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Retinol and sodium lauryl sulfate

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Retinol and sodium lauryl sulfate: keep them apart

Keep them apart

Use them on alternate nights, applying retinol on one night and sodium lauryl sulfate on the other, because combining them causes skin irritation. Sodium lauryl sulfate strips the skin barrier while retinol increases sensitivity, causing dryness, redness, and stinging when used together. The shopper can switch to a gentler cleanser or use the products on different days to prevent irritation.

Retinol products

Sodium lauryl sulfate products

Questions and answers

Can you use retinol and sodium lauryl sulfate together?

Keep retinol and sodium lauryl sulfate apart in your routine because combining them may strip your skin barrier and increase irritation. Using these ingredients separately helps prevent moisture loss.

The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2008Inflammation Research, 2010

Which goes first, retinol or sodium lauryl sulfate?

Keep retinol and sodium lauryl sulfate apart because combining them may strip the skin barrier and increase irritation. Sodium lauryl sulfate disrupts barrier function and increases inflammation, which conflicts with retinol.

The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2008Inflammation Research, 2010

Are retinol and sodium lauryl sulfate good for sensitive skin?

Keep retinol and sodium lauryl sulfate apart because harsh surfactants strip the skin barrier and may increase irritation. Sodium lauryl sulfate induces skin barrier disruption and local inflammation.

The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2008Inflammation Research, 2010

Research on retinol and sodium lauryl sulfate

Behind this pairing advice

Lovi checks every pairing with brand-independent rules our dermatologists and cosmetic chemists build and review, and personalizes every pick with AI trained on the real results of millions of users. Lovi trains its fit score models on a proprietary dataset built from more than 10,000 expert-labeled products and more than 100,000 simulated examples, following an internally consistent methodology presented at Cosmoprof, AMWC, and Skin of Color Update.

  • Nadia Kapleva, MS

    Nadia Kapleva, MS

    Co-founder, Medical Director

    Cosmetic chemist, cosmetologist, aesthetic products developer

  • Alexey Shagraev, PhD

    Alexey Shagraev, PhD

    Co-founder, CEO and CTO

    PhD in computer science, 3x US patent holder, ex-Google, ex-Yandex

  • Dr. Sof铆a Perea P茅rez, MD, MSc

    Dr. Sof铆a Perea P茅rez, MD, MSc

    Medical Board

    Aesthetic medicine practitioner, MSc in Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine

  • Aishani Shah, MD

    Aishani Shah, MD

    Medical Board

    Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD

  • Asya Zubkova, MS

    Asya Zubkova, MS

    Medical Board

    Cosmetic chemist, SCS, IFSCC member

  • Hanna Kurets, MD

    Hanna Kurets, MD

    Medical Board, Medical Advisor

    Dermatology MD

  • Elina Nazarenko, MD

    Elina Nazarenko, MD

    Medical Board

    Dermatology and diagnostic consultant

  • Victoria Derkova, MS

    Victoria Derkova, MS

    Medical Board

    Cosmetic chemist, cosmetic development technologist

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