Makeup's Secret Acne-Fighting Power: Fact or Fiction?

One major reason is that a lot of cosmetics—particularly oil-based foundations, primers, and powders—are made with comedogenic (pore-clogging) ingredients like coconut oil, vitamin E, and isopropyl myristate, as well as possibly irritating fragrances.

A bunch of acne sufferers on TikTok have also said that applying full glam daily seemed to make their skin somehow…better? So we asked Shasa Hu, MD, board-certified dermatologist and associate professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, if there’s any science to support these anecdotes.

For this installment, we tapped Shasa Hu, MD, the director of the cosmetic division at the University of Miami Dr.Welcome to Ask a Derm, a series from SELF in which board-certified dermatologists answer your pressing questions about skin, hair, and nail health.And sure, that makes sense