What Does SLS Mean?
Have you ever wondered what SLS stands for on your skincare products, or on blogs and mailers about skincare ingredients to avoid? This blog covers what SLS stands for and what impact it has on the skin.
What is SLS?
SLS stands for sodium lauryl sulfate and is a common ingredient found in lots of beauty and body care products, including, shampoo, body washes, toothpastes and skincare. SLS is a surfactant, this means that it helps a product to lather and foam. Although this texture and feel on the skin is satisfying, SLS can cause damage to the skin.
Why is SLS Damaging to the Skin?
SLS strips the skin of its natural oils, which can lead to excessive dryness, irritation and for those who are prone to eczema and psoriasis it can exacerbate these skin conditions.
Stripping the skin of its natural oils can cause a disruption to the skin barrier. The skin barrier is essential for protecting your skin from external aggressors and irritants, it also works to maintaining skin hydration levels.
This damage to the skin can leave your skin vulnerable to damage and inflammation due to the skin barrier being damaged.
What Does it Mean to be SLS Free?
By choosing products which are SLS free it means that they do not contain any sodium lauryl sulfate. These products tend to use ingredients that will not strip the skin of its natural oils and helps to preserve and protect the skin barrier. By avoiding products with SLS in them it means that you can help to maintain a healthy skin barrier, reducing the risk of irritation, and help promote overall skin health.
Lucy Bee Hydrating Foam Face Wash
When we created our Hydrating Foam Face Wash, we wanted to ensure that it was suitable for those with sensitive skin. This means we picked ingredients like ginseng, glycerin, calendula and rose flower water all of which help to hydrate and nourish the skin as the cleanser works to remove dirt, grime and daily impurities.
This also included avoiding the use of SLS, making it an SLS free product, but still with the satisfying foaming consistency, which is created through the pump. We created this with alternatives to SLS and ingredients that hydrate and support the skin barrier rather than stripping the skin of its natural oils.
Our face Wash is dermatologically approved for sensitive skin and has been independently reviewed as safe to use during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Certified Vegan, Cruelty Free and COSMOS Natural. It is also free from: Palm Oil (and its derivatives); Petroleum; Silicones; Alcohol; Formaldehyde; PEGs; Sulphates; Artificial dyes; Soy; Gluten and Parabens.