Kaolin Clay: Benefits for Oily Skin, How to Use It & Safety

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Spread a thin layer of kaolin paste across an oily forehead, let it sit, then wipe it away, and part of the shine leaves with it.4 Kaolin is the fine clay behind many face masks, mineral powders and skin-protectant creams, so if you've used one, you may well have had it on your skin. Cosmetic makers use it for one main job: taking up oil.12

Researchers have measured that effect in a placebo-controlled study, and a month-long study of a mask made with kaolin and bentonite clay, without a comparison group, tracked blackheads and whiteheads week by week.45

Taking oil off the surface addresses one of the causes of acne I teach. In my 2017 episode on natural acne treatments, I explained it this way: "Here's the root cause of acne. It's too much of certain types of oil building up on your skin and bad bacteria." Inflammation is another, and for some people hormones play a part. Most skin issues start with the health of your gut.6

My free Healing Leaky Gut protocol lays out that inside work, step by step.7

Did you know?

• The U.S. produced an estimated 4.8 million metric tons of kaolin in 2025, and its main uses at home were fillers, extenders and binders (56%) and ceramics (20%).8

• About 1.6 million metric tons of U.S. kaolin were shipped abroad in 2025, mainly to coat and fill paper.8

• In lab tests, kaolin and other clays blocked some ultraviolet light, and clays with more iron oxide let less of it through.9

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What is kaolin clay?

Clays sold as red, green or black kaolin get their colors from what's mined along with the kaolinite. When researchers analyzed three cosmetic clays, all sold under the ingredient name kaolin, each held kaolinite and quartz. The red clay also held hematite, an iron oxide that likely gives it its color; the green clay held illite and smectite, a clay mineral that expands; and the black clay was the simplest, mostly kaolinite and quartz, with the smallest particles, and its color likely comes from organic matter.4

Clay has a long history as medicine: ancient civilizations in China, Egypt and Greece described the healing potential of "medicinal earth."4 Kaolin is a remedy in its own right, too. A 2017 review of kaolinite in pharmaceutics describes it applied to the skin as a skin protector, an anti-inflammatory agent, a bleeding-stopper and in pelotherapy, or mud therapy, and taken by mouth as a gut protector and diarrhea remedy.1

How does kaolin clay work on your skin?

Kaolin works on the surface of your skin. It takes up the oil sitting there, and the oil leaves with the clay when you rinse it off.

Kaolin clay benefits, ranked by evidence

Does kaolin clay help oily skin and acne?

Oily skin makes extra sebum, the oil from your skin's glands, and that extra oil is linked with clogged pores and acne.5 Kaolin's job is to take some of it away.

One application, compared with a placebo

A 2025 study from Brazil and Portugal put kaolin to a placebo-controlled test. Twenty adults aged 18 to 45 with oily foreheads each got three gels on separate marked spots, placed by a randomization table: a clay-free gel and the same gel with three cosmetic clays, all sold under the ingredient name kaolin, at 9% or 21% in total. Untreated skin served as a second comparison, and the gels stayed on for 2 hours before being wiped off.

Measured right then, as a share of each spot's starting oil (the paper reports ratios, such as 0.41), the untreated spot had 107%, the clay-free gel spot 71%, the 9% clay gel spot 59% and the 21% clay gel spot 41%. Every gel lowered oil compared with untreated skin, and the 21% gel took off significantly more than the clay-free gel; the 9% gel's edge over it wasn't statistically significant. A second group of 20 adults tried the gels on their cheeks, where one application didn't change skin firmness or elasticity.4

The effect of one application faded quickly. Two hours after the gels came off, oil was back above the starting level at every spot, at 133% untreated, 126% under the clay-free gel, 118% under the 9% gel and 104% under the 21% gel, with no significant differences between them.4 Your skin keeps making oil, so a clay mask works as a routine, and that's how the next study used it.

A month of twice-weekly masks

In a 2023 study in Shanghai, adults aged 18 to 45 with oily or combination skin, blackheads and whiteheads, and mild to moderate acne used a mask made with kaolin and bentonite, plus cellulose beads, thermal spring water and 5% panthenol (vitamin B5), twice a week at home for 4 weeks, leaving it on 5 to 10 minutes each time. The study had no comparison group. Of 65 people enrolled, 60 finished, and the skin measurements come from 40 of them; 85% of all participants rated their skin as sensitive.5

