Acne cosmetica
Acne cosmetica is acne brought on by something you put on your skin and leave there: a moisturizer, a foundation, a hair product. Albert Kligman and Otto Mills gave it the name in 1972, after finding that half of the 25 facial creams they tested were mildly comedogenic.
That paper started the search for which ingredients clog pores. The ratings that came out of it are what our pore-clogging ingredients list publishes, for 285 ingredients, so you can look up any name on a label.
What it looks like
Kligman and Mills described a low-grade, persistent eruption: mostly small closed comedones (whiteheads), with an occasional inflamed papule or pustule. They put it at a third of adult women, and wrote that daily use of a product over years could bring it on in women prone to it.
It turns up where the product goes. Breakouts from hair products, for example, tend to sit along the hairline, the upper forehead or the back of the neck, which is how the American Academy of Dermatology describes them. The hair version has its own name, pomade acne.
Does makeup cause acne?
Some can. The 1972 study is the evidence that a cosmetic used daily can cause comedones. It is not evidence that every foundation or concealer does, and the label "non-comedogenic" does not settle it either: no agency defines the term, so it is the brand's own claim.
What you can check is the ingredient list. Non-comedogenic makeup sets out the makeup ingredients our list rates highest, and the ingredient checker reads a whole label at once.
Why a clean label is only part of the answer
Most ratings come from tests on single ingredients, often on rabbit ears. A 2006 review by Draelos and DiNardo found that those results did not reliably predict what a finished product does on human skin. A product with no rated ingredient can still cause trouble, and one with a rated ingredient low in the list may not.
Ingredients the 1972 paper named, rated today
Among the ingredients Kligman and Mills pointed to were lanolin, vegetable oils, butyl stearate, lauryl alcohol and oleic acid. Here is how each is rated on our list. The oils are rated one by one on the non-comedogenic oils guide.
| Ingredient | Rating | Published as |
|---|---|---|
| Lanolin Oil | 2–4 High risk | A heavy, wax-like substance secreted by sheep; one of the most effective known occlusives. |
| Butyl Stearate | 3–4 High risk | A synthetic compound used to decrease the thickness of liquids and condition skin. |
| Lauryl Alcohol | 2 Low risk | A fatty alcohol used as a fragrance ingredient, emollient, and emulsion stabilizer. |
| Oleic Acid | 3–5 High risk | A monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid that is deeply moisturizing but notorious for causing acne. |
If you think a product is the cause
- Paste its full ingredient list into the checker and note anything rated 3 or above, and how high in the list it sits.
- Stop one product at a time, so you can tell which one it was. For hair products the American Academy of Dermatology suggests allowing 4 to 6 weeks for the skin to clear.
- If nothing has improved after 6 weeks, or the breakouts are painful or leaving marks, see a dermatologist.
Common questions
What is acne cosmetica?
It is acne brought on by products that stay on the skin, such as creams, makeup and hair products. Kligman and Mills named it in 1972 and described it as low-grade and persistent: mostly small closed comedones, with an occasional inflamed bump.
Does makeup cause acne?
It can. In the 1972 study that named acne cosmetica, half of the 25 facial creams tested were mildly comedogenic, and daily use over years brought on breakouts in women prone to them. That does not mean all makeup does. A 2006 review found that ratings for single ingredients do not reliably predict how a finished product behaves on human skin, so checking the label is a first step, not a verdict.
How long does acne cosmetica take to clear?
For breakouts from hair products, the American Academy of Dermatology says to stop the product and allow 4 to 6 weeks for the skin to clear, and to see a dermatologist if it has not improved within 6 weeks.
Look up every ingredient on a label
The pore-clogging ingredients list has a page for each of the rated ingredients, with its rating and family.
More questions about breakouts
Sources used on this page
- Kligman AM, Mills OH Jr. “Acne cosmetica.” Archives of Dermatology, December 1972;106(6):843–850. (opens in a new tab) The paper that named cosmetic acne and started the search for which ingredients cause it.
- Fulton JE Jr, Pay SR, Fulton JE 3rd. “Comedogenicity of current therapeutic products, cosmetics, and ingredients in the rabbit ear.” Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, January 1984;10(1):96–105. (opens in a new tab) The published ingredient-by-ingredient ratings that most comedogenic lists, including this one, trace back to.
- Draelos ZD, DiNardo JC. “A re-evaluation of the comedogenicity concept.” Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, March 2006;54(3):507–512. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2005.11.1058 (opens in a new tab) Found that animal-model results did not reliably predict what happened on human skin, and that a rating for a single ingredient does not tell you how a finished product will behave.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “Cosmetics Labeling Claims”. (opens in a new tab) States that the FDA does not keep a list of approved or accepted cosmetic claims; a label must simply be truthful and not misleading. There is no FDA definition of “non-comedogenic” for a brand to meet.
- American Academy of Dermatology, “Are your hair care products causing breakouts?”. (opens in a new tab) Breakouts along the hairline, upper forehead or back of the neck; stop the product, wash anything that touches the hair, and allow 4 to 6 weeks to clear.
- American Academy of Dermatology, “Acne: When to see a dermatologist”. (opens in a new tab)