Whether you’re dealing with acne-prone skin, sensitive or even normal skin, breakouts are unavoidable from time to time. If you’re worried that you’re using the wrong makeup, find out more about how to recognize adverse reactions and how to choose products with a lower risk of causing a breakout.
Once you’re taken in all the information, you won’t be wondering how to know if makeup is breaking you out, because you’ll already have all the tools to figure it out and to stop it.
Carefully Analyze the Reaction
There are two types of unwanted reactions that makeup can cause: the instant ones and the delayed reactions. If you’re breaking out in less that a day after you applied a new product, the culprit is probably an allergy to one of the ingredients.
However, most of the time the breakout occurs weeks after you’ve started using something new, so it can be more difficult to pin point which makeup product is actually to blame.
Rule Out Food
Toxins in processed foods can gradually build up and cause breakouts that you’ll end up blaming on your cosmetics. If you really want to know if makeup is breaking you out, don’t try any new diets, including juice cleanses, along with introducing new products in your makeup routine.
Don’t Blindly Trust the Noncomedogenic Label
With no clear way of creating makeup that is guaranteed to never clog pores, the noncomedogenic makeup may also contribute to breakouts. When you start using more than one new product, don’t automatically assume that the noncomedogenic ones couldn’t possibly cause skin issues, so the others are always to blame.
Pay Attention to Other Changes That Could Affect Your Skin
When you’re dealing with sensitive or acne-prone skin, or suffer from allergies, it can get even more difficult to know if makeup is breaking you out. Even the weather can contribute, when a sudden hike in temperatures causes you to sweat a lot, before you’ve adjusted your skin care and makeup routine to include more exfoliation and products with lighter coverage. Changing your fabric softener can also cause breakouts, especially if you sleep on the side and your face rubs against your pillowcase.
Make Sure It’s Not the Applicator
If you don’t clean your makeup applicator regularly, bacteria can breed in it and cause breakouts regardless of your choice of products. You should also try a synthetic applicator to rule out allergies to natural hairs that many makeup brushes are made of.
See also: Best Hypoallergenic Beauty Products
Introduce New Makeup Products One at a Time
When you’re wondering how to know if makeup is breaking you out, stop introducing more than one product at a time. Since some breakout develop over weeks, a safe period of time to wait after trying a new skin care or makeup product is no less than a month.
Make Sure You’re Not Using a Pore-Clogging Formula
Even when they’re labeled as noncomedogenic, thick products or those that have a solid texture or come in stick form can mess with your pores and contribute to breakouts. Opt for lighter textures for your makeup and skin care products, including serums, gels and liquid formulas.
Avoid Products with Known Irritants
While there’s not definitive list of cosmetic ingredients that should be avoided under any circumstance, you can take a few steps to protect your skin when you’re questioning how to know if makeup is breaking you out. Using fragrance-free products is a good idea, but you should also reduce or completely abandon products that list the most common irritants among their list of ingredients: alcohol, camphor, menthol, peppermint, eucalyptus and citrus fruit, including grapefruits and limes.
Don’t miss: Best Makeover Apps for Your Smartphone
Figure Out If the Packaging Plays a Part
Some products can become a breeding ground for bacteria much faster that others. Don’t buy any products with packaging that will expose them to air or your hands constantly. Looks for makeup products in bottles with pumps or in tubes in order to reduce any risk of a breakout.
Switch Brands
While you can’t always control every other factor in order to know if makeup is breaking you out, switching brands is a wise choice when you’re had trouble with more than one product from a certain manufacturer.
