Tar Oil
Explained
Tar Oil is an oil obtained from the destructive distillation of wood tar. In cosmetics, it's mostly used as a fragrance and masking ingredient.
Masking ingredients help cover the unpleasant scents in a formula. This ingredient is said to have a smoky, sharp, and medicinal smell that resembles a campfire.
This ingredient shows up on a lot of "pore-clogging" lists but there's no real evidence behind that. It doesn't even have a comedogenic rating from an actual study; the numbers you'll find online come from blogs citing other blogs.
Ratings for other ingredients mostly come from a 1980s rabbit ear test. This test doesn't translate well to human skin or to real products because the ingredient sits at a much lower percentage.
Some people still find it breaks them out. So if that's you, definitely trust your skin.
See all 10 products with Tar Oil
