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Emulsifiers That Never Stop Stripping
The cost of modern watered-down skincare - Emulsifiers
Watered-down products face an impossible task: forcing oil and water to mix. The solution? Emulsifiers—chemicals that grab oil molecules and make them blend with water. Here's the problem: emulsifiers don't clock off when they hit your skin. They keep working, grabbing your skin's natural oils and washing them away with every application. That expensive "hydrating" cream? It's actively stripping the lipid barrier it claims to support. Your skin responds the only way it knows how—producing more oil to replace what's lost, or giving up entirely and becoming chronically dry. Tallow balms contain no emulsifiers because they contain no water. Nothing fighting your skin's natural oils. Just lipids that integrate seamlessly with the barrier you already have.
Common Skincare Emulsifiers — Ranked by Barrier Disruption Potential
Tier 1 — Most Problematic
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) — Gold standard irritant in dermatology testing. Disrupts lipid bilayers.
Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) — Slightly gentler cousin, still a documented barrier disruptor.
PEG-100 Stearate — Penetration enhancer—actually helps other ingredients bypass the barrier.
Polysorbate 20/60/80 — Solubilizes skin lipids effectively; linked to barrier impairment in studies.
Tier 2 — Moderate Concern
Ceteareth-20 — Ethoxylated, potential 1,4-dioxane contamination, lipid-stripping.
Steareth-20/21 — Same concerns as above.
Cetearyl Alcohol + Ceteareth-20 (Emulsifying Wax) — Very common combo; the ceteareth is the issue.
PEG-40 Stearate — Penetration enhancement concerns.
Tier 3 — Lower Concern (but still emulsifiers)
Glyceryl Stearate — Relatively gentle, naturally derived, still emulsifies skin lipids to some degree.
Sorbitan Olivate / Cetearyl Olivate (Olivem 1000) — Popular in natural formulations, considered gentler.
Lecithin — Phospholipid-based, closer to skin-identical.
Sucrose Stearate — Sugar-based, newer generation, minimal irritation data.