Over the past 15 years, I have had a personal interest in skincare that comes from a desire to use clean, non-toxic and non-irritating ingredients that are still effective. One skin challenge I’ve personally faced has been pore congestion that I have never been able to fully beat. As I have pursued web-based research and had conversations with my dermatologist as well as “experts” in the skincare industry, I have rotated specific products in and out of my routine and closely tracked the results. For the longest time, my skincare routine has seemed rock solid on paper, despite still struggling with my pores. Then, one day, I was getting a facial and in the post-facial notes that I received from the aesthetician, she encouraged me to download the acne-safe app and determine if some of my clean skincare products had pore-clogging ingredients, despite being labeled as non-comedogenic. Like any good student, I immediately downloaded this free, easy-to-use app and my mind was instantly blown.
The way the app works is that you copy and paste the ingredients from any skincare or makeup product into the text box on the app, press “check”, and it will immediately highlight in red any ingredients that are considered potentially irritating and / or having comedogenic properties, which means they are at risk for clogging your pores and potentially causing breakouts.
I diligently entered my morning and evening skincare routines into the app and was shocked to see that only 2 products I used were identified as fully clear. Similar to food manufacturers, the ingredient labels on cosmetics are listed from highest to lowest amount. What was even more surprising was that the majority of products I was using had an irritant flagged within the top 3-4 ingredients. I was honestly shocked, but also relived to know that I could now become more quickly informed and therefore empowered to make further improvements. Unfortunately, so many well-known brands and highly regarded products within the clean beauty space don’t pass this test. To be clear, that doesn’t make them “bad” in any way. For me personally though, it means that they could be contributing to my pore congestion. The 2 categories that I have found most difficult to source products that pass the acne-safe app test are day moisturizers and nighttime creams. So many evening creams, in particular, have shea butter as a top 5 ingredient, which consistently gets highlighted.
To make it easy for you, here are some clean products that pass the acne-safe app test with flying colors:
Toner
Tata Harper Concentrated Brightening Essence
Day Moisturizer
Herbivore Botanicals Aquarius Pore Purifying Clarity Cream
Face Sunscreen
My favorite - Iris & Romeo Weekend Skin - Vitamin C Glow
Night Cream
I have even more recommendations on amazing, clean skincare products that pass the acne-safe app test. Leave a comment if you want more. :)
All I can cheese-ily say is “knowledge is power.”
x jz
Images | 1 | screenshot of acne-safe app | 2 | Tata Harper | 3 | Osea | 4 - 6 | Credo
Note: I do not get paid for nor make money off of this post. All opinions are my own.