Which Surfactants Are Mild and Which Are Harsh and Irritating?

The whole list of surfactants in skin and hair-care products. Check out which are gentle for your skin and and which are irritating and should be avoided.

The names of surfactants are sometimes ridiculously alike and you get easily confused standing in the shampoo aisle looking at ingredient lists. For that reason,  we put together a list of the most common surfactants in skin and hair-care products and grouped them in five groups based on how irritating they are for the skin.

Unfortunately, the more effective a surfactant is in removing grease and dirt, the stronger and more irritating it is for the skin. The mild group 1 surfactants is not efficient enough to be effective in hair shampoo and works best in baby products or in gentle facial cleaners. A good non-irritating shampoo usually contains a mixture of surfactants from group 1, 2 and 3. The surfactants from groups 4 and 5 are so strong that they damage the skin epidermal water barrier and are best avoided altogether.

The surfactant list

  1. Non-irritating and very mild surfactants 
    • Sugar-based [1,2]
      • Coco Glucoside
      • Decyl Glucoside
      • Lauryl Glucoside
      • Sodium Lauryl Glucose Carboxylate
    • Amino acid-based [3]
      • Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate
      • Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate
      • Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate
    • Peptide-based [4]
      • Sodium Cocoyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein
      • Sodium Cocoyl Hydrolyzed Collagen
    • Alkyl PEG sulfosuccinates [5,6]
      • Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
      • Disodium Deceth Sulfosucinate
  2. Very lightly irritating and gentle surfactants 
    • Alkyl sulfosuccinates [7]
      • Disodium Lauryl sulfosuccinate
      • Disodium Coco sulfosuccinate
    • Amidopropyl betaines [1,8,9]
      • Cocamidopropyl Betaine (Coco Betaine, Cocamido Betaine)
    • Alkyl sulfoacetates [10]
      • Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate
    • Alkyl imidazolines [1,11,12]
      • Sodium Cocoamphoacetate
      • Sodium Cocoamphopropionate
      • Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate
      • Disodium Cocoamphodipropionate
    • Alkyl taurates [13]
      • Sodium methyl cocoyl taurate
      • Sodium methyl oleoyl taurate
  3. Lightly irritating and averagely strong surfactants 
    • Acyl sarcosines [14,15]
      • Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate
      • Sodium Cocoyl Sarcosinate
    • Acyl isethionates [1,6,16,17]
      • Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate
    • Traditional or artisan hard soap manufactured by cold or hot saponification of fats or oils with Sodium hydroxide [6,18]
      • Sodium olivate / cocoate / canolate / cocoa butterate / etc
    • Traditional or artisan liquid soap by saponification of fats or oils with Potassium hydroxide [18,19]
      • Potassium olivate / canolate / cocoate / etc
    • Long alkyl ether sulfates [10]
      • Sodium Pareth Sulfate
      • Sodium Cetareth Sulfate
  4. Irritating and strong surfactants 
    • Alkyl eter sulfates [20-22]
      • Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)
      • Sodium Myreth Sulfate
      • Sodium Oleth Sulfate
      • Ammonium Laureth Sulfate (ALES)
    • Long alkyl sulfates [23]
      • Sodium Cetyl Sulfate
      • Sodium Stearyl Sulfate
      • Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate
    • Soap surfactants, industrially produced by a continues heating process where glycerol is removed [24,25]
      • Sodium palmitate / laurate/ stearate / olivate / cocoate / tallowate / etc
  5. Very irritating and strong surfactants 
    • Alkyl sulfates [1,6,23,26-28]
      • Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)
      • Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS)
      • Magnesium Lauryl Sulfate
      • TEA-lauryl sulfate
      • Sodium Coco Sulfate
      • Sodium Myristyl Sulfate

 

