What is Tamanu Oil?
Tamanu Oil (INCI name: Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed Oil) is a plant- or seed-derived oil. A dark, wound-healing oil traditionally used for scars; usually rated around 2, though its heaviness warrants caution.
You may see it on labels as Tamanu Oil, Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed Oil, so it can hide under more than one name in an ingredient list.
Where Tamanu Oil shows up
You'll most often find Tamanu Oil in facial oils, cleansing balms, moisturisers, hair products, and many products marketed as natural. Separately from clogging, its irritancy is rated 1/5 — low, so it's unlikely to sting or sensitise on its own.
Is Tamanu Oil bad for acne-prone skin?
Because it barely registers on the comedogenic scale, Tamanu Oil is generally a safe pick for breakout-prone skin and is often recommended as a gentler alternative to heavier ingredients.
Worth flagging: Tamanu 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: Tamanu 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.