Is Olive Oil comedogenic?

INCI name: Olea Europaea Fruit Oil

Mildly. Most skin tolerates this ingredient without breakouts.

Comedogenic rating: 2/5; Mildly comedogenic
Evidence confidence: low; Source lists disagree about this ingredient. Treat the rating as a caution, not a verdict.
Also appears as: olive oil, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil

What is Olive Oil?

Olive oil, used in cleansing balms, body oils, castile soaps, and baby care. Its high oleic acid content is why it appears on lists at all; most sources rate it low.

What to do if you're acne-prone

Source lists disagree on this one, which is why we flag it with a low rating rather than ignore it. Only the most reactive skin needs to avoid it outright.

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 that refine those assays with decades of client observation. The source lists disagree about this ingredient, which is why its confidence is marked low.

Last reviewed 2026-08-15 by the PorePass editorial team.

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Related pore-clogging ingredients

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.