Blackheads (open comedones) were 4.81% fewer right after the first mask, then 25.38% fewer at week 1, 47.12% at week 2 and 65.77% at week 4. Whiteheads (closed comedones) fell 5.06%, 25.75%, 32.18% and 46.44% over the same visits. Forehead oil was 68.97% lower right after the first mask and 29.90% lower at week 4, and skin evenness improved 7.27% by week 4. Pore area didn't change significantly, and the area of porphyrins, compounds made by acne bacteria, rose slightly, a change that wasn't statistically significant. The study was funded and run by the mask's maker.5

The mask was gentle on skin that people called sensitive. Dryness and scaling, total irritation, itching and tightness all went down over the 4 weeks, and at week 4, 95% of participants said their skin didn't feel tight or dry, while 98.3% said the mask controlled their oil.5 Skin moisture rose 29.65% and water loss through the skin fell 20.41% by week 4, gains the authors credit partly to the mask's moisture-holding beads and panthenol.5

Beyond the mask

Food matters too. In the same 2017 episode on acne, I put probiotic foods first, then zinc-rich foods, with pumpkin seeds at the top of that list, and I named excess sugar and carbs as the number one food villain for acne.6 Cutting back on refined carbs is a good place to start, and essential oils for acne covers topical options to use alongside a clay mask.

Kaolin vs. bentonite clay: what's the difference?

Kaolin and bentonite are both mined clays used in face masks, and they differ in makeup: kaolin is a hydrated aluminum silicate, and bentonite is a hydrated aluminum magnesium silicate.5 Both take up oil from the skin, which is why some masks combine them, often with activated charcoal, another oil-absorbing ingredient.5

Bentonite is the clay I suggest in my acne tips, mixed with water as a mask, especially for blackheads.6

How to use a kaolin clay mask

1. Start with plain, cosmetic-grade kaolin powder. The safety section explains how to choose a clean one.

2. Mix it gently. Spoon a spoonful or two into a small bowl and stir in water a little at a time until the paste is smooth and spreadable.

3. Apply a thin layer to clean skin, focusing on oily areas such as the forehead, nose and chin, and keep it away from your eyes and lips.

4. Leave it on 5 to 10 minutes, the time used in the 4-week study.5

5. Rinse with lukewarm water and pat your skin dry.

6. Moisturize. A light moisturizer for oily skin keeps your skin comfortable.

The placebo-controlled study left its gels on for 2 hours to measure oil after a single use; the 4-week study tested a home routine at 5 to 10 minutes, and that's the window to follow.45 Both studies tested oily or combination skin.54 If your skin runs dry, keep the mask to oily spots such as the forehead and nose, and follow it with a richer moisturizer for dry skin. A clay mask fits easily into a simple skin care routine built around natural skin care.

Kaolin in powders, sunscreens and other products

In face powders and other cosmetics, kaolin works as an absorbent and a bulking agent, taking up oil and giving a formula body.2 The FDA also lists kaolin, at 4 to 20 percent, among the active ingredients allowed in over-the-counter skin protectants, alongside zinc oxide, calamine and colloidal oatmeal.3 Skin protectants made with kaolin may say on the label that they dry the oozing and weeping of poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac.3

You'll find kaolin in some mineral sunscreens, too. The sun protection in a mineral sunscreen comes from zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, the two mineral ingredients the FDA has proposed as safe and effective sunscreen actives, and kaolin in the formula adds texture and takes up oil.112 A zinc oxide sunscreen is the kind I recommend once you've had some sunlight on bare skin.12

In hospitals, kaolin has a job in wound care: it helps blood clot, so surgical gauze is coated with it. In a randomized trial of 231 heart-surgery patients at 7 U.S. hospitals, mild to moderate bleeding stopped within 5 minutes in 79.1% of patients treated with kaolin gauze, against 58.4% with plain gauze, with no significant difference in side effects; the gauze's maker funded the trial.13 In a separate randomized trial of 26 people on blood thinners whose diabetic foot ulcers were cleaned in a clinic, bleeding stopped within 10 minutes in all of those treated with kaolin gauze, against 58.3% with standard dry gauze, and no side effects were reported.14

Kaolin clay side effects and safety

On your skin. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review, the expert panel that assesses cosmetic ingredient safety in the U.S., reviewed naturally sourced clays in 2026 and concluded that kaolin is safe in cosmetics in the ways and amounts it's used today.2

Breathing the dry powder. Kaolin's main hazard is dust breathed in day after day, the kind of exposure that workplaces limit. NIOSH, the federal workplace-safety institute, recommends no more than 10 mg per cubic meter of air for total kaolin dust and 5 for the fine, breathable fraction, and it lists lung scarring among kaolin's effects.17 In more than 2,000 Georgia kaolin workers, simple pneumoconiosis, a dust-related lung disease, showed up in 3.2% of those with more than 3 years on the job, and dry processing carried more risk than wet.18 At one Georgia mine, all 5 workers with kaolin pneumoconiosis came from the processing area, where the breathable dust measured 1.74 mg per cubic meter, against 0.14 in the mine itself.19 Those findings come from years of daily dust at work.

