Is Your Face Cleanser a Garage Floor Degreaser? The Truth About SLS
So, youβve heard me bang on about why certain ingredients are "bad," but letβs get into the nitty-gritty of one of the biggest culprits in your bathroom cabinet: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS).
If your cleanser leaves your skin feeling "squeaky clean," you aren't achieving a deep clean; youβre likely stripping your skinβs biological security system.
What Exactly is SLS?
In layman's terms, SLS is a surfactant. It was originally designed as an industrial degreaser to clean engines and factory floors. Brands use it in skincare for one simple reason: itβs incredibly cheap and produces the massive, fluffy foam weβve been conditioned to think means "clean."
But from a scientific perspective, SLS is an aggressive detergent. It is so effective at removing grease that it doesn't know when to stop. It doesn't just wash away surface dirt; it dissolves the essential lipids and ceramides that act as the "mortar" between your skin cells.
Why Scientists Use SLS to Irritate Skin
Here is a fun (and slightly terrifying) fact: in clinical dermatology trials, scientists actually use a 1% to 5% SLS solution as a "positive control" for irritation. They apply it to healthy skin to purposely cause damage so they can test how well healing creams work.
If science uses it to break your skin, why are you using it to wash your face every morning?
The Science of the "Sting"
When SLS dissolves your natural oils, it creates microscopic tears in your acid mantle. This leads to what we call Transepidermal Water Loss (TEWL).
- The Result: You aren't just washing your face; youβre dehydrating your skin at a cellular level.
- The Cycle: This triggers inflammation, redness, and chronic sensitivity. Your skin then overproduces oil to compensate for the dryness, leading to more breakouts and a never-ending cycle of "oily but dehydrated" skin.
The Environmental Toll: 1,4-Dioxane
The cost isn't just to your face; itβs to the planet. The manufacturing process of sulfates often involves ethoxylation, which can leave behind a byproduct called 1,4-dioxane.
This is a known carcinogen that doesn't just disappear down the drain. It persists in our groundwater and bioaccumulates in aquatic ecosystems. Just like the microplastics we talked about with dimethicone, these chemicals move up the food chain, eventually impacting human health through our water systems.
How to Spot the "Bad Guys"
Don't be fooled by fancy packaging. Flip the bottle over and look for these names:
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)
- Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) (A slightly gentler version, but still prone to 1,4-dioxane contamination)
- Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS)
The Healthy Alternative: Feed Your Skin
You cannot scrub your way to healthy skin. Your skin is a living organ, not a car engine. Instead of stripping it bare, you should be using oil-based or plant-derived cleansers that respect your pH and lipid barrier.
Look for gentle, coconut-derived surfactants like Coco-Glucoside or Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, or better yet, move away from foaming detergents altogether.
Ready to ditch the industrial degreasers and actually nourish your barrier? Our Organic Cleansing Balm is 100% detergent-free, fragrance-free, and designed to melt away makeup and pollutants while leaving your acid mantle completely intact. Itβs "clean" without the "squeak."
π Try the Organic Cleansing Balm here
Scientific References
- Skin Barrier Disruption: PubMed (18007579): SLS exposure alters keratinocyte differentiation markers and disrupts the skin barrier in vivo. Link
- TEWL and SLS: ResearchGate: Clinical evaluation showing a significant increase in Transepidermal Water Loss (TEWL) and redness following SLS application. Link
- 1,4-Dioxane Concerns: CDC/ATSDR: Public health statement on the persistence and carcinogenic potential of 1,4-dioxane as a byproduct of ethoxylated surfactants. Link
- Long-term pH Disruption: MDPI (2079-9284): Study on how high-pH detergents (like SLS-based soaps) disturb the skin's acid-base homeostasis. Link
