The non-comedogenic oils are the ones rated 0–2 on the 0–5 comedogenic scale, and 20 of the 38 rated oils here qualify. Sunflower, hemp seed, argan and emu oil rate a flat 0; grapeseed, rosehip and castor oil rate 1; olive, almond, apricot kernel, jojoba and nine others rate 2.
At the other end, wheat germ oil rates the maximum 5 and coconut, flaxseed, carrot seed and palm oil rate 4. Every oil below is ranked by its published rating, lowest first, with its INCI name and its fungal-acne status — because those are two different questions and the answers do not line up.
20 of the 38 oils with a published rating (53%) come in at 0–2, and only 5 rate 4 or higher. Most oils are not pore-clogging. 13 sit at 3, and 11 of the 49 oils here carry no published number at all. Counted from our own dataset on 2026-09-14; disputed ratings are counted at their midpoint.
The checker below is loaded with a facial-oil blend spanning the range — two oils rated 0, one rated 1, one rated 2 and one rated 4. Paste your own product's ingredient list over it. Nothing leaves your browser.
Recognized 7 of 7 listed ingredients.
Your report: 7 ingredients checked, 1 pore-clogging
Keep the list you just checked — every ingredient with its rating and gentler swaps, written to a text file in your browser. No email needed, nothing uploaded.
Want new ratings as we add them?
We add ingredients and revise ratings as published sources come in. Leave your email to hear when the database changes — that's the only reason we'd write.
Rich in lauric and myristic acids. Deeply moisturising but a classic 4/5 pore-clogger, and one of the most common causes of breakouts when used on the face.
Gentler swaps: Squalane, Hemp Seed Oil, Sunflower Oil
High in linoleic acid and rated 0/5. One of the best-tolerated facial oils for acne-prone skin, though it is still a plant oil for strict fungal-acne routines.
A dry-feeling, linoleic-rich oil rated 0/5, widely recommended for oily and acne-prone skin.
A regenerative, retinoic-acid-adjacent oil rated around 1, popular for tone and texture without heavy clogging.
Technically a liquid wax whose structure mimics skin sebum. Usually rated 2, with some sources placing it as low as 0. Well tolerated by many.
The stable, hydrogenated form of squalene. Rated 0-1, lightweight, and one of the go-to fungal-acne-safe emollients. Do not confuse with squalene.
Vitamin E, a common antioxidant rated 2/5. Widely used at low levels where its clogging impact is minimal.
Lowest rating first. The fungal-acne column is separate on purpose: it tracks whether malassezia can feed on the ingredient, which has nothing to do with whether it blocks a pore. Tap any oil for its sources and the full write-up.
| Oil | Pore-clogging | Fungal acne |
|---|---|---|
| Argan Oil Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil | Low risk · 0/5 | Flagged |
| Emu Oil Emu Oil | Low risk · 0/5 | Flagged |
| Hemp Seed Oil Cannabis Sativa Seed Oil | Low risk · 0/5 | Flagged |
| Sunflower Oil Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil | Low risk · 0/5 | Flagged |
| Castor Oil Ricinus Communis Seed Oil | Low risk · 1/5 | Flagged |
| Grapeseed Oil Vitis Vinifera Seed Oil | Low risk · 1/5 | Flagged |
| Rosehip Oil Rosa Canina Fruit Oil | Low risk · 1/5 | Flagged |
| Almond Oil Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil | Low risk · 2/5 | Flagged |
| Apricot Kernel Oil Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil | Low risk · 2/5 | Flagged |
| Baobab Oil Adansonia Digitata Seed Oil | Low risk · 2/5 | Flagged |
| Borage Oil Borago Officinalis Seed Oil | Low risk · 2/5 | Flagged |
| Evening Primrose Oil Oenothera Biennis Oil | Low risk · 2/5 | Flagged |
| Jojoba Oil Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil | Low risk · 2/5 | Flagged |
| Kukui Nut Oil Aleurites Moluccana Seed Oil | Low risk · 2/5 | Flagged |
| Neem Oil Melia Azadirachta Seed Oil | Low risk · 2/5 | Flagged |
| Olive Oil Olea Europaea Fruit Oil | Low risk · 2/5 | Flagged |
| Peanut Oil Arachis Hypogaea Oil | Low risk · 2/5 | Flagged |
| Pumpkin Seed Oil Cucurbita Pepo Seed Oil | Low risk · 2/5 | Flagged |
| Safflower Oil Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil | Low risk · 2/5 | Flagged |
| Tamanu Oil Calophyllum Inophyllum Seed Oil | Low risk · 2/5 | Flagged |
| Avocado Oil Persea Gratissima Oil | Moderate · 2–3/5 | Flagged |
| Corn Oil Zea Mays Oil | Moderate · 3/5 | Flagged |
| Cottonseed Oil Gossypium Herbaceum Seed Oil | Moderate · 3/5 | Flagged |
| Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil | Moderate · 3/5 | Flagged |
| Macadamia Oil Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil | Moderate · 3/5 | Flagged |
| Marula Oil Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil | Moderate · 3/5 | Flagged |
| Mink Oil Mink Oil | Moderate · 3/5 | Flagged |
| Moringa Oil Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil | Moderate · 3/5 | Flagged |
| Sesame Oil Sesamum Indicum Seed Oil | Moderate · 3/5 | Flagged |
| Shark Liver Oil Shark Liver Oil | Moderate · 3/5 | Flagged |
