SLS, SLES and What Most Brands Don't Tell You

You've started reading labels. You've started avoiding SLS. You've switched to a body wash that says "SLS-free" on the front and felt good about it.

But have you checked what they replaced it with?

The Swap Most Brands Make

When consumer pressure pushed mainstream brands to remove SLS from their formulations, most of them didn't rethink their approach to cleansing. They simply found something that sounded better.

The most common replacement is SLES — Sodium Laureth Sulphate. It appears on nearly every "gentle" or "SLS-free" mainstream body wash, shampoo and face wash available today.

Here is what most brands don't tell you about SLES.

It is a sulphate. Made through a similar process to SLS. Only marginally milder in its effect on the skin barrier. And during its manufacturing process, it can be contaminated with a compound called 1,4-dioxane — classified as a probable human carcinogen by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Switching from SLS to SLES is not a meaningful improvement for your skin. It is a marketing decision dressed as a formulation one.

The Other Alternatives

To be fair, not all SLS alternatives are created equal. Some brands do make genuinely better choices:

SLSA — Sodium Lauryl Sulphoacetate is a larger molecule than SLS and doesn't penetrate the skin as deeply. Significantly milder. Considered safe for sensitive skin. A legitimate improvement.

Coco Glucoside and Decyl Glucoside are plant-derived surfactants — gentle, biodegradable and commonly used in baby products. Genuinely kind to skin.

Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate — derived from coconut oil — creates a rich, creamy lather and is mild enough for dry and sensitive skin. Used in many natural solid bars.

These are real alternatives. Meaningful ones. But they are still synthetic surfactants — still doing the same job as SLS, just more gently.

What Montara Does Instead

We didn't switch SLS for something that sounds better. We removed the need for it entirely.

Every Montara bar is built on saponified oils — extra virgin olive oil, cold-pressed coconut oil, castor oil, golden jojoba oil. Saponification is the oldest and most natural soap-making process known — oils are transformed into soap through a chemical reaction with a natural alkali, producing a cleanser that is entirely plant-derived, with no synthetic surfactant of any kind.

The lather in a Montara bar comes entirely from the oils themselves. Not from a surfactant added to create the impression of cleansing. The cleansing and the nourishment come from the same source.

This is a fundamentally different approach to what most brands — natural or otherwise — are doing. It is slower to make, more expensive to formulate, and produces a softer lather than consumers raised on SLS products are used to.

That softer lather is not a compromise. It is the point.

What to Look For on a Label

Next time you pick up a "natural" or "gentle" body wash, check the ingredients for:

Sodium Lauryl Sulphate — avoid. Sodium Laureth Sulphate — avoid. Ammonium Lauryl Sulphate — avoid. These are all sulphate surfactants that strip the skin barrier regardless of what the front of the packaging says.

The presence of Coco Glucoside, Decyl Glucoside or Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate suggests a brand that has made a genuine effort. The absence of any synthetic surfactant — replaced instead by saponified plant oils — suggests a brand that has rethought the process entirely.

You deserve to know the difference.

Every Montara bar is free from SLS, SLES, parabens and synthetic fragrance. Made entirely with saponified plant oils, natural butters and botanicals — nothing else.