The shower gel ranks among the most important products in your skincare routine to ensure your daily body hygiene. Therefore, it is crucial to choose a product that meets the needs of your skin. However, most people select it based on its fragrance, price, or advertisements, but other factors come into play. Here are the criteria to consider when choosing your shower gel.
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How to choose your shower gel?
Summary
- 1. Use a product suitable for your skin type
- 2. Check the list of ingredients
- 3. Opt for a shower gel containing gentle active ingredients for the skin
- 4. Choose a sulfate-free shower gel
- 5. Opt for an environmentally friendly skincare product
- Sources
Published December 9, 2021,
updated on August 2, 2024,
by
Stéphanie, PhD, Doctorate in Life and Health Sciences
—
6 min read
1. Use a product suitable for your skin type.
The choice of one's shower gel primarily depends on the skin's needs:
Dry Skin: For this skin type, steer towards a product with a rich texture such as an over-fatted shower gel or even a washing oil, containing lipid-replenishing and nourishing agents (vegetable oils, squalane, vegetable butters, etc...). Their formulations will help to rebuild the skin barrier and the hydrolipidic film;
Combination to Oily Skin: Prioritise gentle formulations that will cleanse the skin without disrupting its natural balance. Above all, avoid harsh shower gels, as, when feeling attacked, the skin will start to produce more sebum. Turn to a shower gel rich in exfoliating actives (glycolic acid, salicylic acid, micro-beads, etc...) which will help to unclog pores, regulate sebum production and limit the presence of imperfections;
Sensitive and atopic skin: These types of skin require special care. Therefore, to look after sensitive and atopic skin, opt for a hypoallergenic shower gel with a minimalist formula, featuring a plant-based cleansing base, free from allergenic substances (parabens, synthetic fragrance, sulfates, alcohol, etc...) and with a pH close to that of the skin.
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2. Check the list of ingredients.
When purchasing your shower gel, pay attention to the I.N.C.I. list of the product. The ingredients present in the body cleansing product are mandatorily listed in ascending order of the quantities used. Indeed, the first 3 or 4 ingredients predominantly make up the formula. Therefore, the order is of importance. In this regard, opt for products with a short ingredient formula. Indeed, the longer the list, the more likely you are to find chemical substances potentially harmful to health in the care product. At Typology, we have the principle of removing superfluous ingredients and keeping only the essentials.
3. Opt for a shower gel containing gentle active ingredients for the skin.
In most instances, shower gel is chosen based on its texture or fragrance. However, a colourful or strongly scented product is likely to contain chemical agents. These agents are often irritants or allergens. Therefore, avoid products containing parabens (preservatives suspected of being endocrine disruptors), dyes, synthetic fragrances, methylchloroisothiazolinone (MIT) and/or methylisothiazolinone (preservatives used to replace parabens but which have allergenic properties), phenoxyethanol (a compound suspected of being an endocrine disruptor), phthalates (carcinogenic effect and endocrine disruptor), etc...
4. Choose a sulfate-free shower gel.
Shower gel is composed of surfactants, the cleansing agents. The sodium laureth sulfate, the sodium lauryl sulfate and ammonium lauroyl sulfate are the most commonly used. They are favoured by manufacturers, as their prices are affordable. Moreover, cleansing products that contain them produce abundant foam. However, these surfactants strip the skin and damage the hydrolipidic barrier. Studies have shown that they pose irritating risks. Faced with this potential risk, it is preferable to opt for body cleansing products based on gentle and plant-based surfactants, such as the coco-glucoside, the coco-betaine, sodium lauroyl lactylate, sodium cocoyl glutamate, etc... They are just as effective. The only downside, if you will, is that they produce less foam. However, it is not the foam that cleans. It does not reflect the effectiveness of the product in cleaning properly.
5. Opt for an environmentally friendly skincare product.
To protect the planet, opt for a shower gel with non-polluting ingredients. Indeed, after your shower, each active ingredient that makes up your skincare product returns to nature. Therefore, ensure that it is biodegradable. Natural substances, basic and minimally modified, decompose easily. For instance, avoid products containing substances under the name "polymer" or "polyquartenium" which are non-biodegradable. They are used as antistatic agents or film-forming agents in bath products, shampoos, or hair care products.
Sources:
HAPPLE R. et al. Profile of irritant patch testing with detergents: sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate and alkyl polyglucoside, Contact Dermatitis (2003).
SCHETTLER T. Human exposure to phthalates through consumer products, International Journal of Andrology (2006).
ANDERSEN F.A & others. Final report on the revised safety evaluation of sodium lauryl sulfate and associated salts of sulfated ethoxylated alcohols. International Journal of Toxicology (2010).
BYUNG-MU L. Risk assessment of unintentional phthalates contaminants in cosmetics. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology (2020).
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