Last Updated on September 20, 2026 by Giorgia Guazzarotti

“Gio, this cream has a drop of [insert known comedogenic ingredient]. Will it give me pimples?” Look, I get it. If you’ve got acne-prone skin, the last thing you want to do is slather on something that has even the remotest possibility of giving you another breakout.

But NO ONE can look at an ingredient list and predict if it’ll give you pimples. It doesn’t work like that. And while we’re on the subject, all those comedogenicity lists you find online (I’ve posted one too 😉 ) aren’t accurate either. Truth bomb: just because an ingredient has pore-clogging abilities, it doesn’t mean it’ll cause an acne breakout. (That’s why my list comes with a few warnings, FYI).

So, if sticking to non-comedenic products isn’t the answer, how can you tell when a product is trouble? The short answer: A comedogenic ingredient can contribute to clogged pores, but finding one in an ingredient list doesn’t mean the finished product will give you acne. Concentration, formulation, how much you use and your individual skin type all matter. That’s why comedogenicity ratings are a clue, not a guarantee.

Here’s the truth about comedogenic ingredients and what to really be on the lookout for when you skincare shop for your acne-prone skin:

What Does Non-Comedogenic Mean?

“Comedo” is how scientists call a “clogged pore.” And as you well know, clogged pores can lead to all sorts of acne: blackheads, whiteheads, pimples… So “comedogenic” simply means “more likely to clog your pores and give you acne.” You do want to stay away from anything that makes your pores more likely to get clogged.  But figuring out what that is, isn’t as simple as checking a “comedogenic list” or even an ingredient checker online. *sighs*

Why You Can’t Predict A Break Out From An Ingredient List

Where do I start?

Problem #1: Non-Comedogenic Claims Aren’t Regulated

The term non-comedogenic isn’t regulated in any way. No laws determine what ingredients can’t be used in non-comedogenic products. No government agency or other organisation  )(official or independent) sets standards for what non-comedogenic means and verifies they aren’t violated. Heck, we don’t even have reliable studies that tell us what ingredients are comedogenic or not! You know what that means? Brands can literally put ANYTHING they want in skincare and makeup products and label them non-comedogenic. Are you gonna trust that?!

Related: Beauty Myth Busted: What Non-Comedogenic Really Means

Struggling to put together a cost-effective skincare routine that banishes acne and blackheads? Download your FREE “The Ordinary Anti-Acne Skincare Routine” to get started (it features product recommendations + right application order):

Problem #2: Science Doesn’t Know Which Ingredients Are Comedogenic Or Not

Aren’t scientists researching this?! Don’t they do comedogenicity testing?!  Yes, we have studies on the comedogenicity of ingredients. Those “comedogenic lists” you find online are based on them. They’re just not accurate.

Here’s the deal: the first studies on the comedogenicity of ingredients were done with the Rabbit Ear Model. Put simply, researchers slathered a high dose of an ingredient on a rabbit’s ear every day for weeks to see what compounds would give them acne. You see the problem now? We’re not rabbits. Rabbit’s ears are way more prone than our skin to “overreact to comedogenic materials.”  Kinda skews the results, don’t you think?

Plus, as another study points out, rabbits didn’t have acne in the first place. We don’t know if even the pore-clogging ingredients react the same way on human inflammatory acne (i.e., on inflamed skin colonised by P.Acnes).

Here’s something else that’ll blow your mind: when comedogenic ingredients are tested on real humans, they turn out not to be comedogenic at all!  Mind you, this study has limitations, too. The researchers only tested ingredients considered “mildly or moderately comedogenic.” Had they tested the “highly comedogenic” ones, the results may have been a little different!

And newer research hasn’t solved the problem. A 2025 review of comedogenicity research from 1972 to 2025 found there’s still no standardised testing method, animal tests don’t consistently predict what happens on human skin, and testing an ingredient on its own doesn’t tell you how it’ll behave once it’s diluted and mixed with other ingredients in a finished formula.

In short: comedogenicity lists can’t reliably tell you whether an ingredient will make a finished skincare product clog your pores.

Problem #3: It’s The Dose That Makes The Poison

Not only humans aren’t rabbits, we also don’t bathe in skincare creams. Scientists love to use incredibly highly concentrations of an ingredient to test if it’ll give you pimples. But most creams only use a sprinkle of them. In some rabbit-ear tests, ingredients were tested at 100% concentration – nothing like the much smaller amounts typically used in finished skin care products. How can that give you the same results?! Even if the offender is high on the ingredient list, how often are you using it? Every day? Once a week? This stuff matters. Small, occasional doses aren’t as dangerous as big, frequent ones. Period.

