Polysorbate 60
Emulsifier · INCI: Polysorbate 60
Reviewed by Elysiana Aguilar, master esthetician
How we read it
Not a pore-clogger. Considered safe for acne-prone skin.
Is Polysorbate 60 comedogenic?
No. Polysorbate 60 isn't considered pore-clogging, and we read it as safe to use on acne-prone skin. That doesn't make it right for everyone, but congestion isn't the thing to watch for with it.
Why we read it this way
Polysorbate 60 is a water-dispersing emulsifier whose whole job is to hold oil and water together. It spreads and rinses rather than sitting on skin as a lipid film, and it does not appear on the pore-clogging references we curate against.
The nuance
It gets flagged online by association, partly because its full chemical name contains a stearate and partly because it is usually formulated alongside richer oils. The emulsifier is not the part of those formulas we would look at first.
Related ingredients
One ingredient rarely tells the whole story. The acne ingredient checker reads everything in a product at once, and there is more on what comedogenic means. Also in the guides: What causes acne.