Lauric Acid
Fatty acid · INCI: Lauric Acid
Reviewed by Elysiana Aguilar, master esthetician
How we read it
Known to clog pores. If you break out easily, this is the one to skip.
Is Lauric Acid comedogenic?
Yes. Lauric Acid is a known pore-clogging ingredient, and we read it as highly comedogenic. If you're acne-prone, it's worth avoiding, especially when it sits near the top of an ingredient list.
Why we read it this way
Lauric acid is the main saturated fatty acid in coconut and palm kernel oil, used mostly to build lather in foaming cleansers and soaps. We read the acid itself as highly comedogenic, and that is a large part of why those two oils carry the same reading.
The nuance
It is often described as antibacterial, which leads some to call it acne-friendly. That is a separate question from pore-clogging, and our reading covers the second. Its name also echoes through the laureths and lauryl surfactants, which are different ingredients with their own readings.
Where it shows up
Foaming face washes, bar soaps, body washes and hand soaps, often listed beside potassium hydroxide, which turns it into soap. It also appears in some creams and lotions.
Names we read the same way
- Dodecanoic Acid
- Duodecylic Acid
- Laurostearic Acid
Related ingredients
One ingredient rarely tells the whole story. The acne ingredient checker reads everything in a product at once, the pore-clogging ingredients list has the rest of what we flag, and there is more on what comedogenic means. Also in the guides: What causes acne.