Everything you need to know about SILICONES

For a makeup artist and just any girl, it is very important to know the truth and only the truth about silicones. This will help you choose the right cosmetics and advise clients.

We have collected the best expert information about Silicones!

Remember: knowledge is power!

So, myths and truth about silicones

Warning - this is a long read, but it's worth it!

First, let's figure out why there are horror stories and a bad reputation for silicone

Silicones' bad reputation starts with the fact that their production is an environmentally dirty process.

“Silicon free” began to be written on organic or natural cosmetics to emphasize the ethical and natural origin of the product. Silicone itself is sand, silicon, which has been well processed and turned into another molecule by molecular rearrangement. It can be powder, liquid, etc.

Silicones themselves are completely inert substances, otherwise we would not have had silicone implants.

The dislike for silicones began with hair products. It is impossible to make good professional hair cosmetics without silicone. Procedures in the salon are always accompanied by damage to the hair, to one degree or another, so silicones are needed: they provide thermal protection and that decorative shine that the salon client so wants to get. But silicones also have “the other side of the coin”: they accumulate on the hair, causing oiliness and the desire to wash your hair every day. In addition, they attract heavy metals from the atmosphere, which is harmful to the hair roots. But this in no way means that silicone in itself is bad, you just need to be able to handle it correctly: wash your hair, change the balms that are used, remove them from your hair.

Silicones do neither harm nor benefit to the skin. But the entire background from ecology and their effect on hair was transferred to the skin, as a result of which people began to be afraid of silicones in cosmetics.

Let us repeat: silicones are absolutely inert, that is, neutral, they do not harm the skin, but also do not care for it.

Therefore, silicones in cosmetics are an absolutely normal and even desirable ingredient.

MYTH 1. Silicones dehydrate the skin, cause allergies, prevent the skin from breathing and can cause cancer.

REALITY . All of the above is untrue and even absurd. Silicone cannot cause allergies due to its inert nature. It cannot clog pores and prevent them from breathing. And there’s nothing to even comment about cancer – it’s completely absurd. Let's figure it out one by one.

Let's start with hydration. Silicones can be conditionally interpreted as moisturizers. Humidifiers are a group, and there are four types. Silicones belong to emollients - substances that give smoothness, fill the gaps between cells when lipid layers are damaged, thereby restoring the hydrolipid mass.

Silicones can be compared to vegetable oil. But the difference is that the silicone film on the skin is very thin, it is roughly equal to two nanometers, and the thickness of the film made from vegetable oils is ten times greater, about 20 nanometers. Therefore, we feel any vegetable oil on the skin as a greasy film. And we feel silicone like a light, barely perceptible film-veil.

For some reason they say that silicones dehydrate. It's the other way around, because... Many silicones are moisturizing. It is possible that a particular product lacks other moisturizing ingredients. There may be a lack of hyaluronic acid or some other moisturizers, such as amino acids. Or elements such as humectants - these are softeners-humidifiers. For example, urea, urea (by the way, an element present in our skin).

Silicone is only one of the components of cosmetics. If you give your skin only silicone and nothing else, it will be dehydrated due to poor nutrition. And the reason should be sought not in silicone, but in the incorrectly selected composition of the product.

MYTH 2. Silicones clog pores

REALITY. Silicones remain exclusively on the surface of the skin, without penetrating into the pores. For example: you applied shadows to the skin, then scratched it and everything fell off. The same thing happens with silicone: you applied it, rubbed it - and everything went away. Silicones are just a temporary veil on the face. It does not create occlusion.

What is occlusion? Occlusion is something that lies on the skin like a barrier film, preventing its respiration, gas exchange and oxygen penetration. As a result, the cells literally suffocate, and there is no spreading (lipids should flow out of the pores and spread over the skin, creating a natural, wax-like film).

The occlusive film creates a viscous substance on the skin that prevents sebum from evacuating from our sebaceous ducts, and it remains in the pores, creating plugs. And if the skin is young, its cells divide very quickly, and as a result, a conglomerate of sebum “stuck” in the cells along with cellular proteins and lipids is formed, and all this “garbage” is transformed into comedones.

