If you've been in the skincare community, you would've seen these words - comedogenic and non-comedogenic for awhile now. However, do you know what it really means? What does it do? Does it really make a difference if you choose skincare containing or not containing comedogenic ingredients?
Despite it being a household topic in the skincare community, tests on comedogenic products are actually not standardised, and the term itself is not being regulated. This means that government bodies such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) do not have lists published on which ingredients are comedogenic or non-comedogenic, and the requirements for each product to be labelled as such.
When it comes to testing the product for its comedogenity, most of them are not tested on human skin, but on rabbits' inner ears. This may skew the results as rabbit ear skin is more sensitive to human skin, and thus get clogged up faster when these ingredients are applied to their ears.
As of now, it is difficult to assume the results of these comedogenicity tests apply similarly on human skin. This is because data collected from these studies do not seem to have relevant correlation to personal experience of its human users. Nevertheless, many third party labs have taken on the job of human testing. This may spark a ray of hope for accurate results for these products, but due to the lack of regulation by government bodies, there is no one universally accepted methodology that each lab has to follow. Thus, these different lab protocols can also lead to vastly different results.
Until the day researchers can come up with a standardised and regulated test for comedogenic or non-comedogenic products, we have to take charge of our own use of the products and be mindful of what works for our skin chemistry. While advice and recommendations from friends and family may be a good start, your personal experience still holds the highest opinion. What may work for them may not work for you. Do note that when searching for products, it may not be just one ingredient, but a combination of ingredients in the product's formula which react with each other to be the right fit for your skin type.
Hence, it is good to experiment and do our own research to determine the best product for yourself. Do not limit yourself to what researchers, or your friends and family's recommendations. You never know, your perfect product may very well be just under your nose!
