEG/PPG-17/18 Dimethicone clean?
This ingredient has low direct irritation potential for most users, but stricter clean frameworks often flag it because it is fully synthetic and can carry trace residues from ethoxylated or propoxylated processing if purification is weak. It may also raise clean-standard friction because related cyclic impurities are restricted in some regions and the material does not fit natural-derived definitions.
Is PEG/PPG-17/18 Dimethicone sustainable?
This material is made from petrochemical-derived and mineral-derived inputs rather than renewable feedstocks. It is not readily biodegradable and may persist in wastewater solids or sediments, which weighs against strong environmental alignment.
Is PEG/PPG-17/18 Dimethicone COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted in COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic formulas because the structure and manufacturing route do not meet allowed natural-derived chemistry criteria. From a Green Chemistry lens, it scores weakly on renewable sourcing and biodegradability, though its low use levels and low reactivity are practical formulation advantages.
How does PEG/PPG-17/18 Dimethicone work chemically?
The molecule is an amphiphilic comb copolymer, with hydrophilic ethoxylated and propoxylated segments grafted to a hydrophobic silicon-oxygen backbone, which lets it lower interfacial tension between water, oils, pigments, and volatile carriers. It is commonly used around 0.5% to 5% as an emulsifier, dispersant, slip agent, or foam modifier, and it is stable across typical cosmetic pH ranges but less suited to strongly acidic or strongly alkaline systems.
Last updated 2026-05-13