Ingredient
Palm Oil
Plant oil · INCI: Elaeis Guineensis (Palm) Oil
Reviewed by Elysiana, licensed esthetician
How we read it
Known to clog pores. If you break out easily, this is the one to skip.
Is Palm Oil comedogenic?
Yes. Palm Oil is a known pore-clogging ingredient, and we read it as highly comedogenic. If you're acne-prone, it's worth avoiding, especially when it sits near the top of an ingredient list.
Why we read it this way
Palm oil is a thick, largely saturated fruit oil used for richness and structure. It appears on the pore-clogging references we curate against, and we read it as one to avoid on acne-prone facial skin, along with palm kernel oil, which comes from the seed and is heavier still.
Its derivatives are everywhere and most of them are not the same thing. Palmitic acid, glyceryl stearate and the palm-derived emulsifiers are separate ingredients that we rate on their own.
One ingredient rarely tells the whole story. Run the whole label and see everything in the product at once.