Q. I really wanted to send you an email thanking you for your absolutely amazing guide! I’ve been a bit of a nut, searching for makeup without nasty chemicals ever since I learned about the dangers of parabens a few years ago. I wanted to ask you about an ingredient I’ve noticed in several lists while I was perusing Sephora’s natural section for the past few days, Lauroyl Lysine. The EWG has it rated as a 0 though it does warn about a data gap, and I know it’s derived from coconut fatty acid, but do you know of any dangers involved with this ingredient? Again, thank you so much for your wonderful Green Beauty Guide! It will constantly be toted around with me as I shop from now on.
A. Thanks so much for asking. Lauroyl lysine is quite a new ingredient, no wonder no one scrutinized it yet. Lauroyl lysine is an amino acid derived from coconut oil. But we already know that not all chemicals derived from coconut oil are good for your skin. You can take humble coconut oil, spray it with acetone and chlorine and – voila! – you have a totally new “natural” ingredient. Take coconut, slather it with formaldehyde, and think for a moment – will it be the same coconut, tasty and wholesome? Tecnhically speaking, yes. Will you eat it? I truly doubt that. So let’s leave coconut side of the story and see what’s really happened to coconut before it became lauroyl lysine.
Lysine is an amino acid found in plants, most abundantly in legumes, and lysine is also naturally present in human cells. Lauroyl stands for a fatty acid derived from coconut and palm oils. Then lysine is estherified (treated with ethanol) and then followed by reacting the ester with lauroyl chloride. Chemically speaking, lauroyl lysine is composed of lauric acid and lysine HCl. It is a white, solid product which is then dried and used to create “silky feel” in makeup and skincare. Lauroyl lysine is also used as a preservative for its anti-microbial activity. Most of lauroyl lysine used in cosmetics comes from China.
Honestly, I don’t think that lauroyl lysine is just as harmful as parabens or polyquaterniums or as irritating as phenoxyethanol. The process of its manufacturing doesn’t seem to be highly poisonous or involving super-toxic chemicals. But being a green purist, I’d rather not use it in my beauty products. The rest is up to you, of course.
