What is Palm Oil?
Palm Oil (INCI name: Elaeis Guineensis Oil) falls into the oil category — a plant- or seed-derived oil. A saturated tropical oil high in palmitic acid, frequently flagged around 4 on pore-clogging lists.
You may see it on labels as Palm Oil, Elaeis Guineensis Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Red Palm Oil, so it can hide under more than one name in an ingredient list.
Where Palm Oil shows up
As a plant- or seed-derived oil, Palm Oil typically appears in facial oils, cleansing balms, moisturisers, hair products, and many products marketed as natural. Separately from clogging, its irritancy is rated 0/5 — low, so it's unlikely to sting or sensitise on its own.
Is Palm Oil bad for acne-prone skin?
For breakout-prone skin, a rating this high is a genuine flag. What matters most is where Palm Oil sits on the label: near the top it's a real consideration, near the bottom it's usually a trace amount.
Worth flagging: Palm Oil's rating is disputed. Credible sources land on different numbers, which is why we show a range rather than a single score — and why your own experience is the best tiebreaker.
Note for fungal-acne (malassezia) sufferers: Palm Oil is commonly avoided in fungal-acne routines, since it falls into the fatty-acid or ester families the yeast can feed on. The evidence there is looser than for comedogenicity — see our fungal-acne checker for context.
Non-comedogenic alternatives
If you're avoiding Palm Oil, these lower-risk ingredients serve a similar role and are gentler on pore-prone skin:
- Squalane — rated 1/5 (Low risk).
- Hemp Seed Oil — rated 0/5 (Low risk).
- Sunflower Oil — rated 0/5 (Low risk).