How we rate · 🔴 Comedogenic
Is your sunscreen comedogenic? How we rate pore-clogging ingredients
If your sunscreen seems to trigger breakouts, the usual suspect isn't "SPF", it's a handful of rich, comedogenic emollients that some formulas lean on for slip and a balmy finish. The good news for acne-prone skin: in sunscreen these ingredients are rare. The catalog is overwhelmingly non-comedogenic, so a high score is the exception, not the rule. RateMySPF reads the full ingredient list of every sunscreen we catalog and scores how comedogenic each formula is for acne-prone skin, so below we'll walk through exactly which ingredients drive it, and point to the real products that show each one in action.
TL;DR: the ingredients that drive comedogenic
- Isopropyl myristate: a lightweight 'slip' ester with one of the worst comedogenic reputations, we penalise it hardest of all
- Isopropyl palmitate: the other top-of-scale slip ester, often a main emollient so it sits high in the list
- Ethylhexyl palmitate: a heavy comedogenic ester behind the silky, glossy finish of tanning and 'dry oil' sprays
- Myristyl myristate: fatty ester that scores near the top of the rabbit-ear scale
- Isopropyl isostearate: the isostearate family, rich emollient esters we treat as heavy comedogens
- Coconut oil: the single most infamous pore-clogger in skincare; fatty and occlusive, it dominates the high-risk end
- Cocoa butter: thick, occlusive butter high on the comedogenic scale, a staple of the balms that top our list
- Lanolin: the lanolin family is fatty and occlusive, beloved in balmy sticks for its cushiony richness
What actually makes a sunscreen comedogenic
Acne, in the pore-clogging sense, starts when an ingredient is comedogenic, prone to blocking the follicle so dead skin and oil back up behind it. Decades ago researchers tried to rank ingredients on a 0–5 "comedogenic scale," and those numbers are still what the whole internet argues about. The problem is they were measured by painting concentrated, raw ingredients onto rabbit ears, nothing like a finished sunscreen on a human face. So we treat them as weak priors, not verdicts.
Two things decide how much a flagged ingredient actually matters in a real bottle: how comedogenic the raw ingredient tends to be, and how much of it is in the formula. The second is huge and almost always ignored. A notorious oil sitting at position 2 is a meaningful chunk of the product; the same oil buried at position 25 is a rounding error. So position carries most of the signal in our score, an ingredient high in the list is penalised hard, the same ingredient near the end barely registers.
One caveat up front, and it's a big one: comedogenicity is individual. Plenty of people with acne-prone skin use coconut-oil balms with zero trouble, and others break out from things no scale flags at all. So we rate this as a risk for acne-prone skin, never a promise that a product "will clog your pores." Every sunscreen starts at a clean 100 and loses points for the ingredients below; the earlier an ingredient sits in the list, the bigger the penalty. A score in the high 80s or above means we found little to worry about; the lower it goes, the more (and the heavier) the comedogens we found near the top.
▲ Heavy comedogenic esters: the slip ingredients
Raises risk
These are the lightweight "slip" emollients that give a formula a silky, fast-absorbing feel, and several of them carry the worst comedogenic reputations of any cosmetic ingredient. The headliners are isopropyl myristate and isopropyl palmitate, along with ethylhexyl palmitate, myristyl myristate and the isostearate family. On the old rabbit-ear scale these score near the top, and unlike a buried fragrance allergen they're often used as a main emollient, so they sit high in the list.
We penalise these hardest of all the levers, and position drives everything: an isopropyl myristate at position 1 is a different animal from one at position 9. This is the signature of tanning and "dry oil" sprays, which lean on esters for that weightless, glossy finish, exactly the formats acne-prone skin should approach carefully.
Here's how a few ester-forward formulas break down, note where the esters land in each ingredient list:
- Coconut Oil at #3, comedogenic oil/butter
- Isopropyl Myristate at #1, heavy comedogenic ester
- 2 heavy comedogens high in the list
- Ethylhexyl Palmitate at #2, heavy comedogenic ester
- Isopropyl Palmitate at #1, heavy comedogenic ester
- 2 heavy comedogens high in the list
- Ethylhexyl Palmitate at #2, heavy comedogenic ester
- Isopropyl Myristate at #6, heavy comedogenic ester
- 2 heavy comedogens high in the list
▲ Comedogenic plant oils and butters
Raises risk
The other heavy hitters are rich plant oils and butters, above all coconut oil, the single most infamous pore-clogger in skincare, plus cocoa butter and the whole lanolin family. These are fatty, occlusive, and high on the comedogenic scale, and they're beloved in balms and sticks precisely because they're thick and cushiony. That same richness is what makes them a risk for clog-prone skin when they sit near the top of a formula.
This is why lip balms and balmy sticks dominate the high-risk end of our catalog, and it's worth keeping in perspective: a coconut-and-cocoa lip balm is sitting on your lips, not across an acne-prone forehead, so a scary-looking score on a balm matters far less than the same score on a face lotion. Read the format alongside the number. (Note we deliberately do not flag petrolatum or mineral oil here: they're occlusive, which is a different thing from comedogenic, and the evidence that they clog pores is weak.)
