Myristic acid: is it comedogenic? What it does in skincare

What it does

Fatty acid that helps foaming cleansers lather.

• Cleansing
• Emulsifying
• Perfuming

Myristic acid in plain English

Myristic acid is a fatty acid found in nutmeg, coconut and palm kernel oil, used to make cleansers foam and to thicken creams. It has moderate ratings on older comedogenic lists, though rinse-off use limits contact time. Its rating comes from old rabbit-ear tests of the raw ingredient, which can overstate what happens with a finished product on human skin.

Is myristic acid bad for acne?

It can be. Myristic acid has a moderate clog risk rating for acne-prone skin. In Fulton's 1989 rabbit-ear test it scored 3 out of 5 for clogging pores and 0 out of 5 for irritation. That test used the raw ingredient, so a small amount in a finished product may behave differently. If you break out easily, check where it sits on the ingredient list: the higher it appears, the more of it the product usually contains.

Why it is flagged: A fatty acid with moderate ratings on older lists. Common in foaming cleansers.

Clean routine and still breaking out? The cause may be internal. See what is driving it

Also called

• Myristic Acid
• Tetradecanoic acid

Related ingredients

• Corn oilModerate clog riskPlant oil that softens skin and may clog pores
• Lanolic acidModerate clog riskLanolin fatty acid used in cleansers and emulsions
• Laureth-23Moderate clog riskEmulsifier and mild cleansing agent
• Lauric acidModerate clog riskFatty acid used to make soaps and foaming cleansers
• Sodium laureth sulfateModerate clog riskFoaming cleanser, milder than SLS but can still irritate
• Sodium lauryl sulfateHigh clog riskStrong foaming cleanser that can irritate and dry skin