Avoid These Acne-Inducing Ingredients
It can be challenging to find the right ingredients for your skin, especially if that skin is acne-prone. Check out this list of acne-inducing ingredients to see which ones you might want to avoid.
Ingredients Causing Dehydration: When your skin is dehydrated, your skin will begin to hold onto dead skin cells, ultimately clogging them and causing those pesky blemishes. Wondering what ingredients might cause dehydration? Try staying away from:
Ingredients Causing Sensitivity: Easily irritated skin can be exacerbated by the wrong ingredients, even if those ingredients are typically considered natural or non-irritating. Some examples include:
Ingredients Disrupting Your Endocrine System: Acne doesn’t always erupt from direct skin irritation. In some cases, ingredients applied to your skin via cosmetic products can affect your endocrine system by tampering with your hormones, leading to breakouts from within. When dealing with acne, changes in hormones are the last thing to mess with. We recommend steering clear of:
Natural Ingredients Clogging Pores: Although some ingredients seem perfectly safe, that does not mean that all of them are perfectly suited to your skin. For example, Shea and Coconut Butter, along with fruit and/or plant derived waxes, are likely to stifle your skin’s ability to breathe. Other ingredients, like witch hazel, are often distilled by alcohol (causes it to be extremely dehydrating to your skin) or are highly acidic and inflammation-inducing, like lemon and lime juice.
As always, not every ingredient – “natural” or not – is necessarily good or bad for your skin. We also recommend that you do your own research and patch test every ingredient to know what you are personally reactive to. If you follow these steps and avoid these acne-inducing ingredients, we’re confident that you’ll be able to calm your acne-prone skin.
Ingredients Causing Dehydration: When your skin is dehydrated, your skin will begin to hold onto dead skin cells, ultimately clogging them and causing those pesky blemishes. Wondering what ingredients might cause dehydration? Try staying away from:
- Silicone (often used to make your skin feel silky and smooth, but terrible for clogging pores). Often includes: Methicone, dimethicone, trimethicone, cyclomethicone, siloxane, cyclopentasiloxane, cyclotetrasiloxane, cyclohexasiloxane, silsesquioxane, trimethylsiloxysilicate, methylpolysiloxane, stearoxytrimethylsilane
- Talc:this natural ingredient dehydrates and traps most skin types.
Ingredients Causing Sensitivity: Easily irritated skin can be exacerbated by the wrong ingredients, even if those ingredients are typically considered natural or non-irritating. Some examples include:
- Exfoliating Beads: intended to remove dead skin cells, exfoliating beads can often cause further irritation and inflammation, according to Mona Gohara, MD, and Associate Clinical Professor at Yale University
- Perfumes & Colorants: Many fragrances are not fully defined, which makes it difficult for you to know which ones to avoid. To see a full list of which ones might be most irritating, check out this article on acne & fragrances, perfumes and preservatives
- Mica: Although this ingredient is considered natural and can be a staple in many cosmetic formulas, its use for shimmer can cause light to severe reactions for those with sensitive skin
Ingredients Disrupting Your Endocrine System: Acne doesn’t always erupt from direct skin irritation. In some cases, ingredients applied to your skin via cosmetic products can affect your endocrine system by tampering with your hormones, leading to breakouts from within. When dealing with acne, changes in hormones are the last thing to mess with. We recommend steering clear of:
- Parabens (discussed in the past here and here): methylparaben, propylparaben, ethylparaben, and butylparaben are particular offenders we recommend avoiding
- Phthalates: DEP (diethyl phthalate), DBP (di-n-butyl phthalate), BzBP (benzylbutyl phthalate)
Natural Ingredients Clogging Pores: Although some ingredients seem perfectly safe, that does not mean that all of them are perfectly suited to your skin. For example, Shea and Coconut Butter, along with fruit and/or plant derived waxes, are likely to stifle your skin’s ability to breathe. Other ingredients, like witch hazel, are often distilled by alcohol (causes it to be extremely dehydrating to your skin) or are highly acidic and inflammation-inducing, like lemon and lime juice.
As always, not every ingredient – “natural” or not – is necessarily good or bad for your skin. We also recommend that you do your own research and patch test every ingredient to know what you are personally reactive to. If you follow these steps and avoid these acne-inducing ingredients, we’re confident that you’ll be able to calm your acne-prone skin.