Taking kaolin by mouth. Kaolin is one of only two ingredients the FDA recognizes as safe and effective in over-the-counter diarrhea remedies, where the label says it "helps firm stool within 24 to 48 hours."10 Those products carry their own directions and a 2-day limit, and the label says not to use them with bloody or black stool, to ask a doctor first if you have a fever or mucus in your stool, and to stop and ask a doctor if symptoms get worse or diarrhea lasts more than 2 days.10 Cosmetic kaolin isn't made for eating, and eating clay in large amounts is a different matter: in one documented case, a 60-year-old woman who ate large amounts of it developed a dangerously low potassium level of 1.8 mmol/L, with muscle paralysis, and recovered fully.20

Metals in clay. Because clay is mined, its metal content depends on the deposit. In the 2025 study's screening test of three cosmetic clays, the black clay showed 4.2 ppm of arsenic oxide, so the authors called for more precise testing against the 3 ppm arsenic limit the FDA sets for color additives in cosmetics.4 The FDA recommends no more than 10 ppm of lead as an impurity in lip products and cosmetics applied to the skin, and it reports that more than 99% of these products on the U.S. market fall below it.21 Clays sold for eating have tested higher. When Dutch food-safety researchers tested 63 of them, estimated lead intake topped the safe limit for 34 of 36 traditional clays and 2 of 27 clays sold as health products, and arsenic intake topped its limit for 15 of 35 traditional clays and 11 of 27 health clays.22 Calabash chalk, a kaolin-group clay eaten in West Africa, averaged about 40 mg/kg of lead, and in Ghana, where 48.4% of 217 pregnant women surveyed ate kaolin clay, the clay carried traces of lead, nickel and arsenic along with microbes.2324

Medicines. In 10 healthy volunteers who each tried every treatment, a mixture of kaolin and pectin cut the share of a digoxin dose recovered in urine from 40.1% to 23.4%.15 In people on long-term digoxin, a heart medicine, taking kaolin-pectin at the same time lowered the peak digoxin level by 36% but total exposure over 24 hours by only 15%, and taking it 2 hours before and 2 hours after the digoxin showed no interaction.25 In 6 volunteers who each took chloroquine alone and with kaolin, kaolin lowered its absorption by 28.6%.16 If you use a kaolin product by mouth and take any other medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist first, and take the kaolin at least 3 hours before or after it, as the FDA label directs.10

Pregnancy. Kaolin masks weren't tested in pregnancy: both skin studies left out pregnant and nursing women.54 Eating clay is the part to avoid: the Dutch researchers advise against eating clay, especially during pregnancy, given the lead and arsenic they found.22 For eating well while you're expecting, see the pregnancy diet.

