Today, I’m talking about my least favorite four letter word: acne.
I’m at the age where my skin and hormones are changing simultaneously (thanks forties), so not only am I graced with congested skin (still!), but also the loss of collagen. So I need products that will help stimulate collagen production, deeply hydrate, ward off fine lines … but also won’t break me out because, yes, I’m still acne-prone.
Read all about my acne journey here and here.
Finding products that are both anti-acne and anti-aging is no small feat, let me assure you. Most anti-aging products contain pore-clogging ingredients that make me break out, and anti-acne products contain harsh ingredients that dry me out and obliterate my skin barrier—a vicious cycle, indeed.
Skincare companies throw around phrases like non-comedogenic, acne-safe, and formulated for acne-prone skin while these very same products contain pore-clogging ingredients. So we acne-prone consumers must weed through the marketing hype and almost become scientists to understand what each ingredient does and how our skin will react to them.
But I discovered a loophole that I’m sure many of you already use—the pore-clogging ingredient checker. You simply copy and paste the ingredients of any product into the checker, hit check, and it tells you if the product is acne-safe or not, based on years of ingredient research and comedogenic ratings.
I use both the Clearstem and Acne Clinic pore-clogging ingredient checkers. They vary slightly, and I like to run each product through both. But as long as the product comes up clear in at least one of them, I feel confident that I can use it on my skin without fear of breaking out.
Here are my current favorite anti-aging products that contain zero pore-clogging ingredients. I did the checking so you don’t have to. You’re welcome.
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