Trust us — you don’t want to let your hair down

5 shampoo ingredients that can cause acne breakouts.

In Pimples

What's good for your hair isn’t always good for your face. Haircare products are designed to make your hair shine — but some can cause acne breakouts. If you have forehead-grazing bangs or wear your hair down a lot, the ingredients in your shampoo could end up aggravating acne issues.

Here are five ingredients to be on the look-out for — knowledge is power in the fight against acne!

Cocoa butter

This ingredient will give you healthy, shiny, great-smelling hair — but unfortunately, it’s also high in stearic acid, a waxy chemical that can block your pores. Cocoa butter is relatively thick, and although it can be a great deep moisturizer for your arms and legs, it’s comedogenic — science-speak for an ingredient that can cause acne.

Soybean oil

Hairstylists rave about it, skin experts rant about it. Not only is soybean oil environmentally friendly, it’s really good at cleaning your hair. Trouble is, it’s a major irritant for sensitive skin, and can cause follicle-level blockages, blackheads, whiteheads and acne. Your hairdresser might disagree, but dermatologists say you’d better steer clear.

Shea butter

This ingredient’s a little different from cocoa butter — it won’t block your pores quite as much, but there is a red flag: it’s exceptionally high in oleic oil. Oleic oil is great for dry hair, and similarly for skincare, it’s great for dry skin. Which makes this a big no-no for oily skin types as it can be too rich, potentially causing an acne breakout.

Sea buckthorn oil

This is a hairstylist’s delight — full of Omega 3, 6, 7 and 9 oils. Problem is, just like shea butter, it’s way too rich for your skin if you’re prone to acne breakouts.

Mineral Oil

Get this on your skin and you could end up with all sorts of problems. It doesn’t absorb well, which means it can block your pores. Combined with the wrong chemicals, it can even dry your skin out. Best to give this one a wide berth.

The easiest solution to all of this is to wear a hair band or tie up your hair to keep everything away from your face, as well as to continue a regular skincare routine to cleanse thoroughly.