What is Polysorbate 60?
Polysorbate 60 falls into the emulsifier category — an emulsifier that helps oil and water mix. A stearate-based emulsifier with no established comedogenic score, commonly avoided in fungal-acne routines as a polysorbate.
You may see it on labels as Polysorbate 60, Polysorbate-60, Tween 60, so it can hide under more than one name in an ingredient list.
Where Polysorbate 60 shows up
As an emulsifier that helps oil and water mix, Polysorbate 60 typically appears in almost any lotion or cream, where it keeps the oil and water phases blended. Separately from clogging, its irritancy is rated 0/5 — low, so it's unlikely to sting or sensitise on its own.
Is Polysorbate 60 bad for acne-prone skin?
Because no reliable comedogenic score exists for Polysorbate 60, judge it by how your own skin responds rather than by a number.
Worth flagging: Polysorbate 60'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.
Note for fungal-acne (malassezia) sufferers: Polysorbate 60 is commonly avoided in fungal-acne routines, since it falls into the fatty-acid or ester families the yeast can feed on. The evidence there is looser than for comedogenicity — see our fungal-acne checker for context.