Is Jojoba Oil comedogenic?

INCI name: Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil

No, for nearly everyone. This ingredient is rated 1 out of 5, a very low pore-clogging risk.

Sources genuinely spread on jojoba: most rate it 0–1, while a few older lists say 2. It's one of the better-tolerated plant oils for acne-prone skin, but if you're extremely reactive, introduce it in one product at a time.

Comedogenic rating: 1/5; Very low risk
Evidence confidence: low; Source lists disagree about this ingredient. Treat the rating as a caution, not a verdict.
Also appears as: jojoba oil, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil

What is Jojoba Oil?

Technically a liquid wax ester rather than a true oil, with a structure close to human sebum. That similarity is why it absorbs well and rarely sits in pores, and why it's a base for facial oils, cleansing oils, and moisturizers.

What to do if you're acne-prone

There's no pore-clogging reason to avoid this ingredient, even in leave-on products. If a product containing it breaks you out, the culprit is almost certainly elsewhere on the label. Paste the full list into the checker to find it.

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.