Silicone Quaternium-18 ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is primarily a hair-conditioning agent and antistatic film-former. It helps improve slip, combability, frizz control, and a smooth after-feel in shampoos, conditioners, and treatments.
What does Silicone Quaternium-18 do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is primarily a hair-conditioning agent and antistatic film-former. It helps improve slip, combability, frizz control, and a smooth after-feel in shampoos, conditioners, and treatments.
Is Silicone Quaternium-18 clean?
This ingredient has friction with many clean-beauty standards because it is a synthetic, persistent conditioning polymer with a cationic charge profile. It is generally used at low levels and is not a common sensitizer, but its environmental profile is the main concern.
Is Silicone Quaternium-18 sustainable?
This material is synthetic and relies on mineral-derived silicon chemistry plus petrochemical processing inputs. It is not readily biodegradable, and its polymeric structure can persist after rinse-off use.
Is Silicone Quaternium-18 COSMOS-approved?
This ingredient is not aligned with COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic standards, which generally do not permit synthetic organosilicon conditioning polymers. From a Green Chemistry perspective, it scores poorly on biodegradability and renewable feedstock criteria, despite being effective at low use levels.
How does Silicone Quaternium-18 work chemically?
The molecule is a cationic polymer built on a siloxane backbone with quaternary ammonium functionality, giving it strong affinity for negatively charged hair surfaces. It is typically used in rinse-off and leave-on hair systems at low active levels, often alongside nonionic surfactants or solubilizers to improve dispersion and deposition.
Last updated 2026-05-13