Wayne Goss’ Luxury Cream Foundation: Is it comedogenic? Ingredient Analysis

Makeup artist and beauty content creator Wayne Goss is a well known figure for his makeup tutorials and advice. He recently added a foundation to his beauty brand, The Luxury Cream Foundation. This surprised some people as it is a cream foundation rather than the standard liquid. In order to best understand the quality of a product such as a foundation, ingredients have to be looked at. This will reveal what type of skin it is most suitable for, if it contains any skin irritants and if it can achieve its claims.

What are the ingredients and what do they do?

Analysis of the formula

The Wayne Goss Luxury Cream Foundation is water free. It contains emollients high up on the ingredient list, meaning they are the base of the product. The emollients are mixed with a silicone and a polyethylene which are film forming. This combination will help the skin to retain moisture. At the end of the day wearing this foundation, your skin should feel better hydrated. This combination also provides a smooth look to the skin, well conditioning it and making it soft to the touch. 

The interesting thing to note is that the Wayne Goss Luxury Cream Foundation only contains one preservative, the Glyceryl Caprylate. This ingredient has anti-microbial properties and can replace traditional preservatives. 

In terms of the pigments, all are safe to be used in cosmetics but some have strict purity criteria to comply with. This is because some pigments and ingredients are more prone to contamination than others. These purity criteria help to ensure that the pigments are safe to use. There are some discrepancies in safety for use in the eye area or on the lips, for example, with the FDA regulations stating something different than the EU. This is not uncommon. 

Overall, this is a simple formulation, with a mixture of emollients and film forming ingredients combined with various pigments. Its main qualities include prevention of water loss (hydration), smoothness and conditioning (skin softening) and coverage (due to the pigments).

Does it really blur pores and smooth skin out?

Some of the main claims of this foundation is that it glides onto the skin like silk, minimises the look of pores, lines and skin texture. These claims are all achievable due to its high amount of emollients, the silicone and film forming ingredients that it contains. These will smooth skin out, condition it and make it look good. The silicone will also fill in the pores and offer the product a smooth application. 

Also, because of its creamy consistency, if applied in long, smoothing motions, this formula will fill in lines and pores, giving the illusion of smoother skin.

Is the Wayne Goss Luxury Cream Foundation clogging pores and giving you acne?

According to labeling regulations both in the EU and the US, ingredients must be listed in descending order of predominance. Ingredients with a concentration below 1% can be labeled without a specific order after the listing of the ingredients present at more than 1%. 

Given the fact that Isopropyl Myristate is the first ingredient in the Wayne Goss Luxury Cream Foundation this indicates that it is the most predominant ingredient in this foundation’s formula. Isopropyl Myristate appears on numerous sources online as being rated to be highly comedogenic, or rated as a 5 out of 5 on the comedogenicity scale. 

Comedogenicity is also commonly known as pore clogging. For an ingredient to be comedogenic it needs to penetrate into the follicle and it must produce the follicular reaction of “retention hyperkeratosis”. This will cause what is commonly known and looks like acne. 

However, there are several types of acne. Acne can be caused by hormonal imbalances, skin rashes or allergies among others. Other skin conditions can look like acne but could be folliculitis or milia. Not all of these are influenced by what we put on our skin. Comedogenic ingredients would cause acne cosmetica, or what is most commonly known as cosmetic acne. In other terms, comedogenicity refers to

the appearance of cosmetic acne caused by externally applied products. 

The discussion of ingredients in cosmetics being comedogenic started in the 1970s after several studies. One of these is the 1972 one from Kligman and Mills who reported on acne cosmetica in their survey at the Acne Clinic at University of Pennsylvania. Across the years the rabbit ear assay was used in order to rate ingredients on their comedogenicity and irritancy. According to these studies, Isopropyl Myristate is highly comedogenic, being rated at the maximum 5 out of 5 of the scale. 

However, these studies have several issues which make the comedogenicity scale not so black and white. Firstly, the skin of the ear of a rabbit is highly sensitive and reactive when compared to human skin. 

Secondly, even in these studies the comedogenicity of ingredients was not certain. For example, during the 1989 study done by Fulton, it is stated that the same comedogenic ingredients change their potential pore clogging effects and irritancy based on the source of the raw material, how refined the ingredient is, what concentration it comes in and what other products it is mixed with in a product. The comedogenicity of an ingredient is hugely influenced by the general formula of a product. Similarly, the comedogenicity of an ingredient can be highly reduced by the formula of a product and its interaction with other ingredients. 

As a result, we cannot state if a product is comedogenic or not simply by looking at an ingredient list, because there are too many factors influencing the rating of a single ingredient. 

Eventually these studies moved onto human subjects as well, but they were not reflective of real world usage conditions either. The backs of people were used in order to patch test and observe if certain ingredients were comedogenic or not. However, the skin on our back is different from the face. Also, it can take months for human skin to react to an ingredient and show signs of pore clogging. 

