How to tell if your makeup is water-based or silicone-based

Mixing the wrong products can make even the best foundation separate, slide, or turn patchy. Whether you’re using an airbrush or traditional foundation, it all comes down to what’s in the ingredients: water or silicone. Here’s how to tell the difference - and how to make sure your layers actually play nice together.

1. Check the Ingredients Label

The first few ingredients tell you almost everything you need to know.

Water-based: “Water” or “Aqua” is the first ingredient. Look for Water (Aqua) at the top, followed by moisture-loving ingredients like glycerin, propanediol, butylene glycol, pentylene glycol, or even sodium hyaluronate, but no heavy silicones high up in the list.

Silicone-based: Look for ingredients ending in -cone, -siloxane, or -methicone near the top. (Think dimethicone, cyclopentasiloxane, trimethylsiloxysilicate.)

Quick rule:
Just because “water” is first does NOT automatically mean it's "water-based".

There is a lot of misinformation out there, but water is a necessary ingredient for many silicone based (also know as water in oil or water in silicone in the formulation world) but followed immediately by dimethicone, it’s still silicone-based — silicone dominates the formula, not the water.

2. Do the Texture Test

Silicone-based formulas usually feel slippery, silky, or “primery.”
Water-based products feel lighter, cooler, and absorb faster.

Rub a small drop between your fingers:

Silicone: glides like velvet and leaves a protective slip.

Water: dries down quickly and leaves skin feeling clean or dewy.

3. Why It Matters

Water and silicone don’t mix well — and that’s where layering issues happen.

If you use a silicone primer under a water-based foundation, it can cause separation or patchiness.

Same goes the other way — silicone foundation over water-based skincare can ball up or slide.

Stick with like over like:
Water-based on water-based, silicone on silicone. (And if you’re using Aeroblend? It’s 100% water-based — so keep that base clean and simple.)

✅ Layering Tip:
You can apply silicone-based products on top of water-based formulas (like a setting mist or primer afterward) — just not the other way around.