Ingredient · surfactant

Sodium Laureth Sulfate

Sodium Laureth Sulfate is a surfactant: it lifts oil and dirt so water can rinse them away, which is how cleansers clean. Milder than SLS but still stripping for dry skin.

Sodium Laureth Sulfate at a glance

FunctionSurfactant
Comedogenic rating0/5
Irritation potentialMild
Also listed asSLES
How commonOn 2,961 of 21,918 product labels in Pori's copy of Open Beauty Facts

Is Sodium Laureth Sulfate good for my skin type?

These ratings come from the same fixed rules Pori's ingredient scanner uses, applied to a typical profile for each skin type. Your own result in the app also weighs your scan results and concerns.

Skin typeRatingWhy
NormalNeutralMilder than SLS but still stripping for dry skin.
DryNeutralMilder than SLS but still stripping for dry skin.
OilyNeutralMilder than SLS but still stripping for dry skin.
CombinationNeutralMilder than SLS but still stripping for dry skin.
SensitiveNeutralMilder than SLS but still stripping for dry skin.

Is Sodium Laureth Sulfate comedogenic?

It has a comedogenic rating of 0 out of 5 in Pori's ingredient database, so it's unlikely to clog pores. Ratings like this come from older tests on single ingredients, and a finished product with it isn't necessarily pore-clogging. A 2006 study in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that finished products made with comedogenic ingredients were not necessarily comedogenic, so treat the number as a hint, not a verdict.

How do I check a product with Sodium Laureth Sulfate?

Scan the barcode or photograph the ingredient list with Pori's ingredient scanner (a Pro feature). It rates every ingredient for your skin type, flags fragrance, pore-clogging and irritating ingredients, and gives the product an overall match score. It's a guide to ingredients, not a diagnosis, so see a dermatologist about any reaction.

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Ingredient data from Pori's ingredient database; product counts from Open Beauty Facts (ODbL). General information, not medical advice.