What ingredients can clog your pores?
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
For those who are proned to acne, using products that are labelled as non-comogendic may not be enough as I’ve come across some products labelled as such but they still containing pore clogging ingredients that can possibly aggravate acne.
Here are some ingredients that are rated as highly comedogenic:
- Algae Extract
- Carrageenan
- Hexadecyl Alcohol
- Isocetyl Stearate
- Isopropyl Isostearate
- Isopropyl Myristate
- Laureth 4
- Myristyl Myristate
- Octyl Stearate
- Oleth-3
- Potassium Chloride
- Red Algae
- Sodium Chloride (Salt)
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
- Wheat Germ Oil
Yes, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or SLS is highly comedogenic. Many botanical or natural oils such as cocoa butter, coconut butter and coconut oil are also rated as having fairly high propensity to clog pores. If you have problems with acne, you may want to look up the full list here. Look at the ratings under the column listed COM. The higher the score, the more comedogenic it is.
But it’s kind of doubtful that mineral oil which is often said to be a pore clogging ingredient, is considered as non-comedogenic in the list. One explanation I read is that mineral oil does not penetrate our skin but just sit on top of it so it shouldn’t clog our skin. Whereas for some of the natural oils listed, they have a very small molecular structure and so they can clogs the pores.
In addition, if you have acne near your hairline, you might want to check your shampoos and conditioners especially those that leave a residue as it could be their ingredients giving you the problem.
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Posted in Ingredients101 | 14 Comments »
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July 17th, 2008 at 11:56 am
any recommendations for cosmetic products that are non comedogenic?
hlpe: In terms of skincare, I thought Vichy, La Roche-Posay and Avene are worth a try. For makeup, a bit hard for me to recommend though…
July 17th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Thanks for providing the link for comedogenic ingredients. I was wondering if you knew what ‘IRR’ stands for? It’s the column next ‘COM’.
Does ‘IRR’ stand for Irritant?
Rachel: Yes, it’s for Irritant. I should have clarified that too.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Thanks for the list! I had the whole shampoo/conditioner causing breakouts not only on my hairline but over my whole face! Stopped using and it was fine.
paris: Yeah, I remember reading about that…
January 1st, 2009 at 10:07 pm
i personally find that any facial wash with “foam”, will clog pores & make the skin “foam” facial wash will clog pores & gives the skin tight feeling, even the expensive brand like shiseido , neutrogena, or Bioterm… the best is still the Gel tpye facial wash..
Isabel: Interesting. I suppose it depends on the ingredients and also on your skin type. Some foaming wash do not have pore clogging ingredients though…
April 11th, 2009 at 3:28 am
Thank you SO much for this list, it was exactly what I was looking for.
Christine: You’re welcome!
July 4th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Have you come across any make up products that are not comedogenics?
sesame Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Mineral foundation and makeup range aren’t. They have very little ingredients so they don’t clog our pores. Some organic makeup too cos they don’t contain mineral oil or silicones.
July 5th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Which mineral make up brand do you use personally?
sesame Reply:
July 5th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I laid my hands off mineral makeup for awhile due to fear cos I developed allergies to using one of them. But recently, I found the ones from LA Splash really great. I had a review here http://www.vivawoman.net/2009/06/04/reviewla-splash-mineral-foundation-blush/ if you like to read. I really like how natural it looks on my skin. Everyday Minerals was okay for me too, but I had to go through trial and error to get the correct shade cos some oxidizes.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Hi, I have found on the full list that aloe vera gel is one of the ingredient that clog pores?? Thast suprise me alot! My skin been prefectly fine until half a year ago it started break out like crazy, which I never have acne in my life ( only one or two during menstrual). I dont know if its the hormone that screw up or the BB cream i used. Right now im only using tinted moituriser. But im looking for a better alternative and am thinking of giving the Skinfood Aloe Vera bb cream a try.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Why don’t you stop using your BB cream for awhile and see what happens. The problem with such creams is that there are too many ingredients and you can’t be certain what’s causing the problem.
December 19th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Wonderful post you have it here. Yes as an acne-plagued person, I have switched numerous products to see what works best.
January 24th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
I started useing MAC studio fix liquid makeup. Not long after, I noticed my skin started to breakout. I was one who never broke out. After some research I found that MAC studio fix contains Algae Extract. Discontinued use immediatly and skin cleared up within a few weeks.
sesame Reply:
January 24th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
Glad you found the cause of your breakout. Sometimes, certain products just doesn’t agree with our skin even if it’s a good product.