When companies state that their products are non-comedogenic, the classification is as grey as the comedogenicity scale. There is no regulation in place for stating a product is non comedogenic. 

All in all, if you have sensitive skin or acne prone skin and are worried about the potential comedogenic effects of some of the ingredients in the Wayne Goss foundation, definitely do a patch test first and only use it on one area in order to see if it causes any issues. This is especially because Isopropyl Myristate is the very first ingredient of the Wayne Goss Luxury Cream Foundation, meaning it is the most predominant. However, you should do this for prolonged time periods not just once, as skin can take a long time to react. But also keep in mind that not everyone is prone to cosmetic acne and that people may react differently. 

Is it fragrance and allergen free?

Yes, the Wayne Goss Luxury Cream Foundation does not contain any fragrance or potential allergens. Fragrance is a lead skin irritant, especially when it is accompanied by the list of the cruel 26. In the EU 26 substances have been identified as the lead source of irritation and contact dermatitis to the skin. Some examples of skin allergens are linalool and limonene, which, surprisingly, are present in most cosmetics. These 26 allergens have to be listed separately on the ingredient list if the concentration is higher than 0.001% in a leave-on product, such as a foundation. 

This foundation is made and sold in the USA, which has different rules when it comes to cosmetic ingredients, especially for listing these irritants and allergens. 

The word fragrance in a cosmetic product can hide a combination and a long list of ingredients. Plant extracts and essential oils are usually an indication of the presence of some of the 26 allergens. However, this foundation does not contain fragrance or plant extract and essential oils. It is safe to say that the Wayne Goss Luxury Cream Foundation it is fragrance and allergen free. The lack of it in the Wayne Goss foundation and the lack of the cruel 26 is a fantastic thing. 

Is it vegan and cruelty free?

Yes, the Beautylish confirmed that the Wayne Goss Luxury Cream Foundation is vegan and cruelty free. 

What skin types is this formula best suitable for?

Due to its high content of emollients but also of the presence of silica – which also functions as an absorbent – this foundation should be suitable to most skin types. Ranging from dry, normal to oily, this product should have high spreadability, provide smoothness and achieve its claims on most skins. 

However, it will also depend on the finish you prefer when it comes to foundations and how you feel it sitting on your own skin. Due to its high amount of emollients and film forming ingredients, it is possible that drier skin types will prefer this. In the case you are worried about its potential comedogenicity, oilier skin is more prone to pore clogging. 

To see how I prepare my dry, acne prone skin for wearing this foundation, please watch my video here.

Is it overpriced? 

The Wayne Goss Foundation comes in 28.3g and retails for the price of 38 USD. This means it costs 30 GBP and 36 EUR. This can be comparable to liquid foundation as they usually come in 30ml. Cream foundations usually come in much smaller sizes, such as 0.3oz (9ml) so the Wayne Goss Foundation has a generous size and can be compared with most liquid foundation sizes which come at a standard of 30ml. If you were to generally compare it to most foundations out there, then yes, the Wayne Goss foundation has a high-end price and sits in the pricer category. However, some affordable drugstore cream foundations, while they cost a third of the Wayne Goss’ foundation, they also come in a third amount of product (for example, a 10 USD cream foundation that comes in 9g rather than 28.3g).

When compared to other high end brands, the price is similar. The Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless foundation retails for 36 GBP for 30ml.  The Fenty Beauty Hydrating Foundation costs 40 GBP for 32ml. 

As usual though, you can find foundations with a price range from anywhere in between 5 and 200GBP. 

The packaging is beautiful and luxurious, with a matte glass jar and a cap that doubles as a magnifying mirror. This packaging also counts for some of the price. 

Another thing that will affect the price of this foundation is the fact that Wayne Goss’ brand is self-funded. It is a significantly smaller brand when compared to some of the big names in the industry. This too will affect the price. 

If the experience offered by the packaging is important to you, as well as supporting Wayne Goss and his brand, then the price seems in accordance with other high end brands on the market. Compared to some though, it has a much more generous size. Its validity after opening is also generous, giving you 24 months to use up the product, which is much better than others who expire after twelve or even six months.  

How does it actually look on the skin?

To see how this foundation looks on the skin, how it wears throughout the day, what primers and skincare it works best with, please watch my review on YouTube. 

Disclaimers

This article has been written to work in conjunction with the video. To have a full review of the Wayne Goss Luxury Cream Foundation make sure you watch the video here.

This article is not sponsored and does not contain any affiliate links.

The author of this article is not a chemist. This article is for informational purposes only. The description and analysis of ingredients is by no means exhaustive, and it serves more of a basic outline. Always do your own research regarding ingredients in skincare and patch test the product before using. To read full Disclaimers click here.

This article was last edited on 13 May 2022.

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