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There has been an increasing number of ingredients claiming to offer an alternative to silicones in formulations. While they undoubtedly offer some excellent attributes there is still debate as to whether any ingredient can truly match silicones in terms of sensory quality. Walking around a trade show, it will be possible to hear heartfelt, genuine arguments on both sides of the debate.

What is not debatable is the fact silicones really can deliver a wide range of high quality aesthetics as well as an enormous number of other important attributes to all areas of personal care.

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Following is a selection of some of the latest silicone ingredients available on the market.

Silicone ingredients

Dow has recently globally launched Dowsil EP-9610 Cosmetic Powder. Formulators will benefit from processing ease for a wide range of colour and skin care product applications and deliver against consumer demands for silky, smooth aesthetics, sebum control and a matte finish.

Key ingredient benefits include: Easy processing due to low agglomeration properties, spherical silicone shape and low hardness level to deliver smoother spreadability and less clumping. Dowsil EP-9610 Cosmetic Powder can also be added directly to oil-phase ingredients without premixing in another fluid.

Control of texture variation and viscosity through powder dosage is another benefit. Dowsil EP-9610 Cosmetic Powder gives formulators the choice of thickening or changing the texture of their creation. Reduced risk during the formulation process with less projection hazards than other powder materials.

It offers versatility to create products across a variety of applications and textures such as loose and compact powders, oils, solid, gel/paste or liquid form. Potential applications include skin, colour, sun, hair care, and antiperspirant categories.

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The majority of today’s cosmetics contain silicone elastomer powders and gels due to their positive sensory attributes. While the powder appeals to formulators for its easy processing and application versatility, Dowsil EP-9610 Cosmetic Powder also provides ultimate beauty benefits that consumers seek such as an optimal sensory experience and matte finish.

Consumers desire soft and silky skin care and cosmetic products that absorb oil without clumping or tackiness. The formula gives the final product a velvety and bouncy feel with moderate sebum control and optical blurring effects.

In a constantly moving and sophisticated market, manufacturers need specific formulations to create softer and smoother textures, new colours and new sensations that are safe, convenient, effective, and feel good.

Elkemhave been developing and producing their full-range line of Mirasil silicone chemistries since 1995 to serve this specialist segment. Elkem experts in laboratories and production centres on four continents track trends and work closely with international and local manufacturers to produce cost-effective, safe, high-quality, high-purity and easy-to-use silicone products that deliver the features they are looking for.

Elkem’s Mirasil line of silicones are used to condition and protect hair, to provide a soft and silky touch for skin care and sun creams, a soft and dry feel for deodorants and uniform coverage and colour for cosmetics.

Mirasil silicones are used in a wide range of care and cosmetic applications to offer performance and comfort to consumers: For hair care, they are used in shampoos and conditioners to protect and repair, enhance gloss and body, reduce frizz and preserve colour. In skin care, they provide a soft and silky emolliency, while being breathable but water repellent in sun-screens and boosting SPF. In antiperspirants and deodorants, they are easy to spread, feel warm and dry on the skin and provide anti-whitening protection. In cosmetics, they spread easily and evenly with a silky and powdery feel on the skin while enriching colours and they are safe to use even on the most delicate skin.

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Included in the range is Mirasil Balance, an alkyl and polyether modified polysiloxane which is used as an excellent water-in- oil emulsifier for skin creams, lotions and foundations. The copolyol acts as the hydrophilic, the alkyl offers the hydrophobicity and the silicone offers a pleasant light and silky feel to the W/O or W/Si emulsions.

Also available is Mirasil PEG 12 DM, a water soluble polyether modified polysiloxane used as emollient for personal care. In addition this product may be used as foam booster, emulsifier, plasticising agent and wetting agent for personal care products.

