Carbomer is a term most often used to describe a series of polymers – or plastics – made from acrylic acid. Most Carbomers are white fluffy powders used in cosmetics for their thickening, suspending, dispersing, and emulsifying agents. They are capable of absorbing and retaining water so that they swell to many times their normal size like a balloon being blown up.

The reason you can find Carbomers in cosmetic products is because of its most valuable attribute, the ability to suspend an insoluble solid in a liquid. What this means is that the use of a Carbomer helps to combine two very different chemicals that would otherwise not mix at all, like oil and water. In fact, the use of the Carbomer helps to prevent any given cosmetic from separating back into its original form of separate oil and water properties. This is because the molecule of a Carbomer is netlike in its ability to place molecules of oil and water right next to each and keep them from separating again.

Carbomers have been known in small concentrations to cause a minor skin irritation, and eye irritation when directly exposed, and after ingestion of small quantities a minor toxicity causing stomach discomfort. However, on their own, when mixed with water to form a thick gel they are stable and non-toxic and help to prevent spoilage or expiration in the product they are added to.

Because the use of a Carbomer in a cosmetics product make it a thicker solution than it might normally be the result is a luxurious feeling on the skin because of the high moisture content. Manufacturer’s like to use them because of this, and because the cost of making Carbomer and its use is very low.