When you have acne-prone skin, the best non-comedogenic makeup should be top of mind to avoid further breakouts. I’m militant about my product selection in the pursuit for clearer skin—every cleanser, serum, and SPF formulation is vetted and patch-tested before earning a place in my routine. But it wasn’t until a recent facial with celebrity aesthetician Sofie Pavitt that I realized my carefully curated complexion might still be under siege—this time, by my own makeup products.
Celebrity makeup artist Andrea Ventura agrees. “It’s critical to avoid pore-clogging makeup especially if you have sensitive skin, oily skin, or acne-prone skin. For those with any of these skin types, using makeup with comedogenic ingredients ultimately traps bacteria and oil in pores, is clogging your pores, leading to more breakouts,” Ventura tells Vogue.
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Rather than cross my fingers whenever I try a new powder blush or foundation, I decided to take control. Call it my beauty bag reckoning—a spring clean guided by acne-safe ingredient lists, and comedogenicity ratings. Inspired by Pavitt’s advice of avoiding all comedogenics while on a skin-clearing protocol, I took to scanning every label with the scrutiny of a chemist, purging anything that didn’t pass the acne-safe test. “Why risk it? Minimize the risk of pore-clogging from triggers, and your skin will clear faster,” Pavitt previously told Vogue, and the same concept can be applied to cosmetics.
One word of warning: while many brands claim their products are non-comedogenic, don’t take the label at face value. I’ve made a habit (or perhaps, obsession) of pasting ingredient lists into Sofie Pavitt’s pore-clogging checker—and let’s just say it’s exposed more than a few imposters. The result? A tighter, more intentional edit of color cosmetics. The clean-out focused strictly on complexion products—foundation, concealer, powders—while eyes, lips, and brows got a free pass as the lesser of acne-prone areas.
