Sulfates In Skincare Products: What You Should Know
You purchase a new skincare product, and you're excited to use it. But then you read the label and discover that it contains sulfates. What are these chemicals? How do they affect your skin? And should you be concerned about them? Let's take a look at what sulfates are and how they can impact your skin health—for better or worse.
Where are sulfates found?
Sulfates are found in many personal care products, including soaps, shampoos, conditioners, body washes and toothpaste. These ingredients help create a wide variety of products you can find at pretty much any store or supermarket. Sulfates are used in the manufacturing process to make these products foamy and bubbly, however, they are also known to be harsh on your skin.
What do sulfates do?
Sulfates are a family of ingredients that have been used to clean and thicken cosmetics for generations. They're also a common ingredient in most shampoos, which you probably use every day.
Sulfates are added to cleaning products to help dissolve dirt, oil, and other debris from your hair or skin. They can also be found in some soaps, facial cleansers and body wash because of their ability to remove oily buildup such as sebum from the skin and hair.
When applied directly onto the skin's surface at high concentration levels (usually through hand-washing), sulfate-based products can cause irritation or drying effects on our delicate epidermis if they aren't formulated with proper pH balance in mind or contain other irritating additives like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS).
A major concern about sulfates is that they can make your skin more sensitive in general. Especially if you use a lot of products containing sulfates on a regular basis (or if you have naturally dry or sensitive skin).
Are sulfates drying?
Sulfates are not inherently drying, but the scum that they leave behind can cause your products to feel tight and dry on your skin. They also are known to contribute to irritation and itchiness, which is annoying in itself, but even worse if you have an allergy to sulfates since it means that every time you use a product with them in it, your symptoms will flare up again.
Do sulfates cause acne?
Yes, sulfates can cause acne.
Although they may be useful for deep cleaning and removing oil, sulfates are drying and irritate the skin. Sulfates also strip the natural oils in your skin, making it more difficult for your skin to retain moisture. On top of this, sulfates may also cause breakouts if you have sensitive or dry skin.
The bottom line? If your skin is prone to irritation from sulfates, it's best not to use products that contain them. You should also discontinue any routine if you find that using these ingredients causes problems for your complexion instead of benefits!
The good news is that there are plenty of options out there for people with sensitive skin who don't want to give up on their skincare habits just because they suffer from eczema or rosacea. There's a wide range of sulfate-free cleansers available that will leave your face feeling clean without causing any irritation at all!
Do sulfates cause cancer or affect hormonal health?
Sulfates are not known to directly cause cancer, but they can affect hormonal health. Many products with sulfates are tested on animals to measure the level of irritation to people’s skin, lungs and eyes. For this reason, many oppose using consumer products that contain SLS and SLES.
Sulfates have developed a bad reputation over the years due to their potential negative side effects. While sulfates can serve a purpose, it's important to know that they are not actually vital to the effectiveness of most personal care products—especially if you have acne-prone or sensitive skin.
If your skin is flaring up, check the ingredients of the products you're using for sulfates. At the end of the day, you don't need sulfates in your personal care or cleaning products. ESPECIALLY if you have acne, dry, or sensitive skin you should AVOID them. It's also worth mentioning that some people may be allergic (or intolerant) to sulfates too!
Final Thoughts
We hope this article has helped you understand sulfates a little better and why they are so controversial. We also encourage you to do your own research on the chemicals in your skincare products so that you know what's in them and can make an informed decision about whether it's worth using them or not.