The bottom line

Kaolin clay: frequently asked questions

References

1. Awad ME, López-Galindo A, Setti M, El-Rahmany MM, Iborra CV. Kaolinite in pharmaceutics and biomedicine. Int J Pharm. 2017;533(1):34-48. doi:10.1016/j.ijpharm.2017.09.056
2. Burnett CL, Bergfeld WF, Belsito DV, Cohen DE, Klaassen CD, Liebler DC, et al. Amended Safety Assessment of Naturally-Sourced Clays as Used in Cosmetics. Int J Toxicol. 2026;45(3_suppl):65S-107S. doi:10.1177/10915818261455355
3. US Food and Drug Administration. Skin protectant drug products for over-the-counter human use. 21 CFR 347.10(j) (kaolin, 4 to 20 percent) and 347.50(b)(3) (labeling: dries the oozing and weeping of poison ivy, oak and sumac).
4. Sarruf FD, Issa MG, Velasco MVR, Rosado C, Baby AR. Clay-Based Cosmetic Formulations: Mineralogical Properties and Short-Term Effects on Sebum Regulation and Skin Biomechanics. Cosmetics. 2025;12(5):219. doi:10.3390/cosmetics12050219
5. Zhang X, Zhang Z, Tao H, He X, Hsu K, Wang W, et al. Comprehensive assessment of the efficacy and safety of a clay mask in oily and acne skin. Skin Res Technol. 2023;29(11):e13513. doi:10.1111/srt.13513
6. Axe J. Natural Acne Treatments [video]. The Dr. Axe Show. 2017. Root cause of acne at 0:37; acne foods from 0:54; digestive health at 1:12; bentonite clay mask at 7:38.
7. Axe J. Healing Leaky Gut: The 30-Day Healing Protocol. DrAxe.com. 2026. The 6R roadmap, foods that heal and supplement protocol.
8. US Geological Survey. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Clays. Reston (VA): USGS; 2026.
9. Hoang-Minh T, Le TL, Kasbohm J, Gieré R. UV-protection characteristics of some clays. Appl Clay Sci. 2010;48(3):349-357. doi:10.1016/j.clay.2010.01.005
10. US Food and Drug Administration. Antidiarrheal drug products for over-the-counter human use. 21 CFR part 335 (335.10 active ingredients; 335.50 labeling: kaolin indication, warnings and directions).
11. US Food and Drug Administration. Questions and Answers: FDA's regulatory actions on over-the-counter sunscreen. Content current as of September 10, 2026.
12. Axe J. Natural Sunscreens, EMF Exposure, & the Best Dairy Alternatives | Q&A [video]. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2024. Mineral-based sunscreen at 41:03.
13. Mumtaz M, Thompson RB, Moon MR, Sultan I, Reece TB, Keeling WB, et al. Safety and efficacy of a kaolin-impregnated hemostatic gauze in cardiac surgery: A randomized trial. JTCVS Open. 2023;14:134-144. doi:10.1016/j.xjon.2023.03.016
14. Hwang YG, Lee JW, Won EA, Han SH. Prospective Randomized Controlled Study of Hemostatic Efficacy with Kaolin-Impregnated Dressings in Diabetic Foot Ulcers Taking Anticoagulants Undergoing Debridement in an Outpatient Clinic. J Diabetes Res. 2019;2019:9316380. doi:10.1155/2019/9316380
15. Brown DD, Juhl RP. Decreased bioavailability of digoxin due to antacids and kaolin-pectin. N Engl J Med. 1976;295(19):1034-7. doi:10.1056/NEJM197611042951902
16. McElnay JC, Mukhtar HA, D'Arcy PF, Temple DJ, Collier PS. The effect of magnesium trisilicate and kaolin on the in vivo absorption of chloroquine. J Trop Med Hyg. 1982;85(4):159-63.
17. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards: Kaolin.
18. Morgan WK, Donner A, Higgins IT, Pearson MG, Rawlings W Jr. The effects of kaolin on the lung. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1988;138(4):813-20. doi:10.1164/ajrccm/138.4.813
19. Altekruse EB, Chaudhary BA, Pearson MG, Morgan WK. Kaolin dust concentrations and pneumoconiosis at a kaolin mine. Thorax. 1984;39(6):436-41. doi:10.1136/thx.39.6.436
20. Schmidt C, Oxley Oxland J, Freercks R. A rare case of hypokalaemia and hypophosphataemia secondary to geophagia. BMJ Case Rep. 2021;14(5):e239322. doi:10.1136/bcr-2020-239322
21. US Food and Drug Administration. Lead in Cosmetics. Content current as of February 25, 2022.
22. Reeuwijk NM, Klerx WN, Kooijman M, Hoogenboom LA, Rietjens IM, Martena MJ. Levels of lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium in clays for oral use on the Dutch market and estimation of associated risks. Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess. 2013;30(9):1535-45. doi:10.1080/19440049.2013.811297
23. Dean JR, Deary ME, Gbefa BK, Scott WC. Characterisation and analysis of persistent organic pollutants and major, minor and trace elements in Calabash chalk. Chemosphere. 2004;57(1):21-5. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2004.05.023
24. Kortei NK, Annor IA, Aboagye G, Manaphraim NYB, Koryo-Dabrah A, Awude E, et al. Elemental minerals and microbial compositions as well as knowledge and perceptions regarding kaolin (clay) consumption by pregnant women in the Ho municipality of Ghana. Pan Afr Med J. 2019;34:113. doi:10.11604/pamj.2019.34.113.17394
25. Albert KS, Elliot WJ, Abbott RD, Gilbertson TJ, Data JL. Influence of kaolin-pectin suspension on steady-state plasma digoxin levels. J Clin Pharmacol. 1981;21(10):449-55. doi:10.1002/j.1552-4604.1981.tb01748.x
26. US Food and Drug Administration. Drug products containing certain active ingredients offered over-the-counter (OTC) for certain uses. 21 CFR 310.545(a)(3) (antidiarrheal drug products, including pectin).

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS

Doctor of Natural Medicine · Founder, DrAxe.com

Dr. Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, and multiple New York Times bestselling author. He has spent 20+ years in clinical practice helping people heal at the root cause and founded one of the most-visited natural-health platforms in the world.

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