Non-comedogenic moisturizers
Skip moisturizer and oily skin makes more oil. Eight formulas whose ingredient lists clear our pore-clogging list.
Skincare guides for acne-prone skin
24 guides. The product ones were put together by reading ingredient lists against our pore-clogging list; nothing on them was tested by us and no brand paid to be included. The routine ones cover the order things go on and where the comedogenic traps are at each step. The last group answers common questions about breakouts from the published studies.
Product guides
Non-comedogenic sunscreens
Sunscreen is the step acne-prone skin skips most, usually because the last one caused a breakout.
Non-comedogenic foundations
Full coverage over an active breakout, without the esters that keep it going.
Non-comedogenic concealers
Covering a spot so you stop picking at it is worth doing. Here is what to cover it with.
Non-comedogenic face washes and cleansers
Rinse-off products get less contact time, which does not make them free of pore-cloggers.
Non-comedogenic shampoos
Breakouts along the hairline, the back and the shoulders usually come from what runs down them in the shower.
Non-comedogenic primers
The layer between your skin and your makeup, and the one most likely to be silicone-heavy.
Non-comedogenic oils
Which facial oils sit at the bottom of the comedogenic scale and which sit at the top.
Routine guides
Morning skincare routine
What a morning routine is actually for, in the order things go on.
Nighttime skincare routine
The evening version, from taking the day off to the last occlusive step.
Skincare routine for oily skin
Built for skin that runs oily and congests, rather than for skin in a photograph.
Skincare routine for dry skin
Dry skin still clogs. A routine that puts moisture back without the heavy occlusives.
Questions about breakouts
Acne cosmetica: when skincare and makeup clog pores
The 1972 paper that named it, what it looks like, and the ingredients it pointed at.
Pomade acne: hair products and hairline breakouts
Why bumps line up along the hairline, and the oils in hair products that carry a rating.
Does sunscreen cause acne?
What a 1982 study of 29 sunscreens found, and why the base matters more than the filter.
Skin purging vs breakout: what the studies say
What purging is supposed to be, what trials of retinoids found, and how to check a new product.
Does Vaseline clog pores?
What petroleum jelly does in the skin, what the studies found, and what slugging adds.
Does Aquaphor clog pores?
The seven ingredients on the label, and the two our list carries a rating for.
Does beef tallow clog pores?
Two ratings for tallow on our list, what it is made of, and how to try it if you break out easily.
Is squalane comedogenic? Squalane vs squalene
Why one letter changes the answer, and what the rabbit-ear studies found about squalene.
What causes fungal acne?
The yeast behind it, what it lives on, and the triggers the case series and reviews name.
How to get rid of fungal acne
Why ordinary acne treatment misses it, what the treatment studies report, and why it comes back.
Fungal acne on the forehead and hairline
Why the forehead is a common site, how it differs from ordinary acne there, and what to check.
Fungal acne vs hormonal acne
Two conditions that get the same name and need different treatment, compared point by point.
Looking up one ingredient instead?
The A–Z list has a page for every rated ingredient, and the checker takes a whole label at once. For foundation, concealer, blush and the rest, non-comedogenic makeup sets out which makeup ingredients the list rates highest.