I ruined my skin with a moisturiser once. Not dramatically. It felt lovely to put on, and about two weeks later my face was doing things it shouldn't, and I couldn't work out why because I hadn't changed anything. Except I had. I'd changed my moisturiser.
How do you check if a moisturiser is Malassezia safe?
Read the ingredients for the things Malassezia feeds on, then run the list through a checker. If you've got seb derm on your face or fungal acne, this is one of the harder parts of building a routine, because moisturisers are full of emollients, and a lot of emollients are fatty acids and esters.
Usually fine
Glycerin, hyaluronic acid and sodium hyaluronate, squalane (squalane, not squalene), niacinamide, ceramides, mineral oil, petrolatum, zinc, silicones and most peptides. These tend to screen clean.
Worth being careful about
Fatty acid esters like ethylhexyl palmitate, isopropyl myristate and isopropyl palmitate, plant oils like coconut, olive, sunflower seed and flaxseed, some polysorbates, and certain ferments.
Then run everything through Sezia. It's free, it takes thirty seconds, and it's saved me a lot of money.
Don't ignore texture
If a moisturiser feels like grease, you won't use it every day, and if it pills under SPF, you'll skip the SPF. Skincare only works if you actually do it.
The six that passed for me, and what each one's like, are in my Malassezia-safe moisturisers post.