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

What Not to Buy from the Sephora Sale if You Have Acne-Prone Skin

If you have acne-prone skin, you might want to skip some of the most-hyped products from Sephora, so get ready to be de-influenced from this month’s sale. These may be bestsellers, but they contain ingredients known to clog pores. If your skin is anything like mine (extremely picky, congestion-prone, and no stranger to long-lasting breakouts), here’s what I don’t recommend:

1. The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 Hydrating Serum with Ceramides

The reformulation snuck in a comedogenic ingredient that’s now the 10th on the INCI list.

2. Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream

While this cream has a cult following for being rich, glowy, and luxurious, the 9th ingredient is comedogenic, and if your skin clogs easily, that’s too high for comfort.

3. Saie Slip Tint

Unfortunately, the slippery texture that gives this tinted moisturizer its name comes from the 12th (comedogenic) ingredient: beeswax.

4. Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask + Moisturizer

After using this one time, my skin broke out into tiny red bumps all over. Shea butter, being the 4th ingredient (and bane of my existence), comes as no surprise.

5. Dieux Deliverance Antioxidant & Niacinamide Serum

This serum promises great things, but the shea butter being high on the INCI list caused my skin to erupt in closed comedones that took months to undo.

6. Biodance Bio Collagen Real Deep Mask

While I love that Sephora is starting to carry more innovative Korean skincare, this mask contains four known pore-cloggers, and they’re high on the list. If you’ve still been wanting to try an overnight collagen mask, take a look at the Peace Out Overnight Barrier Hydrating Bio-Collagen Recovery Mask. It still contains two pore-cloggers, but they’re way further down the ingredient list.

7. Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin™ Skin Barrier Serum Toner

It can be hard to find a milky toner without comedogenic ingredients, and this one is no different. Check out the Laneige Cream Skin Toner or VIOLETTE_FR’s Boum-Boum Milk for safer bets.

The Sephora sale is a great time to stock up, but for those of us with high-maintenance, clog-prone skin, it’s just as important to know what to skip. For a few things I do recommend, look here.

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