Ingredient glossary
Dimethicone Crosspolymer
On your shelf ✓What Dimethicone Crosspolymer does for your skin, who it suits, and what to watch for.
INCI: Dimethicone Crosspolymer
In short: Dimethicone Crosspolymer delivers texture and film forming, plays a broad, supporting role, and the evidence behind it is strong.
- What it does
- Texture, film forming
- Best for
- A broad, supporting role
- Evidence
- Strong
- How long
- Straight away
What it actually is
The Glow take
A comfort ingredient, and none the worse for it.
Dimethicone Crosspolymer is here for feel and moisture, softening the skin and slowing water loss. More comfort than correction.
— Maya
What it does
- texture
- film forming
- viscosity control
strong evidenceCovered by the same 2014 CIR review of the dimethicone crosspolymer family, which found the group safe as used; the crosslinked network is too large to penetrate skin and patch testing in the family showed no sensitization.
Who it's for, and who should skip it
Tends to suit
No specific skin type. It is a broadly used ingredient.
Approach with care
No specific group flagged to avoid it.
- Clogs poresLow
- Irritation riskLow
How it fits each skin type
- DryNeutral
- CombinationNeutral
- OilyNeutral
- SensitiveNeutral
Where it fits in your routine
This one works on contact — there is nothing to wait for.
What that covers, and what it does not
Measured on: optical softening of surface texture and sebum pickup, present as the film sets.
Same crosslinked elastomer chemistry as the vinyl grade and the same reason for the bucket: swollen silicone particles scatter light and absorb surface oil on contact, with no biological step in between. Covered by the same 2014 CIR review, which found the family safe as used and the network too large to penetrate skin. No trial measures the blur or the oil pickup, so this rests on physics, and like any surface film it is undone by washing.
Mechanism, plus the base row's surface-only framing; CIR 2014 dimethicone crosspolymer family review (safety only).
Plays well with
- emulsifiers
- film formers
Dimethicone Crosspolymer, answered
Is Dimethicone Crosspolymer safe during pregnancy?
Yes. Dimethicone Crosspolymer is considered safe to use during pregnancy and breastfeeding. As with anything, if you are unsure it is worth a quick word with your doctor or midwife.
Who should avoid Dimethicone Crosspolymer?
No specific group is flagged to avoid Dimethicone Crosspolymer. It is well tolerated by most skin. Still, introduce anything new one product at a time.
What concentration of Dimethicone Crosspolymer actually works?
Its concentration is rarely printed on the label, so use the ingredient list as your clue: near the top third it is likely doing real work, near the bottom it is more of a sprinkle.
This, for every label you own
One ingredient is easy. A full label is where it gets confusing. The Ingredient Decoder reads any product and tells you the honest truth, ingredient by ingredient.
Sources & how we reviewed this
- PMID 24861370abstract only, the full text is paywalled