Ingredient glossary
Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer
On your shelf ✓What Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer does for your skin, who it suits, and what to watch for.
INCI: Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer
In short: Vinyl 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.
Vinyl 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 evidenceThe CIR panel reviewed the dimethicone crosspolymer family in 2014 and found it safe as used; a facial lotion with 1 percent was not sensitizing in a 107 subject patch test, and the polymer is too large to penetrate skin. Reported leave-on use spans from well under 1 percent to tens of percent in silicone gels.
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.
The crosslinked elastomer particles sit on the surface, scatter incident light diffusely and take surface oil up into the swollen network, so the blur and the mattifying are physical facts of application rather than anything being remodelled — the base's own framing is that it stays on the surface and does not treat skin, and the CIR 2014 review notes the polymer is too large to penetrate. This is a physics call, not a measured one: there is no instrumented trial of the blur, and the effect ends when the film is washed off.
Mechanism, plus the base row's surface-only framing; CIR 2014 dimethicone crosspolymer family review (safety and non-penetration, no efficacy timing).
Plays well with
- emulsifiers
- film formers
Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, answered
Is Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer safe during pregnancy?
Yes. Vinyl 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 Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer?
No specific group is flagged to avoid Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer. It is well tolerated by most skin. Still, introduce anything new one product at a time.
What concentration of Vinyl 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