I’ve visited many facialists over the years to try and “fix my skin.” Each one has their own way of doing facials, and I’m quite particular about them. However, they all end up giving me a list of ingredients that clog pores and suggest I go through my beauty products to remove anything with those ingredients. Honestly, I never really followed through because it seemed overwhelming, and I had so many products that everyone loved. I ignored the list for years, but finally, over five years later, I tackled it, and it made a huge difference.
My adult acne, which I’ve had for years, is finally clearing up. My skin is much happier now that I’ve gotten rid of everything with pore-clogging ingredients. It was tough because almost everything had at least one pore-clogging ingredient, like shea butter, which is in so many products. But don’t worry, my friends with perfect skin happily took those products off my hands.
Here’s the thing: just because a product has pore-clogging ingredients doesn’t mean it’s bad. Some of the most popular beauty products are full of them. But if you have sensitive or acne-prone skin, the quickest fix is to drink lots of water and avoid letting those ingredients touch your skin.
I often share my favorite non-pore-clogging (noncomedogenic) products on my Instagram stories, and I’ll share them with you below. But first, I wanted to provide a complete list of pore-clogging ingredients so we can all easily check our products and keep our skin in check.
**Pro-tip:** Bookmark this page, and when you’re shopping for products, use the search function to cross-reference ingredients!
**Complete List of Pore-Clogging Ingredients:**
– Acetylated Lanolin
– Acetylated Lanolin Alcohol
– Algae Extract
– Algin
– Butyl Stearate
– Carrageenan
– Cetyl Acetate
– Cetearyl Alcohol + Ceteareth 20
– Chondrus Crispus (Irish Moss/Carageenan Moss)
– Chlorella
– Coal Tar
– Cocoa Butter
– Coconut Alkanes
– Coconut Butter
– Coconut Oil
– Colloidal Sulfur
– Cotton Awws Oil
– Cotton Seed Oil
– D & C Red # 17
– D & C Red # 21
– D & C Red # 3
– D & C Red # 30
– D & C Red # 36
– Decyl Oleate
– Dioctyl Succinate
– Disodium Monooleamido
– Ethoxylated Lanolin
– Ethylhexyl Palmitate
– Glyceryl Stearate SE
– Glyceryl-3 Diisostearate
– Hexadecyl Alcohol
– Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil
– Isocetyl Alcohol
– Isocetyl Stearate
– Isodecyl Oleate
– Isopropyl Isostearate
– Isopropyl Linolate
– Isopropyl Myristate
– Isopropyl Palmitate
– Isostearyl Isostearate
– Isostearyl Neopentanoate
– Kelp
– Laminaria Digitata Extract
– Laminaria Saccharina Extract (Laminaria Saccharine)
– Laureth-23
– Laureth-4
– Lauric Acid
– Mink Oil
– Myristic Acid
– Myristyl Lactate
– Myristyl Myristate
– Octyl Palmitate
– Octyl Stearate
– Oleth-3
– Oleyl Alcohol
– PEG 16 Lanolin
– PEG 2- Sulfosuccinate
– PEG 200 Dilaurate
– PEG 8 Stearate
– PG Monostearate
– PPG 2 Myristyl Propionate
– Plankton
– Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate
– Potassium Chloride
– Propylene Glycol Monostearate
– Red Algae
– Seaweed
– Sea Whip Extract
– Shark Liver Oil (Squalene)
– Shea Butter
– Sodium Laureth Sulfate
– Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
– Solulan 16
– Sorbitan Oleate
– Soybean Oil
– Spirulina
– Steareth 10
– Stearic Acid Tea
– Stearyl Heptanoate
– Sulfated Castor Oil
– Sulfated Jojoba Oil
– Wheat Germ Glyceride
– Wheat Germ Oil
– Xylene
**Shop My Favorite Non-Pore-Clogging Products!**
(Be sure to always check the ingredients, as companies often change their formulas!)