Problem #4: We’re All Different

Even if scientists designed better studies  (you know, small amounts on acne-prone skin, improved testing process and all that jazz), it’s unlikely the results would be universal. You know why? Cos we’re all different! Everyone’s skin is different. Everyone’s lifestyle habits are different. Everyone’s skincare routines are different. You know what that means? What works for one person may not work for another. There are just too many factors that contribute to acne – skin type, diet, hormones, stress, climate etc – no one can tell whether a single skincare product or ingredient can aggravate it or not.

How To Tell If A Skincare Product Is Clogging Your Pores

So, if ingredient lists can’t tell you whether a product will clog your pores, how the hell are you supposed to know? You use your face. Annoying, I know. But your skin is a much better judge than any comedogenicity chart.

The easiest way to catch the culprit is to introduce one new product at a time. If you start using a new cleanser, serum, moisturiser and sunscreen all at once and suddenly break out, congratulations: you now have four suspects and no clue which one did it.

If the blackheads, whiteheads or pimples start showing up after you introduce a new product, stop using it and watch what happens. If your skin settles down, then flares up again when you bring the product back, that tells you a hell of a lot more about your breakout triggers than some random “pore-clogging checker” online.

And pay attention to patterns. I know high amounts of Isopropyl Palmitate and Isopropyl Myristate can break me out, so when I see them near the top of products’ ingredient lists my eyebrow goes up. Does that mean you need to avoid them too? Nope. Your skin may love them. That’s the whole point: your breakout history is more useful than a comedogenicity rating.

Related: How To Tell If You’re Purging Or Breaking Out (And What To Do About It)

How To Use Comedogenicity Lists

Having said all this, I wouldn’t call comedogenicity lists useless. They shouldn’t be taken at face value but they can be a useful guide – if you know how to use them. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Mild or moderately comedogenic: These are probably fine for everyone even in high amounts.
• Highly comedogenic ingredients: If they made the top 5 on the ingredient list and you have oily, acne-prone skin, avoid. Yes, even if they’re natural ingredients. For other skin types, they’re unlikely to cause acne breakouts.
• Trust your skin: It doesn’t matter what lists says, if you notice that a specific ingredient breaks you out, avoid it (high doses of the Palmitate and Myristate families will do that for me).
• Patch test: When in doubt, ask for a sample and use the product on a small patch of skin. I know it sucks, but you won’t know what really works for you until you try it.

FAQ

What is the rabbit ear model/rabbit ear test and why was it used to test comedogenic ingredients?

Get this – scientists back in the day literally tested ingredients on rabbit ears. 😭 They’d slap high doses of pore-cloggers on these poor bunnies’ ears every day for weeks to see what gave them acne. But like… we’re not rabbits??? Rabbit ears are SO much more sensitive than our skin so obviously everything looked way worse. Plus the rabbits didn’t even have acne to start with so how tf would we know if these ingredients react the same on actual inflamed human skin with c.acnes?? Make it make sense.

Can comedogenic ingredients cause other skin issues besides acne?

Most of the time we only think about acne, but clogged pores can also give you those annoying closed comedones that just sit under your skin forever, or make your texture look all bumpy and rough. some people get milia too, which are those tiny white bumps that won’t pop no matter what you do lol. But again it’s so individual, what clogs my pores might do nothing to yours.

Related: How To Prevent And Treat Milia Seeds

Are natural or organic ingredients less likely to be comedogenic?

No, that’s such bs!! Coconut oil is literally one of the worst things for clogging pores and it’s 100% natural. Just cuz it comes from a plant doesn’t mean your skin’s gonna be like “oh cool thanks.” Tons of people break out from coconut oil but it’s “natural” right?? And then you got synthetic stuff that’s acne-safe. So yeah, natural doesn’t mean shit when it comes to whether something clogs your pores or not.

If a product breaks me out, how long will it take for my skin to clear up after I stop using it?

Ugh this is the worst part, but you’re looking at like 4-6 weeks before your skin’s back to normal. 😭 Your skin needs that long to do its whole cell turnover thing. All those clogs that are already there gotta work their way out. So even after you throw the product in the trash you still gotta wait it out, which is annoying af but there’s no way around it.

Does the order in which I apply products affect whether they’ll be comedogenic?

The order you layer stuff actually matters a lot more than people realize. Take silicones, for examples. They aren’t comedogenic at all, but if you layer them over something that IS comedogenic, they basically trap that shit under your skin and then boom, breakouts. Same deal with occlusives like petrolatum or heavy oils – they’re not necessarily the problem themselves, but they lock in whatever you put on before. So if you applied something pore-clogging first and then put an occlusive or silicone on top, you’re basically trapping all that crap in your pores. That’s why layering order is lowkey super important. Put your lighter, potentially sketchy ingredients on last so they’re not getting sealed into your skin all day.

Related: Are Silicones Bad For Skin?

The Bottom Line

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you can’t tell by looking at the ingredient list if a product will give you acne or not. The best you can do is trust your skin and avoid products with high concentrations of highly comedogenic ingredients.