Sodium Laureth Sulphate or Sodium Lauryl Sulphate?
SLS has been in the media on and off for quite some time. It is used in cosmetic products to help create a foam - most commonly in foaming washes, shampoos, bath bombs and less obviously found in toothpaste and Aqueous cream!! Yes that's right Its not some auto correct! Anyway I'm not going into why its in toothpastes and aqueous cream or whether it should be. All I can say is aqueous cream contains Sodium LAURYL Sulphate - You will see what I mean later....
What is it exactly?
As mentioned above its basically a foaming agent used in cleansing products. It is good at dissolving oil and so it is great in cleansers for oilier skin types.
Both are actually extracted from natural coconut or palm oils however, it is than reacted with other synthetic ingredients to give the end product. This is where the two types come from (two different reactions).So whats all the bad hype about?
Well firstly the main thing to remember is the two different types - Sodium LAURETH Sulphate and Sodium LAURYL Sulphate. Now the big hype about how its irritating and cancerous and toxic etc etc applies to Sodium LAURYL Sulphate and not Sodium Laureth Sulphate - confused? I'm not surprised. Basically the tests show that Sodium LAURYL Sulphate is a skin irritant and can make the skin very sensitive i.e likely to cause reaction. Sodium LAURETH Sulphate however, has shown mild to moderate irritation in sensitive skins with prolonged use. Now my verdict is that firstly it must be washed off thoroughly! that minuses the prolonged use caution. Secondly if you have sensitive skin you shouldn't be using such a foaming cleanser as this is more for the oilier skin types (my point goes back to making sure you are using the correct product for your skin type). So both points cancelled out I don't see the harm in using a product with Sodium LAURETH Sulphate as long as it suits your skin type.
Now for the other tests carried out on Sodium LAURYL Sulphate - well I 100% agree that it is a skin irritant. It will dry your skin out which in return will break your skins barrier (going back to my first post) and therefore is more than likely to cause an irritation. No doubts there! So whats all this about cancer causing properties and toxic ingredients and so on. Well I am no cosmetic scientist, however, I can tell you that a lot of these studies were carried out on rats - where the poor animal was fed the product and it was also tested on the inside of the eyelids!!! I'm not even going to conclude that paragraph - you decide! O and yes don't eat it, it may well be toxic! The other tests which were carried out on the actual skin of the rats go something like this.... a small square piece of skin is invaded with large amounts of the ingredients and than the results are recorded. So that kind of tells you about the truth of some of the studies that are pumped into our minds through the media. I mean if you put a slice of lemon on your skin and leave it there for 5 minutes (or 1 for that matter) what will the results be? dry red skin most likely itchy. What do we actually believe and what not?
In my opinion I would stay clear of Sodium LAURYL Sulphate as it will dry your skin out - just like soap would - However, for now if you have a slightly more greasier/ oilier skin type than Sodium LAURETH Sulphate is fine to use. Just make sure you do a double rinse and assure that there is no residue left on the skin.
If further studies are revealed we can look into them more closely - for now I haven't seen enough proof to suggest it causes cancerous cells unless your going to eat it - than I may not need to see results I can tell you its not going to do you any good!I wouldn't worry about throwing away your products just yet - Next time you buy a cleansing product just take a minute to read the ingredients and choose wisely.
Keeping my post short and sweet - next time we can have a look at water or Aqua in our products!
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