Ingredient
BIS-C16-18 ALKYL GLYCERYL UNDECYL DIMETHICONE
Substance information
"Alkyl" describes a mixture of alkanols. Alkanols are alcohols which are derived from saturated hydrocarbons. The preceding numbers "C x-y" specify the range of the alkyl (hydrocarbon) chain lengths. This ingredient contains glycerol as alcohol component in esters or condensed with other (poly) alcohols or sugars. "Undecyl" mostly refers to undecanol (undecyl alcohol) as alcoholic component or generally a hydrocarbon chain moiety with 11 carbon atoms. Ingredient on the basis of poly(di)methyl siloxane ("dimethicone").
Function(s) of this ingredient in cosmetic products
EMULSION STABILISING
Supports emulsion formation and improves product stability
FILM FORMING
Produces a continuous film on skin, hair and / or nails
SURFACTANT - CLEANSING
Surface-active agent to clean skin, hair and / or teeth
Background information on use in cosmetics
Silicones, chemically more precisely poly(organo)siloxanes, is a designation for a group of synthetic polymers in which silicone atoms are connected through oxygen atoms. The volatility and viscosity are determined by the chain length. The silicones include various compounds which contain as a characteristic functional group a polyorganosiloxane. Important classes are: dimethylpolysiloxanes, phenylmethyl polysiloxanes, cyclic methylsiloxanes and siloxanes modified with alkyl groups or PEG (polyethylene glycol). Silicones are water insoluble and have a low surface tension. The low surface tension is the reason for their good spreading quality; they constitute protective films on the skin which are vapor-permeable. They have no comedogenic effect and are particularly well tolerated on skin. Because of their favourable technological and cosmetic properties they are used rather frequently in cosmetics and serve for the improvement of care properties in skin and haircare products. Surfactants are so-called detergent substances and have a major significance in cosmetics for the cleansing of the skin and hair. Surfactants are substances which, based on their molecular structure, are able to reduce the surface tension of a liquid. In this way it is possible that two actually not mixable substances, such as oil and water, can be finely mixed. Because of their properties, surfactants have manifold uses in cosmetics: they can cleanse, produce foam and act as emulsifiers and mix substances with one another. In shampoos, shower gels and soaps, surfactants are, for instance, used to wash fat and soil particles with water off from the body. Surfactants are also used in toothpaste. Here they promote during tooth cleaning the rapid and full dissolution and distribution of the paste in the mouth. The surfactants used in cosmetic products are primarily produced synthetically on the basis of vegetable raw materials. Surfactants are often used in combination to equally meet all desired requirements – like dissolution of soil and formation of foam in combination with a good skin tolerance – in the best possible manner. Through a skilled combination of a surfactant – viewed on its own – with unfavourable skin tolerance but a very good soil removal property with a very mild, skin protecting surfactant altogether a product with good cleansing properties and the same good skin tolerances is obtained.
Belongs to the following substance groups
Regulating cosmetics
Cosmetics Ingredients are subject to regulation. Please note, different regulations may apply to cosmetic ingredients outside the EU.