The Hidden Dangers of SLS and SLES: Why Natural Personal Care Products Are the Way to Go

In today's fast-paced world, personal care products have become an integral part of our daily routines. From shampoo to body wash, we rely on these items to keep us feeling and looking our best. However, there's a hidden danger lurking in many of these products – SLS and SLES.

What are SLS and SLES? 

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) are both surfactants and foaming agents. As a surfactant, it traps oil and grease so that it is easily rinsed away with water. As a foaming agent, it creates rich lather which is widely perceived as having more cleaning power.

Why Are They Harmful?

SLS and SLES with their rich lather unnecessarily strips off the body’s natural oil which can cause the skin to be dry, flaky and irritable. The rich lather removes our skin’s natural oil leaving our skin feeling squeaky clean. This is one of the main causes of oily hair and scalp. In order to compensate for the lack of the protective barrier of natural oil, the scalp overproduces sebum which leads to dull and lifeless hair.

Since both SLS and SLES are inexpensive and highly effective foaming agents, they are widely used in most personal care products from shampoos, body washes to toothpastes and can also be found in some industrial cleaning agents such as floor cleaners and engine degreasers.

SLS is a known skin irritant. As such, it is commonly used in clinical testing as a primary skin irritant to test the effectiveness of healing agents on irritated skin.

SLS also pollutes our groundwater and is harmful to fishes and other aquatic organisms. It is undetected in many municipal water filters and ends up in the tap water that is consumed.

SLES is derived from manufacturers adding ethylene oxide to SLS which results in a much milder and less irritating alternative. The drawback of the ethoxylation process in SLES is the possible contamination from the byproduct called “1,4-dioxane” which is a probable human carcinogen.

Although both SLS and SLES are primarily coconut oil derived, they have been mixed with other chemicals through an elaborate process resulting in a chemical which is highly different from the original coconut oil.