BASED IN DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, MICAH LAMBETH IS A FREELANCE COPYWRITER, BEAUTY AFICIONADO, AND GENERALLY CURIOUS CAT.

Non-Comedogenic Retinol Serums for Acne-Prone Skin

Since retinol accelerates cell turnover and unclogs pores (+ is anti-aging!), it's one of my top-choice ingredients for battling breakouts. The main downside is finding the right one for acne-prone skin can (annoyingly, as acne often is) feel like a balancing act.

Because retinol is known to cause dryness and irritation, brands will often add rich emollients (like shea butter) to their formulas to counteract these effects. While these additions can help soothe and hydrate the skin, they’re often also comedogenic and can offset the positive impact of retinol for acne-prone skin. 

The key to finding the right retinol serum for breakout-prone skin lies in choosing products that promote clarity without pore-cloggers or damaging the skin barrier. After scouring the ingredient lists of over 20 retinol serums, here are the ones that don’t contain shea butter so you can look forward to clearer, smoother skin without the fear of new breakouts.

Fully pore-clogger-free:

  1. Osmosis Clarify Clearing Retinal Serum

  2. Paula's Choice CLINICAL Anti-Aging 1% Retinol Treatment

  3. The Ordinary Retinal 0.2% Emulsion Serum

  4. Isntree Hyper Retinol EX 1.0 Serum

  5. Farmacy 1% Vitamin A Retinol Serum

Contains low levels of potentially pore-clogging ingredients:

Soybean is toward the bottom of the ingredient list, but I haven’t used this one, so I’m unsure of the effects.

Glycine Soja Oil is toward the bottom of the ingredient list, but I haven’t used this one, so I’m unsure of the effects.

Soybean oil is the 17th ingredient, but it didn’t cause breakouts for me.

Myristic acid and soybean are far down the ingredient list, so this didn’t cause breakouts for me.

Isopropyl Myristate is far down the ingredient list, so it didn’t cause breakouts for me.

Isopropyl Myristate is the 12th ingredient, but I haven’t used this one, so I’m unsure of the effects.

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Non-Comedogenic Skin Barrier Repair Routine for Acne-Prone Skin

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