Silica ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is used as an absorbent, anti-caking agent, opacifier, texture modifier, and mild abrasive. It helps control oil, improve slip, reduce tack, and add structure in powders, creams, toothpastes, and gels.
What does Silica do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is used as an absorbent, anti-caking agent, opacifier, texture modifier, and mild abrasive. It helps control oil, improve slip, reduce tack, and add structure in powders, creams, toothpastes, and gels.
Is Silica clean?
This material is generally well accepted in clean-beauty frameworks because it is inert on skin and has low irritation potential. The main quality consideration is particle size and control of respirable dust or crystalline mineral impurities in loose powders and aerosols.
Is Silica sustainable?
This ingredient is mineral-derived and abundant, with sustainability impacts mainly tied to mining, purification, and energy use during processing. It is not biodegradable in the organic-chemistry sense, but it is environmentally inert and does not raise typical persistence or bioaccumulation concerns.
Is Silica COSMOS-approved?
It is permitted in COSMOS-natural and COSMOS-organic products when it meets mineral-origin and processing requirements, though it does not contribute to organic agricultural content. From a Green Chemistry view, it scores well for inertness and low reactivity, with a more neutral profile on renewability because it comes from mineral feedstocks.
How does Silica work chemically?
The molecule forms an insoluble three-dimensional network of Si and O atoms, usually supplied as amorphous particles with surface silanol groups that adsorb water and oil. Typical use ranges are about 0.5 to 10% for texture and absorbency, while abrasive oral-care systems can use much higher levels, and it remains stable across normal cosmetic pH ranges.
Last updated 2026-05-13