Lately, I have an opportunity to ask a research scientist, in the field of skin care products development, on his view on non-comedogenicity. His reply is very interesting and I wanted to share it with you all:

"The cosmetics industry loves terms like noncomedogenic - Non-comedogenic is a term applied to oils, lotions, and skin creams that do not block pores (sometimes referred to as non-occlusive).

These have been tested on the oily skins of human volunteers or inside rabbit ears. These products are less likely to cause blackheads (open comedones) or whiteheads (closed comedones) in patients. A more accurate term may be non-acnegenic.

However, the clinical facts is simple, no single product is non-comedogenic for everyone.

It is important to test a new product on your own skin rather than rely on the label, before using it freely. Some points to note are:

• Many natural ingredients are potential acnegenes.
  Choose products with natural/naturally derived ingredients and where possible those that will minimize potential pore blocking (non-occlusive)
• It is possible during a skincare or make up product/brand change for skin reactions to occur, these usually phase out after a period of time"

If you have skin that clog easily or break out easily, it is important to choose your skin care products carefully. we agree with his view and thus made every effort to make sure that the products that we carry will minimize any chance of causing any breakouts. We road test all products we bring in on various individuals (with different skin types) to test its effectiveness.

We hope that this short excerpt will increase our awareness on the meaning of comedogencity a little more.

Cheers, Helen

I'm going to be happy today,
    Though the skies may be cloudy and gray
No matter what may come my way
    I'm going to be happy today.
                                               - Ella Wheeler Wilcox