Sodium Laureth-8 Sulfate ●
TL;DR. This ingredient is an anionic cleansing surfactant used for foam, detergency, and oil removal in shampoos, body washes, hand washes, and facial cleansers.
What does Sodium Laureth-8 Sulfate do in a cosmetic formula?
This ingredient is an anionic cleansing surfactant used for foam, detergency, and oil removal in shampoos, body washes, hand washes, and facial cleansers.
Is Sodium Laureth-8 Sulfate clean?
Clean-beauty frameworks often flag it because it is ethoxylated, so suppliers need tight controls for 1,4-dioxane and residual ethylene oxide. It can also be drying or irritating at higher levels, especially outside rinse-off formats.
Is Sodium Laureth-8 Sulfate sustainable?
This material is usually made from a fatty alcohol feedstock plus petrochemical-derived processing, and the fatty portion may trace back to coconut or palm kernel. It is generally readily biodegradable, but rinse-off use adds aquatic surfactant load and manufacturing quality depends on impurity stripping and process controls.
Is Sodium Laureth-8 Sulfate COSMOS-approved?
It is not permitted under COSMOS-natural or COSMOS-organic because ethoxylation sits outside the standard’s allowed chemistry. Its Green Chemistry profile is mixed: good biodegradability and efficient cleansing, but weaker marks for petrochemical input and impurity-control requirements.
How does Sodium Laureth-8 Sulfate work chemically?
The molecule is a sodium salt built from a C12-rich fatty chain with an average of about 8 ethoxy units and a terminal anionic head group, giving high water solubility and strong micelle formation. It is typically used in rinse-off formulas at about 3-15% active matter, performs across mildly acidic to neutral pH, and is often paired with amphoteric surfactants plus salt or polymer thickeners to tune viscosity and reduce sting or dryness.
Last updated 2026-05-16