Dimethicone: What It Is, What It Does, and Is It Safe?

Dimethicone shows up on the labels of many lotions and hand creams. If you have wondered what it is and whether it is safe, here is a plain answer, backed by the safety reviews.

What is dimethicone?

Dimethicone is a silicone. A silicone is a man-made material built from long chains of silicon and oxygen atoms. On a label you will see it written as "Dimethicone," which is its INCI name (the standard name used on cosmetic ingredient lists). Dimethicone is a siloxane polymer, which means a long, repeating chain molecule built on that silicon and oxygen backbone (CIR, 2022).

Most dimethicone and related ingredients are reported to work as skin conditioning agents (ingredients that improve how skin looks and feels) in cosmetics (CIR, 2022).

What does dimethicone do in a cream?

The CIR safety report lists four jobs for dimethicone in cosmetics: skin protectant, occlusive skin conditioning agent (an occlusive forms a thin layer on top of skin that slows water loss), antifoaming agent (it keeps a product from foaming as it is mixed or rubbed in) and solvent (a liquid that other ingredients dissolve in) (CIR, 2022).

It is also an approved skin protectant in the FDA rules for over-the-counter skin protectant products. Those rules allow dimethicone at 1 to 30 percent as an active ingredient (21 CFR 347.10).

In a 2005 trial with 18 healthy volunteers, products containing dimethicone showed good skin hydration (water content in skin), but varied in how well they protected against an irritant and did little to guard against skin getting soggy from moisture (Hoggarth et al., 2005).

Is dimethicone safe?

The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) is the expert panel that reviews the safety of cosmetic ingredients in the U.S. In 2022 it reviewed dimethicone again, along with 29 related ingredients (CIR, 2022).

The panel concluded these ingredients are safe in cosmetics as they are currently used, when the product is made to be non-irritating. The one exception: there was not enough data to judge products sprayed on with an airbrush, which could be breathed in (CIR, 2022).

The panel first found these ingredients safe as used in 2003, and reopened the review because use had grown (CIR, 2022).

How to spot dimethicone on a label

Look for the word "Dimethicone." Related silicones often end in "-methicone" or "-siloxane," such as Cetyl Dimethicone or Amodimethicone (CIR, 2022).

Where it sits on the list tells you something. In the U.S., cosmetic ingredients must be listed in descending order of predominance, so the ingredient with the most is listed first (FDA Cosmetics Labeling Guide).

Corium 21 does not contain dimethicone. It is not on the Corium 21 label. You can see every ingredient on our Corium 21 ingredient list.

Try it in the decoder

Paste any label into our free Ingredient Label Decoder to see what each ingredient does. For a side-by-side look at aloe cream and other moisturizers, read aloe vera cream vs. drugstore moisturizers.

FAQ

Is dimethicone bad for your skin?

The CIR expert panel found dimethicone safe in cosmetics as currently used, when the product is made to be non-irritating. It could not reach a conclusion for airbrush sprays (CIR, 2022).

Does Corium 21 contain dimethicone?

No. Dimethicone is not on the Corium 21 label. See the full ingredient list.

Why is dimethicone in so many hand creams?

It works as a skin protectant and an occlusive, and FDA rules list it as a skin protectant ingredient at 1 to 30 percent (CIR, 2022; 21 CFR 347.10).