Oil- and butter-heavy formulas, balms included, see what sits at the top:
- Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter at #2, comedogenic oil/butter
- Lanolin at #1, comedogenic oil/butter
- 2 heavy comedogens high in the list
- Coconut Oil at #2, comedogenic oil/butter
- Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter at #5, comedogenic oil/butter
- 2 heavy comedogens high in the list
▲ Moderate comedogens: the lighter end
Raises risk
Not every flagged ingredient is a heavyweight. A middle tier of moderately comedogenic ingredients, soybean, olive and avocado oils, Glyceryl Stearate SE, and fatty acids like myristic and oleic acid, carries a much smaller penalty. On their own, mid-list, they're usually a minor footnote rather than a real concern, which is why a product can pick one up and still land at a comfortable "low."
CeraVe's Ultra-Light face lotion is a good illustration: its only flag is Glyceryl Stearate SE around position 5, a single moderate emulsifier, so it still scores a reassuring 91 and sits firmly in the clear tier. These ingredients mostly matter when they pile up alongside the heavier ones, which is exactly what the next factor is about.
Moderate comedogens at work, one is a minor footnote, several add up:
- Glyceryl Stearate SE at #5, moderate comedogenic signal
- Coconut Oil at #3, comedogenic oil/butter
- Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter at #12, comedogenic oil/butter
- Coconut Oil at #2, comedogenic oil/butter
- Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter at #6, comedogenic oil/butter
- Olea Europaea Fruit Oil at #3, moderate comedogenic signal
▲ When several comedogens stack at the top
Raises risk
Comedogens don't just add up, when several heavy ones cluster near the top of a formula, the risk compounds. A balm that's lanolin, then cocoa butter, then coconut oil in its first few ingredients isn't carrying one questionable emollient, it's built almost entirely out of them. So when two or more heavy esters, oils or butters land in the first seven positions, we add a dedicated stacking penalty on top of the individual ingredients.
This is the pattern behind almost every product in our high tier: the worst scores aren't earned by a single bad ingredient but by a whole base of them. Palmer's Coconut Oil lip balm, coconut oil at 3, a soybean-oil and ester supporting cast, cocoa butter further down, is the textbook case, and the stacking bump is what pushes it near the very bottom.
Stacked-comedogen formulas, where the base itself is the problem:
- Ethylhexyl Palmitate at #2, heavy comedogenic ester
- Isopropyl Myristate at #6, heavy comedogenic ester
- 2 heavy comedogens high in the list
● The disputed watchlist: flagged, but not penalised
Neutral
Some ingredients have a comedogenic reputation we think is more myth than menace, and algae extract is the prime example. It picked up a high comedogenic rating from a single old test, but in real formulas it's almost always a low-percentage marine extract used for marketing sparkle, not a pore-clogging base. Penalising it would be a noisy false positive, so we don't.
Instead we list it transparently: when algae extract appears high in a formula we show it as a disputed watchlist note worth zero points, so you can see we noticed it and decided it didn't belong in the number. The mineral "reef-safe" and seaweed-themed sunscreens below are the usual carriers, and you'll notice they still score in the clear, exactly as intended.
Algae extract noted but not counted, these stay in the "low" tier:
- Coconut Oil at #12, comedogenic oil/butter
- Coconut Oil at #13, comedogenic oil/butter
- Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter at #30, comedogenic oil/butter
- Persea Gratissima Oil at #25, moderate comedogenic signal
- Coconut Oil at #10, comedogenic oil/butter
▼ Why most sunscreens score clean
Lowers risk
Here's the honest headline: the overwhelming majority of sunscreens carry little to no comedogenic load on our scale, and land at "low." That isn't grading on a curve, modern sunscreen bases are built on non-comedogenic emollients (silicones, C12-15 alkyl benzoate, caprylic/capric triglyceride and the like) that we deliberately don't flag, because the comedogenic concern simply isn't there. Acne risk from sunscreen is real, but it's the exception.
This is especially true of the fragrance-free, oil-free fluids and gels aimed at acne-prone and sensitive skin. EltaMD UV Clear, the dermatologist-favourite acne-prone pick, scores a perfect 100 with no comedogenic flags at all, and the same goes for the modern Korean and European face fluids built for daily wear. A clean score here means we read the whole list and found nothing on our comedogen tiers near the top.
Fragrance-free, oil-free favourites that score a clean, non-comedogenic zero:
- Palmitic Acid at #20, moderate comedogenic signal
How to pick a non-comedogenic sunscreen
If you break out easily, the simplest move is to start from our clear tier: filter to a low comedogenic score and you'll be looking at the fragrance-free, oil-free fluids, gels and matte lotions that dominate it. Texture is your friend here, a lightweight fluid or gel is far less likely to carry rich comedogenic oils than a thick, balmy cream or a tinted stick, so format alone gets you most of the way. "Oil-free" and "non-comedogenic" on the label are useful hints, but neither term is regulated, so we'd still rather you check the actual ingredient list (which is what our score does for you).
