skincarecheck
INCI ingredient

Silica

Also listed as: Silica [nano, Silica Nano

A mineral powder that absorbs oil, adds a matte finish and thickens.

What it triggers

  • Vegan originYesno animal source
  • FragranceNonot a perfume ingredient
  • ParabenNonot a preservative of this family
  • SulfateNonot a sulfate surfactant
  • SiliconeNonot a silicone
  • AlcoholNonot a drying alcohol

What it does

Silica is silicon dioxide, the same material as sand and quartz, ground into a fine powder. Formulators use it to soak up oil in powders and primers, to thicken gels and to keep powders from caking. CosIng lists it as absorbent, abrasive, anticaking, bulking and viscosity controlling.

It is a mineral and affects none of the six checks.

Functions: absorbent, thickener

Products with Silica

in 985 products

Showing 24 of 985 products with this ingredient, most scanned first.

In the EU ingredient database

Functions listed by CosIng
  • abrasive
  • absorbent
  • anticaking
  • bulking
  • opacifying
  • viscosity controlling
  • abrasive: Removing unwanted tissue or foreign materials from various body surfaces, including mechanical tooth cleaning and/or gloss improvement.
  • absorbent: Taking up water- and/or oil-soluble (dissolved or finely dispersed) substances.
  • anticaking: Preventing agglomeration of particulate solids into lumps or hard masses (cohesive cake), thus allowing free flow of particles.
  • bulking: Non-reactive (chemically inert), solid ingredients that dilute other solids and/or increase the volume of cosmetic products.

CAS 7631-86-9 / 112945-52-5 / 60676-86-0 · EC 231-545-4 / 262-373-8 /310-060-2

EU regulation

Not on a restricted-substances annex. Listed as an allowed cosmetic ingredient.

Source: CosIng, European Commission. Informative, no legal value; the regulation text is the reference.

Classification from the INCI name; product lists from Open Beauty Facts.Report a mistake