What a —/5 rating means
Because no dependable rating exists, judge Agar by how your own skin responds rather than by a number. The absence of a score is not the same as a zero — it simply means the ingredient has not been reliably tested on the classic comedogenic scale.
About Agar
It is a thickener that controls how a product flows and feels. A red-algae polysaccharide used as a gelling agent in masks and jelly textures. It belongs to the same algal-derivative family as carrageenan and algin, which rate 5 and 4 on this grid. It is named on the CLEARSTEM and AcneClinicNYC pore-clogging ingredient lists, but neither publishes 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.
On a label it can read as Agar, Agar Agar, Agarose, Gelidium Extract — worth knowing when you scan an ingredient deck.
Agar in makeup and skincare
It sets the consistency of gels, liquid foundations, and serums.