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Pilling, exfoliation and polymethylsilsesquioxane.
I pretty much use polymethylsilsesquioxane in everything and love the finishing touch it adds to emulsions.
However, I have read some conflicting thoughts on this recently (I know…I read too much). The marketing machine always refers to polymethylsilsesquioxane as a spherical powder. And to our very vague tactile senses….as long as a powder is fine enough…our brain will tell us it is smooth and ’round’. A perfect example of our brain fooling us would be Diatomaceous earth. It feels soft, fluffy and ’round’ even though it more closely resembles broken glass.
So recently I read that polymeth can be a bit exfoliating due to the abrasive nature of the particle. I have also noticed an ever so slight (I am crazy sensitive to every aspect of my formulation) what I thought might be pilling on my face, where I use my face cream which has the highest inclusion of polymeth. Since I have been very careful not to include the typical pilling culprits… I was a little surprised.
I had always wondered if this pilling was not exfoliation…and after reading this respected CC’s comments about polymeth being abrasive, I am almost sure of it.
I guess the question I am trying to ask is…. Has anyone else experienced exfoliation from the inclusion of polymethylsilsesquioxane?
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2 Replies
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I have not.
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Don’t know for sure but I guess that the particles are so fine (and certainly not as ‘edgy’ as diatomaceous earth) that you’d need to rub till your arms hurt in order to get noticeable abrasion/exfoliation… or you apply the cream with a sandblaster, that’ll do a nice job removing all wrikles and age spots and skin and connective tissue and eyeballs… :smiley: .
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