References

  1. Barany, E. et al., Biophysical characterization of skin damage and recovery after exposure to different surfactants. Contact Dermatitis, 1999. 40(2): 98-103.
  2. Fiume, M.M. et al., Safety assessment of decyl glucoside and other alkyl glucosides as used in cosmetics. Int J Toxicol, 2013. 32(5 Suppl): 22S-48S.
  3. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Safety Assessment of Amino Acid Alkyl Amides as Used in Cosmetics, 2013.
  4. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Potassium-Coco-Hydrolyzed Animal Protein and Triethanolamine-Coco-Hydrolyzed Animal Protein, December 1, 1983. 2(7): 75-86.
  5. Fiume, M.M. et al., Safety assessment of alkyl PEG ethers as used in cosmetics. Int J Toxicol, 2012. 31(5 Suppl): 169S-244S.
  6. Tupker, R.A. et al., Irritancy ranking of anionic detergents using one-time occlusive, repeated occlusive and repeated open tests. Contact Dermatitis, 1999. 40(6): 316-22.
  7. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Safety Assessment of Alkyl Sulfosuccinate Salts as Used in Cosmetics, 2013.
  8. Burnett, C.L. et al., Final report of the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel on the safety assessment of cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB). Int J Toxicol, 2012. 31(4 Suppl): 77S-111S.
  9. Human & Environmental Risk Assessment on ingredients of European household cleaning products (HERA), Cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB), 2005.
  10. Cosmetic Ingredient Review, Final Report on the Safety Assessment ofSodium LauryI Sulfoacetate, 1987. 6: 261-277.
  11. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Cocoamphoacetate, Cocoamphopropionate, Cocoamphodiacetate and Cocoamphodipropionate, 1990. 9(2).
  12. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Annual review of cosmetic ingredient safety assessments: 2005/2006, 2008. 27 Suppl 1: 77-142.
  13. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Safety Assessment of Alkyl Taurate Amides and Taurate Salts as Used in Cosmetics, 2016.
  14. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Amended Safety Assessment of Fatty Acyl Sarcosines and Their Salts as Used in Cosmetics, 2016.
  15. Lanigan, R.S., Final report on the safety assessment of Cocoyl Sarcosine, Lauroyl Sarcosine, Myristoyl Sarcosine, Oleoyl Sarcosine, Stearoyl Sarcosine, Sodium Cocoyl Sarcosinate, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Sodium Myristoyl Sarcosinate, Ammonium Cocoyl Sarcosinate, and Ammonium Lauroyl Sarcosinate. Int J Toxicol, 2001. 20 Suppl 1: 1-14.
  16. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Amended Safety Assessment of Isethionate Salts as Used in Cosmetics, October 4 2013.
  17. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, 1993. 12(5): 459-479.
  18. Human & Environmental Risk Assessment on ingredients of European household cleaning products (HERA), Fatty Acid Salts Human Health Risk Assessment, 2002.
  19. Wilhelm, K.P. et al., Surfactant-induced skin irritation and skin repair: evaluation of a cumulative human irritation model by noninvasive techniques. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 1994. 31(6): 981-7.
  20. Robinson, V.C. et al., Final report of the amended safety assessment of sodium laureth sulfate and related salts of sulfated ethoxylated alcohols. Int J Toxicol, 2010. 29(4 Suppl): 151S-61S.
  21. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Ammonium Laureth Sulfate, 1983. 2(5).
  22. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Sodium Myreth Sulfate, 1992. 11(1): 157-163.
  23. Fiume, M. et al., Final report on the safety assessment of sodium cetearyl sulfate and related alkyl sulfates as used in cosmetics. Int J Toxicol, 2010. 29(3 Suppl): 115S-32S.
  24. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Final Report of the Safety Assessment of Lithium Stearate, Aluminum Distearate, Aluminum Stearate, Aluminum Tristearate, Ammonium Stearate, Calcium Stearate, Magnesium Stearate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, and Zinc Stearate, 1982. 1: 143-177.
  25. Tupker, R.A. et al., Irritancy testing of sodium laurate and other anionic detergents using an open exposure model. Skin Res Technol, 1997. 3(2): 133-6.
  26. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, December 1, 1983 1983. 2(7): 127-181.
  27. Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), Annual Review of Cosmetic Ingredient Safety Assessments-2002/2003, 2005. 24 Suppl 1: 1-102.
  28. Fiume, M.M. et al., Safety assessment of triethanolamine and triethanolamine-containing ingredients as used in cosmetics. Int J Toxicol, 2013. 32(3 Suppl): 59S-83S.
 

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