A few extra notes. If your breakouts are small, itchy, uniform bumps rather than classic whiteheads, you may be dealing with fungal acne (malassezia folliculitis), which is triggered by a different set of ingredients, many fatty acids and esters, and most plant oils, and isn't what this score is built around; we fold it in only where it overlaps the classic comedogen list. And keep the core caveat in mind: this is a propensity flag, not a diagnosis. If a sunscreen has never broken you out, the ingredient list saying it could isn't a reason to toss something that works for you.
We rate every sunscreen in our catalog for comedogenic.
Browse non-comedogenic sunscreensFrequently asked questions
Does sunscreen cause acne or breakouts?
Most sunscreens don't, the breakout risk comes from a few rich, pore-clogging ingredients (notably coconut oil, cocoa butter and certain esters like isopropyl myristate), not from UV filters or "SPF" itself. The large majority of sunscreens we score carry little to no comedogenic risk. Breakouts after sunscreen can also come from incomplete cleansing or simple irritation rather than clogged pores.
What does "non-comedogenic" actually mean?
It's meant to signal that a product is formulated to avoid clogging pores, but the term is unregulated, with no standard test behind it, so any brand can use it. Treat it as a hint, not a guarantee. We'd rather you (or our score) check the real ingredient list for known comedogens than rely on the marketing word.
What's the best sunscreen for acne-prone skin?
Look for a fragrance-free, oil-free fluid, gel or matte lotion with no heavy comedogenic oils or esters near the top of the list, these dominate our clear ("low") tier. Dermatologist favourites like EltaMD UV Clear and La Roche-Posay Anthelios fluids score a clean zero risk, but the best one is the one you'll actually reapply, so texture and finish matter too.
Is the comedogenic scale reliable?
Not very. The classic 0–5 ratings come from painting concentrated raw ingredients onto rabbit ears, which tells you little about a diluted ingredient in a finished sunscreen on human skin. We use the ratings as weak priors and weight them heavily by how much of the ingredient is in the formula (its position), but we're upfront that they're crude.
Why is my sunscreen flagged when it's just a lip balm?
Lip balms and balmy sticks lean on coconut oil, cocoa butter and lanolin for their texture, so they cluster at the high-risk end of the scale. But the format matters: a comedogenic balm on your lips is a very different proposition from the same ingredients across an acne-prone forehead. Read our score alongside what the product actually is and where you'll wear it.
Does mineral sunscreen break you out?
The mineral filters themselves (zinc oxide, titanium dioxide) aren't comedogenic, but mineral sunscreens, especially "natural" and reef-themed ones, are often built on rich plant-oil and butter bases (coconut oil, cocoa butter), and those can be. So a mineral sunscreen can land anywhere on this scale; it depends entirely on the base, which is what we read.
Do coconut oil and cocoa butter really clog pores?
They have the heaviest comedogenic reputations in skincare and rate high on the old scale, so for acne-prone skin we treat them as a genuine risk when they're high in a formula. But it's individual, many people use them with no trouble. We flag them as a propensity, not a certainty, and weight them by how much is in the product.
What is fungal acne, and does this score cover it?
Fungal acne (malassezia folliculitis) is an overgrowth of skin yeast that looks like small, uniform, often itchy bumps. It's fed by a different ingredient list, many fatty acids, esters and most plant oils, so this score, which is built around classic pore-clogging comedogens, only catches it where the two lists overlap. A dedicated fungal-acne flag is something we may split out in future.
Which ingredients clog pores most in sunscreen?
The heaviest hitters are the comedogenic slip esters, isopropyl myristate, isopropyl palmitate, ethylhexyl palmitate, myristyl myristate and the isostearates, plus rich plant oils and butters like coconut oil, cocoa butter and lanolin. These carry our largest penalties, and they matter most when they sit high in the ingredient list.
Why does ingredient position matter so much in your score?
Because amount drives everything and ingredients are listed roughly by quantity. A notorious oil at position 2 is a meaningful chunk of the product; the same oil buried at position 25 is a rounding error. So we penalise a comedogen hard when it's high in the list and barely at all when it's near the end.
Does sunscreen with petrolatum or mineral oil clog pores?
We deliberately don't flag petrolatum or mineral oil here. They're occlusive, they sit on the skin and slow water loss, which is a different thing from comedogenic, and the evidence that they clog pores is weak. So they don't cost a product points on this scale.
What about tanning oils and 'dry oil' sprays?
These are the formats acne-prone skin should approach most carefully. They lean on heavy comedogenic esters for that weightless, glossy finish, so the slip ingredients tend to sit high in the list, exactly the pattern that drives a high comedogenic score.
What's algae extract doing on your watchlist?
Algae extract picked up a high comedogenic rating from a single old test, but in real formulas it's almost always a low-percentage marine extract used for marketing sparkle, not a pore-clogging base. Penalising it would be a noisy false positive, so we note it transparently at zero points rather than count it.