What to avoid if you have acne-prone skinUpdated a year ago
When you have acne-prone skin, it’s important to avoid comedogenic ingredients. Comedogenicity is a rating given to ingredients or products based on how likely they are to clog pores.
Most brands advertising to those with acne-prone skin have phased out ingredients that score high on the comedogenicity scale, like cocoa butter, wheat germ oil, isopropyl myristate, or algae extract. There are some exceptions, of course, especially amongst clean or natural beauty brands.
Whether you’ll break out or not also depends on the concentration of comedogenic ingredients in a formula, and how it’s used. For instance, a small amount of petrolatum in a moisturizer might be safe (albeit a little greasy), but full-strength petrolatum may contribute to bacterial proliferation by occluding the skin too much.
If your skin is already compromised, breakouts are likely no matter what, and it can seem like new skincare products are the trigger. However, once acne is mostly dealt with, the skin can become more tolerant of certain ingredients.