Silicone Polymers in Skin Care
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components determine which surfactant property is obtained, but surface tension reduction is always a prerequisite.
Wetting, or Solubility, and the Concept of Group Opposites
in Skin Care
Anthony J. O’Lenick Jr. and Kevin A. O’Lenick Abstract Silicone polymers have become increasingly important as ingredients in skin care products, and the trend has accelerated over the last decade. While silicone compounds have existed since the 1860s, their increasing popularity in recent years is due in large part to a better understanding of their unique functions. This increased understanding of the properties of silicone, coupled with an increased ability of the silicone chemist to modify compounds, has resulted in more effective utilization of these materials in skin care formulations. Silicone polymers bring to formulations a phase that is soluble neither in oil nor in water. They are third-phase ingredients that when properly chosen can provide to formulations properties including surface-tension reduction, wetting, and emulsification.
Cosmetic Products: Overview Much of what the cosmetic chemist is concerned with in formulating cosmetic products is the balance between oil and water. Skin, hair, and nails are substrates that, while not living systems per se, are profoundly affected by the living organism to which they are attached. They are likewise profoundly affected by external environmental conditions. The cosmetic acceptability of hair, skin, and nails is a fashion-related factor that changes often over a short period of time. In short, almost everything we do to our hair, skin, and nails revolves around regulating the oil and water balance to effect some cosmetic benefit. The fundamental differences in the nature of oil and water when applied to substrates associated with living systems are profoundly important. The ability of polar and nonpolar materials to align themselves in certain biologically important molecules results in cell membranes and are essential for life.
Silicone Compounds in Skin Care Products Silicone compounds have become increasingly important in skin care products because of the unique properties they possess. While silicone compounds have existed since the 1860s, their increasing popularity in recent years is due in large part to a better understanding of their unique functions. These include surface-
tension reduction; wetting, or solubility; and emulsification.
Surface-Tension Reduction Silicone compounds are interesting materials for use in skin care formulations, because they possess properties that make them so different from either oils or water. One of these properties is their ability to reduce surface tension (see Table I). Silicone compounds have a surface tension of ~20 dynes/cm2, compared with oil, ~32 dynes/cm2, and water, 76 dynes/ cm2. The ability to reduce surface tension is a necessary first step to provide other surface-active properties like foaming, emulsification, and wetting. The exact structure of the surfactant and the balance between the water-soluble and oil-sol
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