Naturally Derived Ingredients Help Keep Dow Corning Personal Care Products “Green”

As consumers become increasingly health and environmentally conscious, Dow Corning is using naturally derived ingredients with its silicones to provide innovative, eco-friendly alternatives for skin care, color cosmetics, hair care and underarm products.

“Consumers are more concerned for the environment and are seeking ‘green’ cosmetic products, which are less harmful to the environment, as well as being beneficial to skin and hair,” said Scott Fuson, vice president Specialty Chemicals, Life Sciences global industry executive director for Dow Corning.

Recently, Dow Corning introduced formulations that include soy wax as a replacement for traditional petroleum-based ingredients. The soy wax also provides formulation flexibility with the ability to customize the hardness of product formulations by adjusting concentration levels. When blended with silicones, which are well known for their multifunctional sensory properties, the result creates a smooth feel to skin care products and can add shine and control frizz when used in hair conditioners.

“Although petrolatum has a long history as a widely-used, low-cost ingredient in personal care products, future availability may be limited and costs will likely be higher,” said Fuson.

The company also recently introduced silicone organic elastomer blends that are compatible with a wide range of organic ingredients to provide dry smoothness and a silky, non-greasy skin feel. It has also introduced alkyl methyl silicone fluid that lowers the surface tension of organic oils, and can function as a co-stabilizer between silicone oils and organic oils to provide a light, silky, smooth feel.

“Formulating with oils can present aesthetic challenges, such as skin residue or a tacky greasy feel,” said Fuson. “But by developing techniques to improve their usability, it’s possible to create products with ingredients of natural origin that also meet consumer needs for high performance and pleasing sensory properties.”

For more information on Dow Corning products used in the cosmetic market please visit www.dowcorning.com/personalcare.

About Dow Corning

Dow Corning provides performance-enhancing solutions to serve the diverse needs of more than 25,000 customers worldwide. A global leader in silicones, silicon-based technology and innovation, Dow Corning offers more than 7,000 products and services via the company’s Dow Corning® and XIAMETER® brands. Dow Corning is a joint venture equally owned by The Dow Chemical Company and Corning, Incorporated. More than half of Dow Corning’s annual sales are outside the United States.