Pore-clogging ingredients / Oleth-3 Phosphate
Is Oleth-3 Phosphate comedogenic?
Mildly. Most skin tolerates this ingredient without breakouts.
- Comedogenic rating
- 2/5
- Mildly comedogenic
- Evidence confidence
- low
- Source lists disagree about this ingredient. Treat the rating as a caution, not a verdict.
- Also appears as
- No common label aliases
What is Oleth-3 Phosphate?
The phosphate ester of oleth-3, used as an emulsifier in makeup and sunscreens. Despite the related name, published lists rate it far lower than oleth-3 itself.
What to do if you're acne-prone
Source lists disagree on this one, which is why we flag it with a low rating rather than ignore it. Only the most reactive skin needs to avoid it outright.
Where this rating comes from
Our ratings consolidate two lineages: the original rabbit-ear comedogenicity assays published by James Fulton and colleagues (Fulton, Pay & Fulton, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 1984; Fulton, Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists, 1989), and the pore-clogger lists maintained by acne-specialist estheticians in the Face Reality lineage that refine those assays with decades of client observation. The source lists disagree about this ingredient, which is why its confidence is marked low.
Last reviewed 2026-08-15 by the PorePass editorial team.
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Comedogenicity ratings come from published ingredient studies and esthetician-compiled lists. They are imperfect and formulation-dependent, and this page isn't medical advice. Reactions vary by skin, concentration, and the rest of the formula.