Comedogenic ingredients: their impact and alternatives for acne-prone skin

Understanding comedogenic ingredients is important for everyone but critical to those with acne-prone skin. 

As such, certain skin types might be more susceptible to breakouts caused by comedogenic ingredients and should be careful in choosing the right product. On the other hand, brands looking to deliver value to their clients should take consumer concerns around comedogenic ingredients and help them tailor their skincare routines, while also providing full disclosure about their potential ‘non-comedogenic’ claims.

Making informed choices is a crucial trend today, particularly among health-conscious consumers. As such, the focus is more and more on ingredient transparency, and consumers are increasingly discerning, as shown by the interest on tools like cosmetic ingredient analysis.

In this context, visibility around comedogenic ingredients represents a key issue in building consumer trust, so that brands can be seen actively empowering individuals to take control of their skin health. 

What are comedogenic ingredients and what are their effects

Comedogenic ingredients are substances in skincare and cosmetic products that have a tendency to clog pores, leading to the formation of comedones (blackheads and whiteheads), which can exacerbate acne and other skin issues. 

The tendency of an ingredient to cause comedones is referred to as its “comedogenicity”, a characteristic that can vary, so that some substances may clog pores more than others. 

In fact, certain cosmetic products can contribute to acne breakouts, a condition known as “acne cosmetica”. Characterized by small, persistent pimples and pustules, these breakouts usually appear on areas of the skin where makeup is frequently applied, although it’s not always caused by makeup products only.

However, understanding comedogenic ingredients also means it’s important to distinguish between comedogenicity and acnegenicity, two concepts that may sometimes merge but that present nuances:

• On the one hand, comedogenic ingredients are described for their capacity to clog pores. This, in turn, can lead to the formation of comedones, which are non-inflammatory acne lesions such as blackheads and whiteheads.
• Acnegenic ingredients, on the other hand, cause blockages and inflammation in the skin, triggering or worsening acne breakouts, including inflammatory acne lesions such as papules, pustules, and cysts. 

Which ingredients make a product comedogenic?

A list of substances that are commonly identified as comedogenic typically includes some fatty alcohols, stearic and palmitic fatty acids, certain esters and derivatives (such as Isopropyl myristate or isopropyl palmitate), waxes such as lanolin or certain emulsifiers such as Oleth-3 and Laureth-4.

However,  when it comes to spotting comedogenic ingredients, it’s important to adopt a nuanced approach.

As such, it must be noted that the comedogenicity of a specific ingredient can vary depending on its concentration, the exact formulation of the product, and an individual’s skin type and sensitivity. In fact, while some people with oily or acne-prone skin may be more susceptible to these ingredients, others might not experience any issues.

Take natural oils. Often considered pore-clogging, the truth is they can vary in comedogenicity depending on factors like processing and freshness. As such, refined oils are more likely to be comedogenic due to oxidation and loss of nutrients. An instance of this is how high-quality grapeseed oil has been praised for its capacity to substitute lecithin with a low comedogenic rating, offering a light and easily-absorbed moisturizer that also regulates oil production. Or the case for rosemary for skin care, departing from certain plant extracts that can be labeled as comedogenic ingredients.

In other words, when it comes to comedogenic ingredients, there’s no rule of thumb. Only the right balance between brand transparency and consumer education can truly manage this uncertainty.

How to find out if a product is comedogenic?

The traditional comedogenic rating scale assigns a numerical value from 0 to 5 to cosmetic ingredients based on their potential to clog pores and cause acne:

• 0: Non-comedogenic; does not clog pores.
• 1: Very low likelihood of clogging pores.
• 2: Low likelihood of clogging pores.
• 3: Moderate likelihood of clogging pores.
• 4: Fairly high likelihood of clogging pores.
• 5: High likelihood of clogging pores.

Typically, people with acne-prone skin are advised to avoid ingredients from categories 3, 4 and 5. However, the scale has recently been described as outdated, with critics basing their analysis on the inaccuracies detected on the tests behind the ratings.

The scale was initially developed based on studies where ingredients were tested on rabbit ears (known as “the rabbit ear model”). As such, critics question the model citing how rabbit skin differs significantly from human skin. Other comments also question how ingredients were often tested in high concentrations, a process which is not reflective of typical cosmetic formulations and which might have led to exaggerated comedogenic ratings. Finally, the ratings don’t take into account how human skin and its reactions vary greatly between individuals, and so do ingredient interactions: in fact, the comedogenic potential of an ingredient can change when combined with other ingredients.

The result is that there’s a lack of standardized assessment for comedogenicity. Today, the testing methods are variable, leading to inconsistent results: while some rely on outdated models, others use more modern approaches that are more accurate.This, in turn, means claims of “non-comedogenicity” can be highly subjective, making it difficult for consumers to make an informed decision.

In this unsteady landscape, consumers are taking precautions to navigate uncertainty in their quest for avoiding comedogenic ingredients.They favor brands that promote ingredient transparency and those that prioritize familiar, natural ingredients. In fact, the time has come to take ingredient transparency a step further, so that transparency is encouraged also in ‘behind-the-scenes’ processes and reporting. This would involve further accountability about how brands test for comedogenicity and the criteria they use to label products as non-comedogenic. 

In this landscape, education and awareness efforts about the nuances of comedogenicity are welcomed, so that brands that help consumers make informed choices based on their specific skin needs will be rewarded.

Therefore, transparency around comedogenic ingredients today goes beyond a mere check of the ingredient list. With conventional comedogenic rating scales now recognized as outdated, brands need to upgrade their efforts in communicating the potential comedogenic effects of their formulations.