A polymer is made up of a sequence of one or more types of units, or monomers, which are bonded together to form a chainlike structure.
Polymers made up of one type of monomer unit are called homopolymers e.g. A-A-A-... and polymers made up of more than one type of monomer unit are called co-polymers e.g. A-B-A-B-....
Polymers can have different properties depending upon the type of monomer unit, the number of monomers in the polymer, how the monomers fit together and whether the monomers have any additional chemical groups. They can be elastic, durable, flexible, hard, soft, solid or liquid.
Therefore, it is impossible to determine from the name of a polymer on the ingredients list whether it is natural, synthetic, liquid, solid, soft, hard etc.
Owing to the range of properties a polymer can bring to a product, polymers have a wide use in cosmetic products.
Was this page helpful
Thank you for your feedback!
