Are Your Shampoo, Toothpaste & Chapstick Breaking You Out?

Acne is not just about skincare. Those breakouts on your cheeks, jawline, forehead, or around your mouth can be caused by surprise culprits hiding in your shower, bathroom sink, and even your laundry room.

Let’s break down the everyday items that could be sabotaging your skin ⬇️

1. Shampoo & Conditioner: Forehead + Hairline Acne

Why it matters:

Most hair products are formulated to coat, soften, and seal — which is great for hair, but terrible for pores.

Sneaky pore-cloggers to look for:

• Silicones

• Heavy oils (coconut oil, argan oil, shea butter)

• Waxes and petrolatum

How they cause breakouts:

When you rinse, that residue runs down your forehead, temples, back, and chest.
You might be literally coating your skin in pore-clogging ingredients every shower.

✨ Cara tip:
If you’re breaking out along your hairline or on your forehead, switch to a non-comedogenic shampoo + conditioner and wash your face last in the shower.

2. Hair Styling Products: Jawline + Sideburn Acne

Watch out for:

• Dry shampoo

• Hair spray

• Leave-in conditioner

• Heat protectants

• Hair gel

If it touches hair, it probably ends up touching skin.

Common breakout zones:

• Jawline

• Cheeks near the sideburns

• Ears and temples

• Back of neck

✨ Cara tip:
Change pillowcases 2–3x a week if you use hair products daily. It matters.

3. Laundry Detergent: Body Acne (Especially Back + Chest)

The problem:

Most commercial detergents are loaded with:

• Fragrance

• Fabric softeners

• Optical brighteners

• Wax residues

Those stay in your clothes and sit on your skin all day long — especially in bras, sports bras, and tight tops.

If you’re struggling with body breakouts:

• Switch to free & clear detergents

• Skip fabric softener

• Avoid fragrance beads (looking at you, Downy Unstopables)

✨ Cara tip:
YES — detergent can 100% break you out, even if you “never changed anything.”
Sometimes changing detergent clears acne faster than changing skincare.

4. Toothpaste & Mouth Products: Around-the-Mouth Acne

Perioral acne (breakouts right around the mouth + chin) is often linked to:

Ingredients to watch:

• Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)

• Fluoride

• Whitening agents
  

These can cause irritation, small red bumps, and stubborn clusters that never quite heal.

5. Chapstick, Lip Balms & Lip Masks: Chin + Lower Lip Breakouts

Most lip products are designed to seal moisture — but they also seal bacteria and oil, especially if you’re breaking out already.

Common pore-cloggers:

• Coconut oil

• Shea butter

• Mineral oil

• Lanolin

• Beeswax

If you get tiny bumps around the lips (not cold sores), this might be the culprit.

✨ Cara tip:
Choose non-comedogenic lip balms and avoid “glossy oils” that travel outside the lip line.

6. BONUS: The Ingredient to Always Avoid

You already know this one because we scream it from the acne rooftops:

🚫 Coconut oil

It is in:

• Shampoo

• Conditioner

• Body wash

• Hair serum

• Chapstick

• Toothpaste (!!)

• Laundry softener sheets

It is a trigger for acne on most breakout-prone skin.

If you see coconut oil or “cocos nucifera” in the top half of the ingredient list — run.

7. How to Tell If It's Product-Related Acne

Signs it might be from one of these sources:

✔ Breakouts are in repeating patterns
✔ You don’t respond to acne products
✔ Breakouts flare after showering or laundry day
✔ Pimples are in a straight line along the hairline, sideburn, or jaw

Changes that help:

• Wash face after shampooing

• Clip hair back while working out

• Switch detergent

• Wipe jawline after hair products

• Avoid pore-cloggers around the lip line

To check your lifestyle products for pore-clogging ingredients click on the RESOURCE tab on our website then on our PORE-CLOGGING INGREDIENT CHECKER for immediate results - still have questions? Reach out to us at info@weloveacne.com