For people with sensitive, acne-prone skin, shopping can be hard. A few weeks ago, I decided to completely overhaul my skincare and makeup routine and replace a small army of products. But many products—even the ones that claim to be non-comedogenic and safe for sensitive skin—contain pore-clogging ingredients that I didn’t want to put on my face. So, after several days of searching the corners of the internet, I compiled a comprehensive guide to skincare and makeup products (with links!) from serums and moisturizers to concealers and blush that are actually acne-safe as well as skin tips and products to look out for.

Disclaimer: Everyone’s skin is different, so even if a product on this list is safe for acne and sensitive skin, it may not work for you. And, even if a product contains a pore-clogging ingredient, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will break you out. The goal is to understand your skin—what ingredients you’re sensitive to, your skin type, etc.—and make more informed shopping choices.

The first step to knowing your skin better is to understand what kind of skin you have. People with oily skin have different needs than people with dry skin. If you don’t know what skin type you are, you can take the attached quiz to get a better idea!

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Face Wash

Face wash typically doesn’t have a ton of ingredients in general, so it’s easy to find one without any pore-clogging ingredients. Here’s a list to get started:

1. Dr. Idriss Soft Wash Complete Daily Cleanser ($30)
2. First Aid Beauty Pure Skin Deep Cleanser with Red Clay ($24)
3. CETAPHIL Gentle Skin Cleanser ($12)
4. The Ordinary Glucoside Foaming Cleanser ($12)

Toner

1. The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Exfoliating Toner ($13)
2. LANEIGE Cream Skin Toner & Moisturizer with Ceramides and Peptides ($16)

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Serum

1. Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops ($35)
2. Torriden DIVE-IN Low Molecular Hyaluronic Acid Serum ($24)
3. Beauty of Joseon Calming Serum Green Tea + Panthenol ($17)
4. The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum ($17)
5. The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% ($6)
6. Trader Joe’s Nourish Hyaluronic Moisture Boost Serum ($14)

Skin Barrier Support

1. Tata Harper Superkind Gentle AHA Radiance Mask for Skin Barrier Repair ($68)
2. Purito SEOUL Mighty Bamboo Panthenol Cream ($19)
3. The Ordinary Soothing & Barrier Support Serum ($17)

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Moisturizer

1. Clinique Moisture Surge 100H ($30)
2. Innisfree Green Tea Seed Hyaluronic Cream ($30)
3. Paula’s Choice Clear Oil-Free Moisturizer ($35)
4. Dr. Sam Bunting Flawless Moisturiser Intense ($41)

Sunscreen

1. Beauty of Joseon Sun Aqua-Fresh: Rice + B5 ($18)
2. SilkScreen Sheer Tinted SPF 50 Mineral Face Sunscreen ($38)
3. Live Tinted Hueguard 3-in-1 Mineral Sunscreen Serum ($34)
4. OneKind Solar Drops SPF 55 Daily Mineral Sunscreen Serum ($48)
5. Hero Cosmetics Force Shield Superlight Apricot Sunscreen ($20)

Image: Sunny Skin from Pexels

Primer

1. E.l.f. Power Grip Primer ($10)
2. Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Hydrating Makeup Primer with Hyaluronic Acid + Niacinamide ($38)

Concealer

1. NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer ($32)
2. NARS Soft Matte Complete Full Coverage Longwear Concealer ($32)

Foundation (or similar)

1. Whind Marrakech Sun Instant Glow Tinting Water ($35)
2. Saie Glowy Super Gel Lightweight Dewy Multipurpose Illuminator in Starglow or Roseglow (Warmglow and Sunglow are not acne-safe) ($28)
3. Charlotte Tilbury Unreal Skin Sheer Glow Tint Foundation Stick ($46)
4. DIBS Beauty Lovebeam Perfector ($38)
5. Kosas BB Burst Tinted Moisturizer Gel Cream with Copper Peptides ($38)

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Powder

1. LYS Beauty Triple Fix Loose Talc Free Translucent Setting Powder ($24)

Blush

1. Kosas Blush is Life Baked Talc-Free Dimensional + Brightening Blush ($29)
2. Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush ($25)

Highlighter

1. Rare Beauty Positive Light Liquid Luminizer Highlight ($27)
2. Rare Beauty Positive Light Silky Touch Highlighter ($27)
3. Iconic London Illuminator Liquid Highlight ($40)

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Bronzer and Contour

1. Iconic LondonKissed by the Sun Multi-Use Blush & Bronzer ($29)
2. Rare Beauty Warm Wishes Effortless Cream Bronzer Stick ($28)
3. Conceal & Perfect Face Lift Collection Liquid Contour ($11)

Setting Spray

1. NYX Professional Makeup Marshmallow Setting Spray ($10)
2. Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Makeup Setting Spray ($15)
3. e.l.f. Cosmetics Stay All Day Blue Light Micro-Setting Mist ($10)
4. Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray ($38)
5. Makeup by Mario Surrealskin 16hr Soft Setting Spray ($34)
6. Urban Decay All Nighter Vitamin C Hydrating Setting Spray ($36)

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Ingredients to watch for

There are still a few ingredients you should watch out for (especially if you have sensitive skin) that aren’t identified as pore-cloggers. These ingredients don’t typically cause acne, but they can be problematic for some.

1. Alcohol Denat. This ingredient doesn’t appear on pore-clogging calculators, but it does have a high comedogenic rating which means it has a high likelihood of causing acne in some skin types. Any type of alcohol is very drying and shouldn’t be used on skin that’s already dry because it can disrupt the skin barrier. Alcohol is also not safe for sensitive skin.
2. Fragrances. Fragrances are in a lot of products (who doesn’t like to smell good?), but they can be harsh on sensitive skin. You wouldn’t spray perfume directly on your face, so think twice about putting sweet-smelling products on your face if your skin is prone to irritation.
3. Oils. Oils aren’t necessarily bad, but products with high concentrations of them can be poorly tolerated by those with oily skin. If you struggle with excess oil and sebum, try to avoid oils as best you can. You don’t want to strip your skin of its natural oils, but you don’t need to add a bunch more either.
4. Harsh ingredients. Never put harsh ingredients on broken skin, and let your skin breathe once in a while. For example, salicylic acid is great for spot treatment, but it—along with many other acne treatment products—is extremely drying and can make acne worse by disrupting the skin barrier and causing further irritation. It’s OK to take a break from these products for a night or two to let your skin barrier heal. On these nights, focus on hydrating and gentle products.

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Online Tools

There are likely lots of other products out there that could be acne-safe, so here are some of the best online tools to help you figure it out!

Pore Clogger Checkers

These are basically websites that allow you to plug a list of ingredients into a tool that compares these ingredients to a database of hundreds of pore-clogging ingredients. This database can vary from website to website, so I like to check products in two checkers to be safe.

1. Acne Clinic NYC
2. Natural Acne Clinic

Ingredient Explainers

These sites will break down a product for you and explain what the ingredients are, what they do and whether the product is good or not. I especially love Skin Safe, which will give you a rating from 0 to 100 on how safe your product is based on comedogenicity and common allergies and sensitivities.

1. Skin Sort
2. INCIdecoder
3. Skin Safe

Skincare is a journey, and it’s OK if you don’t figure it out overnight. It can be tempting to completely go crazy with new products, but doing too much at once could damage your skin, so you want to gradually upgrade your routine. Alway remember to do patch tests as well to ensure that if your skin does have sensitivities, you’re not subjecting your entire face to ingredients that don’t work for you.

The more educated you are about skin health and the more in tune you are with your body, the easier skincare will get!