What is Isononyl Isononanoate?
Isononyl Isononanoate falls into the ester / emollient category — a synthetic emollient ester. A light, volatile-feeling branched ester used to replace silicones for a fast, dry finish. Its C9 chains fall below the roughly C11-C24 window malassezia is thought to feed on, so it is not flagged for fungal acne. It is named on the CLEARSTEM pore-clogging ingredient list, but that list does not publish a 0-5 comedogenic score for it and no Fulton-derived table we cite carries one. We therefore leave it unrated rather than invent a number — treat the listing itself as the signal.
You may see it on labels as Isononyl Isononanoate, Isononyl Isononoanoate, so it can hide under more than one name in an ingredient list.
Where Isononyl Isononanoate shows up
As a synthetic emollient ester, Isononyl Isononanoate typically appears in lotions, sunscreens, primers, and colour cosmetics, where it adds a smooth, non-greasy slip.
Is Isononyl Isononanoate bad for acne-prone skin?
Because no reliable comedogenic score exists for Isononyl Isononanoate, judge it by how your own skin responds rather than by a number.
Worth flagging: Isononyl Isononanoate's rating is disputed. Credible sources land on different numbers, which is why we show a range rather than a single score — and why your own experience is the best tiebreaker.