Si
Silica
Silica
A powder that soaks up oil and softly blurs the look of skin. That’s the primer effect.
What it does
It soaks up oil, adds bulk and scatters light so skin looks smoother, which is why primers use it. Hydrated silica is a slightly different ingredient used in toothpaste as a mild scrub.
The evidence, graded
expert consensusUS safety reviewers judged silica and hydrated silica safe as used when the product is made not to irritate, but only the non-crystal forms made synthetically: they treated how the silica is made as decisive. In products they scrub, absorb, keep powders from clumping, add bulk and make formulas opaque.Burnett 2025 · International journal of toxicology ↗
Graded per the methodology: strong · moderate · emerging · expert consensus. A weak source on a strong claim gets the weaker label.
Pairs worth knowing
Browse all 1238 ingredients — grouped by what they do, each with whatever evidence we can cite.
This page is public so a shared ingredient card always has its sources behind it — and so you can check them without an account.
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