Silicone does NOT create an occlusive film.

Here's some interesting information: In the mid-20th century, Down Corning, a company based in Denmark, made a lot of money by developing silicone wound films for severe skin burns. Such wounds must be closed, and previously this was done with bandages (patients looked like mummies). In order for the skin to regenerate and leave less scarring, doctors needed to keep the skin hydrated and sterile, changing bandages frequently. And this is a very painful procedure for the patient!

And the Down Corning company learned to produce silicone films so thin that they were applied to the wound like a second skin. This film retains moisture and allows the skin to breathe. In this case, the settlement of bacteria is excluded, good healing occurs and no scars remain. And all thanks to silicone!

Functions of silicone in decorative cosmetics.

The foundation uses volatile silicones (cyclopentaxyloxanes, cyclomethicone and others, which “fly away” within a minute) to carry the pigment and evaporate, leaving the pigment. There are silicone lubricants such as dimethicones. They are like sebum, a kind of lubricant that helps glide. By the way, vaginal lubricants are made with dimethicanol silicone. Now it’s clear how safe they are?

MYTH 3. Silicones are used only by cheap brands. Expensive brands use only natural oils

REALITY . All good brands are silicone based. Luxury ones are not based on simple silicones, but on more complex technological silicones, which, accordingly, creates a difference in price.

Cheap decorative cosmetics, cheap foundation are made with cheap mineral and paraffin oil, such as uanoline, paraffin, paraffin lipid, mesoparaffin, mineral oil. They are all occlusive.

Vegetable oils can also be occlusives. Soybean oil and avocado oil create almost the same occlusion as paraffin. Vegetable oils, especially if they are butters, shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut – this is also an occlusion, which is not good for the face. Still ok for dry skin, but not for every day. And for young and combination skin this is very harmful.

All these oils are occlusive, which means they cause clogged pores. And cheap decorative cosmetics, which may say “silicone free,” contain precisely these oils.

And let’s finally clarify the price: mineral or vegetable oils are cheap ingredients. The price difference can be 20, 30 or more times compared to silicones. For example, tails made of amino acids are “sewn” onto more technologically advanced silicones so that the silicone adheres better to the surface of the skin and performs the “soft focus” function, i.e. we visually fill the wrinkle and it is less visible (this is very cool!), but such silicones cost 100, 130 euros per kg. Mineral oil costs 3 euros.

MYTH 4. Silicone cosmetics are very difficult to wash off and can cause skin aging

REALITY . If we are talking about waterproof cosmetics, silicone rubber can be added here. It's a silicone wax that doesn't allow the pigments to wash off easily with water like you would with beeswax. Only silicone is a thin film, it is not felt, and beeswax gives the feeling of a heavy mask on the face. Waterproof cosmetics should be washed off with products that say “for removing waterproof cosmetics”, because... they include a larger percentage of anionic pubs. In ordinary washbasins, not intended for waterproof cosmetics, there are fewer of these components.

Regarding the fact that silicones remain on the skin and spoil it. Silicones do not damage the skin - often it is the pigments of decorative cosmetics that harm it. There are three main allergens or allergy factors that can affect the skin:

- dyes;

- fragrances;

- preservatives.

Dyes may contain heavy metals. Decorative cosmetics pigments are always metal oxides. Remaining on the skin, and even in layers, they cause redness, allergies, and an increased reaction of the immune system. It is not the silicone that needs to be washed off, but the pigment. And all girls should talk about this!

We remind you: silicone is a completely inert element, therefore, it cannot cause allergies or cell aging processes.

So, let’s draw conclusions, dear girls. Silicones are an absolutely safe and desirable ingredient in decorative cosmetics.

Choose cosmetics consciously, taking care of your health and beauty!

We really want this material to help you make the right choice!

This material was prepared for you with great love by the Cinecitta brand together with Yulia Gagarina !

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