What is the difference between sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth Sulfate (SLES), and is one safer than the other?
SLS is a surface-active substance, or surfactant. These are the workhorses of cosmetics and toiletries. Surfactants are made up of an oil-loving “head”, which imbeds into dirt impregnated oil, and water-loving “tail”, which aids in washing the dirt away. There are three main types of surfactants used in personal care products. • Cleansers • Emulsifiers • Solubilisers SLS and SLES are primary cleansers. They are usually combined with gentler secondary cleansers. On their own, they are too strong. Both are made from palm oil. However, within the water-loving tail, we find a significant difference between the two. Both cleansers are made by “sulphating” palm oil. However SLES undergoes a further reaction, to modify its properties. Although making it a little less strong, there are significant drawbacks. Some chemical reactions result in the formation of toxic impurities. In the case of SLES, this further “ethoxylation” reaction leads to the presence of varying amounts of both unreacted et
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