Triethoxysilylethyl Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Hexyl Dimethicone

Triethoxysilylethyl Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Hexyl Dimethicone's CosIng-listed function is "skin conditioning": leaves skin feeling smoother or better cared for. This describes a formula role, not a tested finished-product benefit.

Chemistry gives a clear reason these shouldn't feed Malassezia: mineral oil and petrolatum are saturated hydrocarbons with no ester bond for a lipase to hydrolyse and no fatty acid to release; silicones (dimethicone, cyclomethicone) aren't lipids in the sense the yeast metabolises; squalane's saturated backbone has no double bonds to oxidise the way squalene does. Malassezia is a lipid-dependent yeast that grows on specific fatty acids, so ingredients carrying no usable fatty acid fall outside what it can metabolise. This is reasoned from that chemistry rather than a dedicated study of each ingredient — a thinner evidence base than the flagged ingredients above, but a well-founded one.

Evidence: Limited evidence.

• Gaitanis G, Magiatis P, Hantschke M, et al. The Malassezia Genus in Skin and Systemic Diseases. Clin Microbiol Rev 2012. PMC

Triethoxysilylethyl Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Hexyl Dimethicone appears in 0% of the 7,133 decoded products in our catalog (1 product). This describes our recorded ingredient lists, not the whole skincare market.