Ingredient · humectant

Urea

Urea is a humectant: it draws water into the top layer of skin and holds it there. Moisturises and softens rough skin; can sting on broken skin. Pori's ingredient rules rate it a good fit for every skin type.

Urea at a glance

FunctionHumectant
Comedogenic rating0/5
Irritation potentialMild
Also listed asNone
How commonOn 355 of 21,918 product labels in Pori's copy of Open Beauty Facts

What does Urea help with?

In Pori's database it's linked to dehydration, rough texture. 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 Urea 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
NormalGood fitMoisturises and softens rough skin; can sting on broken skin.
DryGood fitMoisturises and softens rough skin; can sting on broken skin.
OilyGood fitMoisturises and softens rough skin; can sting on broken skin.
CombinationGood fitMoisturises and softens rough skin; can sting on broken skin.
SensitiveGood fitMoisturises and softens rough skin; can sting on broken skin.

Is Urea 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 Urea?

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

  • Murad Resurgence Renewing Cleansing Cream (cleanser)

How do I check a product with Urea?

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.