Is Mineral Oil comedogenic?

No. This ingredient has a comedogenic rating of 0 out of 5 and is not known to clog pores.

Mineral oil's bad reputation comes from industrial grades and from conflating 'occlusive' with 'pore-clogging'. Cosmetic-grade (USP) mineral oil is one of the most-tested, least comedogenic emollients in existence.

Comedogenic rating: 0/5; Non-comedogenic
Evidence confidence: high; Published lists agree on this rating.
Also appears as: paraffinum liquidum, liquid paraffin, white mineral oil

What is Mineral Oil?

A highly purified petroleum-derived oil that sits on the skin's surface as an inert occlusive. Cosmetic-grade mineral oil rated 0 in the original comedogenicity assays, and its molecules are too large and too inert to enter pores. It appears in cleansing oils, moisturizers, and baby oil.

What to do if you're acne-prone

This ingredient is safe for acne-prone skin from a pore-clogging standpoint. One safe ingredient doesn't clear a whole formula, though: check the rest of the label, because cloggers usually hide mid-list among ingredients like this one.

Where this rating comes from

Our ratings consolidate two lineages: the original rabbit-ear comedogenicity assays published by James Fulton and colleagues (Fulton, Pay & Fulton, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 1984; Fulton, Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists, 1989), and the pore-clogger lists maintained by acne-specialist estheticians in the Face Reality lineage. This ingredient rates 0–1 across those sources (or doesn't appear on the flagged lists at all), which is why our checker doesn't flag it.

Last reviewed 2026-08-16 by the PorePass editorial team.

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Other ingredients that don't clog pores

Wondering what does clog pores? Browse the full pore-clogging ingredients list.

Comedogenicity ratings come from published ingredient studies and esthetician-compiled lists. They are imperfect and formulation-dependent, and this page isn't medical advice. Reactions vary by skin, concentration, and the rest of the formula.