Comedogenic Scale for Oils and Butters

What is the Comedogenic Scale?

The comedogenic scale is ranked by how likely it is that any specific ingredients, such as oils and butters used in cosmetic product formulation, will clog pores. Anyone who is susceptible to acne breakouts and blackheads should avoid highly comedogenic oils, as they are likely to cause recurring acne problems. However, people with drier skin might prefer a more emollient oil toward the middle of the scale.

The scale uses a numbering system of 0 to 5. Here’s how the numbers rank on the scale:

Non-comedogenic oils are oils that do not clog pores and have a comedogenic rating of 2 or less. And just about any oil with a rating of 5 pretty much guarantees that a person who is prone to acne breakouts will have one.

But so many factors are involved in how a particular oil impacts your skin that there is no way to make an “absolute” prediction.The fact is, everyone’s skin is different, so an oil will impact different people in different ways. For example, avocado oil can be a nourishing oil for some people with oily skin while others who also have oily skin will use it and develop more acne breakouts!

Factors that can lead to this variety of results may include things like skin type, illness, water intake, environmental factors, and other things that can influence the way the oils act on your skin.

In addition to an ingredient's comedogenic ranking, the composition of fatty acids is also useful in determining which skin type will benefit from a particular oil. In this guide, we'll look at both types of information.

In-Depth Comedogenic Scale of Oils and Butters