Anyone else break out with stearic acids and / or vitamin e and derivatives?

[building2016]

Trying to figure out what ingredients give me spots and it might be these two groups of things. Just wondering if anyone else has this.

I've started tracking everything I use or try (and their ingredients) in massive spreadsheets now and I think it is paying off. I'm sure I'll figure it out one day.

Stearic is a pretty standard thickener and fairly benign...vit e can cause reactions in higher dosages (not generally found in commercially sold creams) and indeed full blown toxicity reactions.

If you post full ingredient lists of any product you have a reaction to then happy to take a look.

The number one candidate is fragrance, number 2 is essential oils/ herbal extracts, number 3 is comodegenic oils eg coconut, cocoa butter etc which can cause dramatically different reactions in different people. In my humble experience.

What about Shea butter or b. parkii? I think this is a steric acid derivative and really blocks my pores - it is in everything
I also could add mineral oil and some silicones, unless they are mixed with water

Oh, someone sounds scientific! Hark at you. I wasn't expecting proper advice but if you can help then thank you so much. I am not remotely scientifically trained so I don't really know what I'm doing.

I have definitely broken out from the following. (Some of the ingredients are in the order given, some I alphabetised to be able to cross check)

1. Cetaphil cleanser - Aqua/water, cetyl alcohol, propylene glycol, butylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben, sodium lauryl sulfate, stearyl alcohol

2. Benton high content snail beee steam cream - Ingredients:
   Snail Secretion Filtrate, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Cetyl Ethylhexanoate, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Niacinamide, Stearic Acid, Behenyl Alcohol, Phytosqualene, Human Ogliopeptide-1, Bee Venom, Arbutin, Adenosine, Helianthus Annus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Argania Spinosa Kernal Oil, Glyceryl Stearate, Arginine, Carbomer, Urea, Tocopher Leaf Extract, Salix Alba (Willow Bark) Extract, Ulmus Campestris (Elm) Extract, Pentylene Glycol, Zanthoxylum Piperitum Fruit Extract, Pilsatilla Koreana Extract, Usnea Barbata (Lichen) Extract

3. Mizon Good Night White Sleeping Mask - Alcohol, Ammonium, Acryloyldimethyltaurate, Aqua
   Biosaccharide Gum-1
   broussonetia extract
   Butylene Glycol
   Carbomer
   CI 17200
   CI42090
   Cyclomethicone
   Dimethicone
   Disodium EDTA
   Glycerin
   Methylparaben
   Morus Alba Bark Extract
   Natto gum
   Niacinamide
   Pantethine
   Placental Protein
   Polysorbate 20
   Propyl Paraben
   Sclerotium Gum
   Sodium Hyaluronate
   Trehalose
   Triethanol amine
   VP Copolymer

4. Melano CC Essence - Alpinia katsumadai Seed Extract
   Ascorbic Acid
   Ascorbyl Palmitate
   Butylene Glycol
   Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate
   Disodium Edetate
   EDTA
   Ethoxydiglycol
   Thymol
   Tocopheryl Acetate

There was also a BB cream that broke me out that contained stearic acid.

I have ingredients of all the things that seem to be okay for my skin and none of the stuff that you leave on (creams or oils) contains tocopherol related things or stearic acid or stearyl alcohol.

Oh dear - that would take a while to plough through!
At first glance I would say:
Cetaphil - not sure what in that would cleanse your skin - particularly if you are using the ingrediants below it, which all look quite rich and fatty and with some silicones - maybe it is the combination rather than just one ingredient
I would personally stop everything (!) and go back to basics adding a light face oil - one ingredient only and an acid toner after cleansing
Probably the wrong thing to say but I would personally just wash with bar soap flannel plus water
Then acid cleanse then apply some oil for a few days
After that you can re start adding in all the complicated stuff again and see how you go
Sorry if not much help - I haven't studied chemistry for a while and it is just and interest of mine, particularly when buying products!

Just notice cetaphile does contain SLS which would cleanse ok! Maybe just use that to wash with

You've got potential sensitizers in each product. And I mean a real bunch, unfortunately. Thing is, when skin reacts to one thing, if the barrier gets damaged it can become vulnerable to other thing that would normally be ok.

Eg, the sls in your cetaphil could theoretically disrupt the barrier sufficiently to make it hypersensitive to the bee venom and placental derivative ingredients...under those conditions the glycols (acting as solvents, penetration enhancers and water substitutes to reduce rate of oxidation, probably) in your vitamin c serum could be increasing absorbtion to a level which is causing the ascorbic acid to give you spots too.

Kenningtons suggestion to isolate and introduce gradually is really sensible but a little difficult to do using commercial products which contain so many ingredients.

I used to work in a lab and actually make my own stuff...I can tell you categorically that stearic acid and up to 10% tocopherol acetate in an ascorbic acid serum with a decent whack of ethoxydiglycol does not break me out, but it may well do for you!

Sorry I can't be more help. Good luck.

Thanks both! I wasn't using these at the same time! So it wasn't a cross-sensitisation thing. I found products that didn't break me out, so I had a safe routine, and whenever I changed it and then broke out I recorded which new product was to blame.

So I have a bunch of products that contain lots of ingredients but are totally fine for my face. But of course, you are right, those safe products could be affecting how these listed problem products interact with my skin.

I also notice that eating gluten and dairy makes me spotty, sadly, and since changing my diet I have noticed I don't break out as much.

I will keep going with my self-experimentation and I'm sure I'll isolate the problem(s) eventually.

Thanks again.