There is a silky feel offered by Momentive’s multifunctional silicone gels, microspheres, and boron nitride powders that can be difficult to achieve using other materials. In creams and lotions, the “wow” factor can be right there on your fingertips. These silicone products can deliver instant anti-ageing effects, new textures, and aesthetics as well as improved moisturisation and hydration, greater oil absorption and control.

Momentive’s Velvesil E-Gel PMF emulsion can help meet a growing market need for water-based formulations that provide the sensory experience of an oilbased formula—namely that smooth, cushioning feel.

The silicone elastomer gel swells in the water phase of cosmetic formulations resulting in a refractive index close to that of skin. With this soft-focus technology, your cosmetic can optically blur wrinkles and smooth the texture and appearance of skin—leaving a luxurious sensory skin experience.

Also available is Silsoft E-Pearl emulsion, a patent-pending, non-ionic emulsion of polymethylsilsesquioxane powder, high molecular weight dimethicone and an alkylfunctionalised polysiloxane.

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Silsoft E-Pearl emulsion is a multifunctional ingredient that has application in all kinds of skin care products; from facial masks to body washes and sun care products. It provides excellent sensory, moist feel, line blurring and skin lightening benefits. Silsoft E-Pearl emulsion’s multi-functionality is the result of the unique combination of its ingredients.

Silsoft E-Pearl emulsion is easy to use. It can even be post-added to existing formulations. Silsoft E-Pearl emulsion enables the formulator to give excellent sensory to skin care products with high water content, even when the product contains more than 90% water.

Schill+Seilacheris able to offer and produce customised products for a wide range of applications. The use of silicones as fluids, emulsions, dispersions and compounds offers efficient solutions, helping to minimise the use of chemical substances.

Cutomised products provided by Schill+Seilacher’s Struktol brand include silicone waxes, which boost the light protective effect of formulations and offer very good solubility in cosmetic oils and waxes. Silicone waxes also enhance the brilliance, gloss, feeling and softness of formulations they are included in and are ideal for sunscreen, emulsion, makeup, and hair conditioner applications.

With Schill+Seilacher’s polyether modified silicones, methyl groups are substituted by PEG or PPG units. The properties of these products can vary from hydrophilic to lipophilic. Polyether modified silicones offer significant improvement of foam structure alongside skin-softening qualities. They can be used as a plasticiser for hair styling formulations and can also reduce the surface tension and formation of micelles. These properties make them ideal for shampoos, shower products, and shaving products.

Wackerlaunched their Belsil eco range at incosmetics in Amsterdam. The designation “eco” means that the company only uses renewable raw materials and silicon in the production of its silicone fluids for cosmetic applications known by the Belsil brand. Belsil eco products have a more favourable carbon balance than silicone fluids produced using petroleum-derived methanol.

The Belsil eco range currently comprises six silicone fluids. They are linear, unmodified polydimethylsiloxanes (dimethicones), which are distinguished by their low surface tension and good spreading properties. These products cover a particularly crucial viscosity range in cosmetics between 5 and 60,000 centistokes (mm2/s) and are therefore suitable for the formulation of moisturising creams, lotions, sunscreens, shampoos, conditioners and other cosmetic preparations.

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For every Belsil eco product there also exists a silicone fluid based on petroleumderived methanol. Chemically speaking, both products have the same raw material base. This means that there is no problem in replacing conventional silicone fluids with their corresponding Belsil eco products. Technical modifications or recipe or formulation adjustments are not required.

As biomethanol is exclusively made from renewable raw materials, the carbon balance of Belsil eco products is more favourable than that of petroleum-based silicone fluids. According to Wacker’s calculations, around 1.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide can be saved per metric ton of biobased silicone fluid.

Wacker uses both petroleum-derived methanol and biomethanol. A certified mass balance procedure helps to calculate and determine the share of products sourced from biomethanol. As a result, Wacker can ensure that all Belsil eco products are manufactured from 100 percent plant-based and therefore resource saving raw materials. The procedure is certified according to the TÜV SÜD Standard CMS 71 and is checked every year by external evaluators.