| Soybean Oil Glycine Soja Oil | Moderate · 3/5 | Flagged |
| Sulfated Castor Oil Sulfated Castor Oil | Moderate · 3/5 | Flagged |
| Sulfated Jojoba Oil Sulfated Jojoba Oil | Moderate · 3/5 | Flagged |
| Carrot Seed Oil Daucus Carota Sativa Seed Oil | High risk · 4/5 | Flagged |
| Coconut Oil Cocos Nucifera Oil | High risk · 4/5 | Flagged |
| Flaxseed Oil Linum Usitatissimum Seed Oil | High risk · 4/5 | Flagged |
| Palm Oil Elaeis Guineensis Oil | High risk · 4/5 | Flagged |
| Wheat Germ Oil Triticum Vulgare Germ Oil | High risk · 5/5 | Flagged |
| Babassu Oil Orbignya Oleifera Seed Oil | Unrated | Flagged |
| Beef Tallow Bos Taurus Tallow | Unrated | Flagged |
| Brazil Nut Oil Bertholletia Excelsa Seed Oil | Unrated | Flagged |
| Camelina Oil Camelina Sativa Seed Oil | Unrated | Flagged |
| Canola Oil Brassica Napus Seed Oil | Unrated | Flagged |
| Cranberry Seed Oil Vaccinium Macrocarpon Seed Oil | Unrated | Flagged |
| Karanja Oil Pongamia Glabra Seed Oil | Unrated | Flagged |
| Papaya Seed Oil Carica Papaya Seed Oil | Unrated | Flagged |
| Pine Nut Oil Pinus Pinea Seed Oil | Unrated | Flagged |
| Rapeseed Oil Brassica Campestris Seed Oil | Unrated | Flagged |
| Rice Bran Oil Oryza Sativa Bran Oil | Unrated | Flagged |
Oil category only — butters, esters and fatty acids are rated separately on the full list.
More than half the oils we can rate are non-comedogenic, and the reputation oils have comes from a small number of genuinely high scorers — coconut oil above all, at 4. The linoleic- rich oils behave differently from the oleic-rich ones: sunflower, hemp seed, grapeseed and rosehip all sit at 0 or 1, while several heavier oils — macadamia, marula, moringa, sesame — sit at 3. Olive oil at 2 is a reminder that the rule has exceptions, and whether the fatty-acid profile really explains the ratings is still argued about. The published numbers are what this table shows; the mechanism behind them is a separate question.
The top of the whole database tells the same story from the other side. Across all categories only one plant oil carries the maximum rating of 5 — the rest of that band is synthetic esters and emulsifiers. The worst pore-clogging ingredients page has the full breakdown.
All 49 oils on this page are flagged for malassezia; 0 are unflagged. An oil's triglycerides break down into the C11–C24 fatty acids the yeast metabolises, and that is true of sunflower oil at a comedogenic 0 just as much as of coconut oil at 4. If your breakouts are small, uniform and itchy rather than blackhead-and-whitehead shaped, the fungal acne safe ingredients list is the right one to work from, and no oil will appear on it.
This page is free and public — no email needed to read it, and nothing here is gated. But the ratings on these oils changes as published sources come in. Leave your address and we'll write once when it does; that's the only reason we'd write.
On the 0–5 comedogenic scale, oils rated 0–2 are generally treated as non-comedogenic. 20 of the 38 rated oils in our database qualify, and the ones scoring a flat 0 are sunflower, hemp seed, argan and emu oil. Grapeseed, rosehip and castor oil rate 1. The 2s are the largest group at 13, including olive, almond, apricot kernel, safflower, evening primrose and jojoba oil.
In our dataset 5 oils rate 4 or higher: wheat germ oil at the maximum 5, then coconut, flaxseed, carrot seed and palm oil at 4. Coconut oil is the one most people have heard about, and at 4 it is genuinely high — but it is not the worst, and it is far from representative of oils in general.
No. Coconut oil rates 4 on the 0–5 scale, which puts it in the high-risk band for acne-prone skin. It is one of only a handful of oils that score that high. If you want a plant oil with a similar rich feel, hemp seed oil rates 0 and argan oil rates 0.
No — this is a separate question with a different answer. All 49 oils in our database carry a malassezia flag and 0 are unflagged, because the triglycerides in any oil break down into the fatty-acid chain lengths the yeast feeds on. A comedogenic rating of 0 does not change that. For fungal acne the usual substitutes are squalane and caprylic/capric triglyceride, neither of which is an oil.
11 of the 49 oils here carry no 0–5 number, because no source we use publishes one for them. We ship them unrated rather than estimate a score — an invented number would be indistinguishable from a real one to anyone reading the table, which is exactly why we do not put one there.
Ratings originate largely from the Fulton rabbit-ear comedogenicity assay and its widely republished derivatives. They test single ingredients at high concentration and do not account for the finished formula, where concentration and position on the INCI list change real-world behaviour. Treat a rating as a flag to consider, not a verdict. Informational only, not medical advice.
Check a whole product with the pore-clogging ingredient checker, browse the full ingredients list, or take the printable cheat sheet shopping.