WOW, IF YOU THOUGHT Brexit was riddled with booby traps, try the beauty beat. First it was parabens. Then sulphates. Then nail bars purportedly using slave labour. And don’t let’s start on the animal testing. (Really, don’t let’s start – it’s just not necessary.)

I know there’s a camp that believes all these concerns are a trumped-up conspiracy to make women feel bad about their small pleasures, but I’m not really in it. Beauty products have used dodgy ingredients since someone put skimmed asses’ milk into Cleo’s bath instead of the full-fat – and should and must be called out. It’s just that I don’t like being the bearer of bad news.

That said, let’s tackle the latest sinister culprit: silicone. I first came across the argument that this wasn’t a totally brilliant idea more than a decade ago when friends were installing a reed-bed septic tank. ‘Ooh, you’ll need to tell everyone not to use conditioner,’ said their reed-bed man.

Not use conditioner? Clearly RBM was a hippy, disconnected from the real world of frizzy hair that is just impossible to get a brush through without some John Frieda.

But as I a) became increasingly diligent about reading ingredients lists, and b) noticed none of the shine-enhancing products I used actually worked, his comment made more and more sense.

It’s not only conditioners that use silicones. Shampoos, skincare, foundations… Anything that glides on and promises smoothing results may be a candidate. Not that it will neccessarily be apparent on the bottle. There are different kinds of silicones: the names to look out for are predictably long and indecipherable. They include cyclopentasiloxane and cyclohexasiloxane. Other forms include dimethicone (D), dimethicone copolyol (DC) and trimethicone (T). DC is the thickest and most viscous, followed by D. T is the lightest. This is important: not all silicones are created equal.

They are created, however. Silicone is an artificial substance made from silica to give formulations more slippage. Most forms are cheap and have become pretty damn ubiquitous. Is it the modern evil many believe?

Well, as an ingredient in hair products, it can seem magical. ‘The problem is, the more you use silicone-heavy products, the more they dry out the hair shaft,’ says colourist Sally Northwood. ‘The other downside is that they clog follicles, accumulating a build-up of product and dirt. But the first time you use them you think you’re getting incredible shine. That’s how the brands pull you in. It’s a game of ever-diminishing results and fine hair ends up lank.’ So my experience of diligently using shine-enhancing products less and less successfully had a scientific explanation.

As ever, it depends on the quality of the silicones. Facialist Lisa Franklin uses the best, in small doses, in her skincare and believes they provide unrivalled textures and don’t impede breathability. It boils down to preference. I hate the point at which glide starts to feel like slime – there are a lot of products, particularly face potions and foundations, that come into the latter category. Also, RBM was right – they’re bad news for the environment as the viscous ones don’t break down in water. Since there are more and more brands that don’t use silicones – Living Proof (livingproof.co.uk), Mr Smith (mr-smith. com.au), L’oréal’s Botanicals (loreal-paris.co.uk), Mauli (maulirituals.com) and Aldo Coppola (aldocoppola.co.uk), for instance, which get rave reviews – I know where I’m putting my money.