Corn Oil
Plant oil · INCI: Zea Mays (Corn) Oil
Reviewed by Elysiana Aguilar, master esthetician
How we read it
Clogs pores for some people. Fine for many, worth watching if you're mid-breakout.
Is Corn Oil comedogenic?
Sometimes. Corn Oil is potentially pore-clogging, so we read it as one to use with caution. Plenty of people use it without trouble; if you're actively treating acne, it's worth watching.
Why we read it this way
Corn oil is a mid-weight oil that occasionally appears in skincare as an inexpensive emollient. It sits at a moderate level on our pore-clogging references, so we read it as one to use with caution rather than avoid.
The nuance
It is uncommon in modern facial formulas and turns up more often in body products and older recipes. Where it does appear, it is usually well down the list.
Names we read the same way
- Zea Mays (Corn) Germ Oil
- Maize Oil
- Maize Germ Oil
Related ingredients
One ingredient rarely tells the whole story. The acne ingredient checker reads everything in a product at once, the pore-clogging ingredients list has the rest of what we flag, and there is more on what comedogenic means. Also in the guides: The types of acne lesions.