Interview: Stewart Long, Dow Corning

Before joining Dow Corning, Stewart Long was European skincare scientific adviser at Alliance Boots. Personal Care magazine spoke to him about how silicones have shaped the cosmetics and personal care industry and how they will influence its future.

Personal Care: Silicones have been used in personal care products for many years. What qualities do products have now thanks to silicones that they didn’t before?

Stewart Long: Silicones are recognised by formulators and consumers alike for their sensory benefits and have been used in personal care products since the early 1950s. These versatile ingredients represent an array of technologies that can be combined among silicone families or with organic materials, including natural ingredients and actives. To respond to evolving consumer trends in the global personal care marketplace, formulators seek to optimise the texture and sensory characteristics of formulations to match their long-term functional benefits. Silicones also are multifunctional ingredients that offer a variety of benefits in beauty care products. In turn, they allow formulators to create products that also have multifunctional benefits, such as moisturisation, shine and conditioning for hair, and cosmetics that have more intense colour, feel better on the skin and offer extended wear. These convenient, new options offer consumers twice the benefits in just one product, saving both time and money. Because silicones can be formulated with a wide variety of other ingredients, they offer today’s consumers a greater selection of products that meet their individual needs and preferences. For example, silicones can be blended with organic materials such as butters and oils to satisfy market demand for naturally derived products as well as ingredients such as vitamins, antioxidants and minerals without compromising comfort or performance – in fact, silicones have been shown to improve the feel of natural oils and butters on the skin. In hair care applications, silicones are known for their conditioning properties. They can help moisturise hair, improve ease of wet and dry combing, provide softness and smoothness, enhance shine, increase volume, offer colour protection, reduce heat damage from hair dryers and curling irons, aid curl retention and repair hair damage.