Pore clogger checker

1. 1

   Grab the ingredient list

   Copy it straight from the packaging or the brand's product page.
2. 2

   Paste it into the box above

   Commas or line breaks both work — no need to tidy it first.
3. 3

   Check the drivers, not just the verdict

   The risk badge is a summary; the ingredients listed underneath show exactly what caused it.

Comedogenic ratings run 0–5 on the Fulton scale, originally measured on rabbit ears with neat ingredients — not finished formulas. That's why a raw rating on its own is misleading: coconut oil at 40% behaves nothing like coconut oil as the last item on a list.

So we weight every rated ingredient by its INCI position, since lists are ordered by concentration down to 1%. An ingredient rated 5 near the top drives the risk; the same ingredient at position 30 barely moves it. We surface the drivers rated 3 or above so you can see exactly what caused the call.

• Concentration is invisible. Below 1%, INCI order is arbitrary, so a scary-looking ingredient may be present in a trace amount.
• Formulation changes behaviour. Fatty acids bound into an emulsifier system don't act like the free oil.
• Skin is individual. Plenty of acne-prone people wear a "4" with no problem, and break out from a "0". Patch-test rather than banning ingredients outright.

Is this an acne safe checker? It checks one specific risk: comedogenicity, meaning ingredients associated with blocked pores and closed comedones. Irritation, fragrance sensitivity and hormonal acne aren't visible in an ingredient list.

What does a comedogenic rating of 0–5 mean? It comes from old rabbit-ear assays: 0 is non-comedogenic, 5 is highly comedogenic. It's a rough signal for a raw ingredient, not a verdict on a finished formula, where concentration and the rest of the base matter more.

My bumps are itchy and all the same size — is that pore clogging? That pattern usually points to malassezia (fungal acne) rather than comedones. Run the same list through the fungal acne checker — it flags a completely different ingredient set.

Should I avoid every flagged ingredient? No. Position matters: coconut oil at #2 is a real risk, the same ingredient at #25 is usually a trace. Use the flags to shortlist suspects, then patch test.