your life as beauty from the inside out

Under Chemical Review–Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

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Minimalist Beauty is all about simple living and using 100% natural ingredients for beauty care.  I do make pretty much all of my own beauty products, and at one time even used lab created ingredients that weren’t listed as toxic on the Environmental Working Group.  Using lab created ingredients that are derived from a natural source is not natural and still created with a chemical process.

Now if it is not a botanical ingredient that I could literally eat, I just won’t use it for beauty.

One of my goals with Minimalist Beauty is to help you become a more conscious consumer and learn how to read cosmetic labels with ease.  I did write this article a few years ago about reading product labels, yet let’s begin to look more into the specific ingredients.  Today we’ll analyze sodium lauryl sulfate.

“Sodium lauryl sulfate is a white or cream colored crystal, flake, or powder primarily used as a surfactant, emulsifier, foamer, dispersant, or wetting agent in many industries, such as cleaning and personal care.”  About.com  Sodium lauryl sulfate strips the hair and skin of its natural oils and is what creates the suds in beauty care products including shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, body wash, hand soap, facial cleansers, etc.  It is also an ingredient which is a skin, eye, and respiratory irritant, is harmful if swallowed, pollutes the water supply, and is toxic to aquatic life.  Learn more here.

Sodium lauryl sulfate is a chemical that must be handled with extreme care in pure form, yet somehow is believed to safe if diluted with other chemical and non-chemical ingredients. That just doesn’t make sense to me.

Dilution of a chemical does not make it safe.  It just makes it less of an immediate irritant with slower toxic build-up in the body.  Chemicals in beauty products create an environment to possibly create sickness slowly over time.  Without expensive tests you can not place a finger on why your immune system is weakened, nor why you may be experiencing dis-ease of some form.

Sodium lauryl sulfate also has many other names.  I’ve bolded the names that I’ve seen on cosmetics ingredient labels.

A13-00356

Akyposal SDS

Aquarex ME

Aquarex Methyl

Carsonol SLS

Dehydrag Sulfate GL Emulsion

Dodecyl Alcohol

Hydrogen Sulfate

Sodium Salt

Dodecyl Sulfate Sodium Salt

Dodecyl Sodium Sulfate

Dreft

Duponal

Duponal WAQE

Duponol C

Duponol ME

Duponol WA

Duponol WAQ

Emal 10

Irium

Lanette Wax-S

Lauryl Sodium Sulfate

Lauryl Sulfate Sodium Salt

Maprofix 563

Maprofix NEU

Maprofix WAC

Maprofix WAC-LA

Monogen Y 100

NCI-C50191

Neutrazyme

Orvus WA Paste

Perklankrol ESD 60

Perlankroll

Quolac EX-UB

SDS

Sipex OP

Sipon PD

Sipon WD

Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate Ether

Sodium Laurilsulfate

Sodium N-Dodecylsulfate

Sodium Salt Sulfuric Acid

Solsol Needles

Sepanol T 28

Stepanol ME

Stepanol ME Dry AW

Stepanol Methyl

Stepanol Methyl Dry AW

Sulfuric Acid

Monododecylester

Tarapon K 12

Texapon K 12

Trepenol WA

It is easier to avoid chemical ingredients in your beauty products by just understanding how to read your beauty product labels.  If it contains something that you can not pronounce, or you would not want to eat, seek something which does not have those chemicals.  I’ve found that using simple ingredients for beauty to be the easiest and most cost effective route to take.

If you can not find the list of ingredients on the product, look it up online.  Don’t be afraid to pull out your phone in the store and look up a product online.  I do it all the time.  If I can’t find the information online that I want, I email the company.  If I still am left without the information that I am looking for, I save my money and find something else.  As a side note, learn to read the ingredients on your food items too.  Bread that lasts more than a week is questionable unless frozen!

Natural alternatives to use for beauty care in place of sodium lauryl sulfate are clays such as rhassoul clay, bentonite clay, and french green clay as well as saponin producing herbs and ingredients such as yucca root, aritha, shikakai, and oats.

You can also use castile soap for household cleaning/laundry or make you own DIY Multipurpose Household Cleaner.  Before you ask I’ll mention that castile soap is extremely alkaline and disrupts the pH balance of skin and hair.  I don’t personally suggest using castile soap even diluted for beauty care.  Learn even more alternatives to 100% chemical-free skin care here and 100% chemical-free hair care here.

Knowledge is power.  You can find a list toxic chemical ingredients to avoid along with more natural cosmetics to consider here.

(Image by D Sharon Pruitt)

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  1. Hi Dawn, I’m so glad to see your back, You’ve been missed! This article was great, really helps to remind me why Im on the hunt for more natural products and keeps me on track. Thank You

    Reply

  3. Hi–isn’t Castile soap made with lye? Almost all hard soaps are made with lye to produce saponification.

    I would not eat lye. Lye or sodium hydroxide is the ingredient in most soaps that make them caustic (alkaline). Lye is also the main ingredient in many hair relaxers.

    Reply

    • Hi QueenBee,
      I mentioned castile soap as an alternative option for household cleaning/laundry versus sodium lauryl sulfate detergents. I don’t feel castile soap is good for beauty care because it is too alkaline. Also all soap is made with lye, yet during the process of making soap the lye somehow is completely gone by the end. I’ve never made soap myself so that’s just the info that I’ve read.
      Enjoy your day!

      Reply

  4. Growing up, I always experienced mouth ulcers, bleeding gums, and patches of dry, eczema-like skin on my face. Many years later, I learned that SLS in my toothpaste and facial wash was the primary culprit. I haven’t used SLS for many years now. What worries me are people who may not have such reactions to SLS but who are slowly poisoning themselves, their families, and our world and environment because they don’t experience immediate reactions like sensitive people might. Like you mentioned above, such toxins accumulate over time and can wreck havoc later in life.

    Thank you for always spreading the truth and reminding us how important it is to steer clear of chemicals as much as possible.

    Reply

    • Hi ScentualSoundtracks,
      Thank you for sharing your story. I hope you are having a wonderful day and best wishes always!

      Reply

  5. Hi Dawn,

    Was wondering what do you use to wash your hands or body?

    I have switched to Castile soap few weeks ago, when read it is a good one, but have dry skin after using it, specially on my legs. What do you use to Moisturize your body? I am using the hemp seed oil I got for OCM. Like it though I am not sure if it is enough for my skin.

    Thanks for your help!

    Reply

    • Hi Kasia,

      I use castile soap or other vegetable based natural soap to wash my hands, yet use rhassoul clay and also other clays on hand as a body wash. I didn’t always use rhassoul clay as a body wash but my skin has really benefited from it. I plan to write on that soon.

      Once you stop drying your skin out with soap and disrupting the skin’s acid mantle, you won’t need as much heavy body moisturizers over time. I do find any oil of your choice as a great body moisturizer/lotion. If you are acne prone I would stick to oils high in linoleic acid for the body too.

      Have a great weekend!

      Reply

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