About Pore Clogger Checker

Pore Clogger Checker is a free, static reference built around one dataset: skincare and makeup ingredients with their 0–5 comedogenicity ratings from published literature, each row carrying the source it came from and a confidence tier that says how well that number holds up. The checker on the home page matches a pasted ingredient list against that dataset. Every ingredient page shows the same number with the same caveats.

The site exists because nearly every "pore-clogging ingredients" list online is a copy of the same 1980s tables with the caveats stripped off. We keep the caveats. The methodology page explains where the numbers come from, what modern dermatology says about them, and why the checker still flags at 3/5 and up.

It is not medical advice, and nobody involved is a dermatologist. It does not diagnose acne, predict whether a product will break you out, or recommend treatment. A flag means a published test graded the raw ingredient in a range where caution was recommended — nothing more.

It does not rate products. Ratings describe raw ingredients as tested; concentration, formulation and your own skin decide what a finished product does. An ingredient we cannot match is shown as "not in our database" — unmatched, not cleared.

The site is built and maintained by Joe Rutkowski, an independent software developer, as a side project. There is no company behind it, no brand, and no product to sell. Ratings are transcribed from the published sources cited on the methodology page; when sources disagree, the row says so. We never invent a number and never display one that cannot be traced to a named publication.

Hosting costs a few dollars a month and is paid out of pocket. The site currently shows no advertising. Some product links in the "non-comedogenic swaps" block may become affiliate links, meaning we would earn a small commission if you buy after clicking, at no extra cost to you. Any page that contains affiliate links will say so on that page. Commissions never influence a rating: the numbers come from the literature, and the swaps are products labeled non-comedogenic by their makers, which we do not test or endorse.

We do not link to Amazon.

Found a rating that does not match its cited source, an alias that resolves wrong, or a missing citation? Tell us with the page URL and, if you have it, the publication you are checking against. Corrections that trace to a named source get fixed; numbers without one do not get added.