Ingredient · active

Azelaic Acid

Azelaic Acid is an active ingredient: it's there to change how skin looks or behaves, not just how the product feels. Calms redness and breakouts; safe in pregnancy. Pori's ingredient rules rate it a good fit for oily and sensitive skin types.

Azelaic Acid at a glance

FunctionActive
Active classAzelaic acid
Comedogenic rating0/5
Irritation potentialMild
Also listed asPotassium Azeloyl Diglycinate
How commonOn 21 of 21,918 product labels in Pori's copy of Open Beauty Facts

What does Azelaic Acid help with?

In Pori's database it's linked to redness, breakouts, dark spots and uneven tone. How much it helps depends on how high it sits on the label: ingredients are listed from most to least, and anything past roughly the tenth spot is usually present at 1% or less.

Is Azelaic Acid good for my skin type?

These ratings come from the same fixed rules Pori's ingredient scanner uses, applied to a typical profile for each skin type. Your own result in the app also weighs your scan results and concerns.

Skin typeRatingWhy
NormalNeutralCalms redness and breakouts; safe in pregnancy.
DryNeutralCalms redness and breakouts; safe in pregnancy.
OilyGood fitCalms redness and breakouts; safe in pregnancy.
CombinationNeutralCalms redness and breakouts; safe in pregnancy.
SensitiveGood fitCalms redness and breakouts; safe in pregnancy.

Is Azelaic Acid comedogenic?

It has a comedogenic rating of 0 out of 5 in Pori's ingredient database, so it's unlikely to clog pores. Ratings like this come from older tests on single ingredients, and a finished product with it isn't necessarily pore-clogging. A 2006 study in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that finished products made with comedogenic ingredients were not necessarily comedogenic, so treat the number as a hint, not a verdict.

Which products contain Azelaic Acid?

Products in Pori's curated catalogue that list it as a key ingredient:

  • ISDIN Fotoultra Redness SPF 50 (sunscreen)

How do I check a product with Azelaic Acid?

Scan the barcode or photograph the ingredient list with Pori's ingredient scanner (a Pro feature). It rates every ingredient for your skin type, flags fragrance, pore-clogging and irritating ingredients, and gives the product an overall match score. It's a guide to ingredients, not a diagnosis, so see a dermatologist about any reaction.

Keep reading

Ingredient data from Pori's ingredient database; product counts from Open Beauty Facts (ODbL). General information, not medical advice.