What is silicone oil?
Silicone oil is a general term for organosilicon fluids, which is synthesized and produced by reacting with CH3Cl, rectifying separation, hydrolysis, polymerization and other processes using monomer Si (metal silicon) as raw material.

It is mainly divided into two categories in terms of structure: one is linear polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS); the other is cyclic volatile methylsiloxane (VMS) with low molecular weight. Among them, linear polydimethylsiloxane is the most common, with the largest amount and widest application. Herein, when we refer to "silicone oil", we refer specifically to linear polydimethylsiloxane.

Because silicone oil has many excellent physical and chemical properties, such as odorless, colorless and transparent, good temperature stability, easy to spread, hydrophobic, easy to film, chemically inert, anti-UV radiation, defoaming, insulation, etc., it is widely used In home care products, medicine, pharmacy, food, textile, ink, paper, fermentation, coatings, printing and dyeing and wastewater treatment and other industries.

Application of Silicone Oil in Cosmetics
In the 1940s, the American company Revlon introduced a silicone oil-containing skin cream "Silicane skin lotion", which was the first time silicone oil was used in personal care products. Nowadays, silicone oil has been widely used in creams, lotions, make-up, antiperspirants, shampoos, conditioners, hair masks, lipsticks, shaving creams and other products. Adjusting, dispersing, defoaming, anticoagulation, etc.

Among them, hair care products and skin care products are the earliest and most widely used categories of silicone oils.

Hair care: Adding silicone oil to shampoo can effectively improve the combing performance of hair, reduce friction, reduce the possibility of (women) hair loss due to improper combing, and also reduce the adverse effects of anti-dandruff agents.

Skin care: In skin care products, the emollient effect of silicone oil is mainly achieved by forming a breathable oil film on the skin surface, which allows the evaporated water on the skin surface to pass through and prevents excessive skin moisture from evaporating.

The oil films formed by various silicone oils are water-repellent and do not significantly hinder the penetration of water vapor and air. At the same time, some studies have found that the membrane formed by silicone oil on the skin surface is not a closed, but a semi-permeable membrane, which is less irritating to the skin and will not cause acne. It can even be used for daily skin care of patients with sensitive skin such as acne.

Summarize
The unique molecular structure of silicone oil determines the excellent physical and chemical properties of this type of polymer. Over the decades, advances in synthesis, purification and characterization techniques have greatly promoted the application of silicone oils in the cosmetic industry.