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Film Former
Every ingredient in the dictionary that works as a film former — what it is, where it came from, and how long it has been doing the job.
40 ingredients in the dictionary
Browse by what it does

Candelilla Wax
EUPHORBIA CERIFERA (CANDELILLA) WAX
Candelilla wax is boiled off the stems of a leafless desert shrub that coats itself to keep from drying out, and it is the usual plant-derived stand-in for beeswax; its international trade is controlled under CITES.

Carnauba Wax
COPERNICIA CERIFERA (CARNAUBA) WAX
Carnauba is the hard, high-melting wax a Brazilian fan palm secretes onto its fronds to survive the dry season, and in cosmetics it is the ingredient that stops a lipstick going soft in a warm room.

Dimethicone
DIMETHICONE
A synthetic silicone fluid sold in every viscosity from thinner than water to a cuttable gum, valued in cosmetics for spreading further than an oil of the same thickness and for leaving a dry rather than a greasy surface.

Polybutene
POLYBUTENE
A viscous, non-volatile hydrocarbon polymer that gives lip gloss its thickness, its cling and much of its shine; it is the fraction that stays behind once the volatile solvent it was dissolved in has gone.

Shellac
SHELLAC
Shellac is a resin secreted by a scale insect on trees in India and South-East Asia; in cosmetics it is a film former, the thing that makes a mascara hold a curl and a nail lacquer set hard and glossy.

Trimethylsiloxysilicate
TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE
A brittle silicone resin built from trimethylsilyl caps around a silica-like core; dissolved in a volatile solvent and left behind when that solvent evaporates, it is the film that makes a lipstick transfer-resistant.