5 Ingredients In Your Makeup That Could Be Causing Breakouts

If you have ever marvelled at how intensely shimmery your highlighter is, chances are it contains the pore-clogging baddie mica in it! Yes, light-reflecting ingredients like mica, silica and talc are used in a variety of makeup products. From foundations to bronzers, makeup products with mica can irritate and dehydrate your skin in the long term. Even though mica is known to cause skin irritation, it is not a concern for makeup users in general, but if you have acne-prone skin, it is recommended to avoid too many shimmery products in your routine.

Similar to skincare, makeup products are better off without artificial fragrances and dyes as well. Long term use of these additives can overly sensitise your skin, leading to inflammation and breakouts. Opt for fragrance-free makeup products and natural dyes as much as possible. Plant-based perfumes and pigments are a much better option for acne-prone skin.

When used in makeup products like primers and foundations, silicone helps fill your fine lines and pores to give your skin a silky smooth finish. This occlusive nature of silicones makes them irritating to acne-prone skin and, thus, is better avoided.

Lanolin is used in many creamy blushes, foundations and lipsticks to give your makeup products an oily and nourishing base. However, the ingredient also happens to be the sebum (or skin oil) of sheep and is highly comedogenic in nature. Anybody who follows an anti-acne routine knows to keep away from oily formulas, and that includes lanolin as well.

Ladies who aced chemistry in high school will know this — Sodium Chloride is just another name for plain old salt. Yep, your makeup products cave salt in them, and no, they are not added as a seasoning to make them delicious but as a thickening agent. Sodium chloride is usually found in full-coverage foundations and can clog the pores and cause acne, especially on the chin and around the mouth.