Ingredient ratings / Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil

Is avocado oil comedogenic? What the rabbit-ear tests found

By Skinredients · Checked against the sources 2026-10-16

Label name

Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil

Also listed as

avocado oil, persea gratissima oil

Comedogenic grade

0–3 / 5 · Borderline (2–3) or reported positive

Tests

• Fulton 1989: comedogenic 3/5, irritancy 0/5 — rabbit ear, 10% in propylene glycol (standard grade)
• Fulton 1989: comedogenic 2/5 — rabbit ear, 10% in propylene glycol (refined grade)
• Morris & Kwan 1983: comedogenic 0/5 — rabbit ear, undiluted

What the tests found

Fulton 1989. Tested under Fulton’s standard condition, 10% in propylene glycol on three rabbits (method), avocado oil graded 3 out of 5 for follicle plugging, with 0 irritation [1]. That puts it at the top of Fulton’s borderline band (2–3), alongside sesame, corn, soybean and evening primrose oils. A refined avocado oil graded 2 [1].

Avocado is one of three oils Fulton names when discussing refinement. For sesame oil, avocado oil and mink oil, he writes, results improved when a more refined oil was used. He adds that it seemed easier to use safflower and sunflower oil, which are naturally less comedogenic [1]. The whole oils section of his table carries the footnote “results depend on source of raw material” [1].

Morris & Kwan 1983. This lab applied avocado oil undiluted. The sample came from Norda, Inc., and grading was by microscope against the untreated ear. It scored 0, negative [2]. Their Table III gives its triglyceride content as 77% oleic acid.

Where the evidence disagrees

The two labs are three grades apart. The undiluted sample came out lower than the 10% dilution, so concentration can’t explain the difference. Several things the papers point to may explain it:

• Raw-material source and refining. Fulton’s own data show avocado oil dropping a full grade when refined. He attributes the spread across his oils to the source of the material [1]. Morris and Kwan used a single commercial lot.
• Method. Fulton combined naked-eye micrometer readings with microscopy. Morris and Kwan judged comedogenic activity under the microscope only, because they found visual assessment unreliable [2]. Morris and Kwan also note that untreated rabbit ears show variable hyperkeratosis on their own, which makes the untreated-ear comparison essential [2].
• The oleic-acid puzzle. Oleic acid itself has a documented record as a potent comedogen. Morris and Kwan observed that the two oils in their study richest in it, avocado (77%) and olive (84%), “demonstrated no activity” [2]. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) gives avocado oil’s composition as 67–72% oleic, 13–17% palmitic, 10–12% linoleic and 3–5.1% palmitoleic acid [4]. None of these are the mid-chain fatty acids (lauric, myristic) that Fulton identifies as the strongest drivers of follicle plugging [1].

There is no human comedogenicity test of avocado oil in these sources, and rabbit grades tend to run high (why) [3]. Even so, a borderline 3 sits above the “weakly comedogenic” level that Mills and Kligman considered probably safe for people, which is why avocado oil is flagged on this site.

Where it shows up, and how much

The CIR has reviewed avocado oil three times: in 1980, in a 2003 re-review, and in its 2017 assessment of plant-derived fatty acid oils. The 2017 report compares older and newer use data [4]:

• Products: 188 in 2001, rising to 883 in 2010
• Concentrations: 0.001–23% in 2001, widening to 0.0001–98% in 2010
• Leave-on products: 657 uses, up to 98%
• Products in skin contact: 685 uses, up to 98%
• Hair products (non-coloring): 189 uses, up to 41%
• Possible ingestion (lip products): 60 uses, 0.05–26%
• Eye-area products: 24 uses, 0.05–2%

The CIR’s summary names avocado oil’s 98% as the second-highest maximum among the oils it discusses, after olive oil [4]. At that level avocado oil is the base of the product, not an additive, so its place in the ingredient list says a lot about how much is present.

If you want to avoid it

Avocado oil is often the base of a rich leave-on product rather than a minor additive, so the swap that matters is the base oil. Fulton himself pointed to two, in the same passage where he discusses refining avocado oil [1]:

• Sunflower oil: 0 (Fulton 1989) [1]
• Safflower oil: 0 (Fulton 1989), though Morris and Kwan graded it 1–2 undiluted [1][2]

For another high-oleic oil, olive oil graded 2, or 1 refined, in Fulton’s test and 0 undiluted in Morris and Kwan’s, the lab that also gave avocado 0 [1][2]. A refined avocado oil scored 2 rather than 3 [1], but an ingredient list won’t tell you which grade is in the bottle.

Avocado oil also appears in related forms, such as avocado oil unsaponifiables and avocado butter. The dataset has no published grade for those, so the grade on this page doesn’t automatically apply to them.

Sources

1. Fulton JE Jr. Comedogenicity and irritancy of commonly used ingredients in skin care products. J Soc Cosmet Chem. 1989;40(6):321-333. https://library.scconline.org/v040n06/13
2. Morris WE, Kwan SC. Use of the rabbit ear model in evaluating the comedogenic potential of cosmetic ingredients. J Soc Cosmet Chem. 1983;34(5):215-225. https://library.scconline.org/v034n05/1
3. Mills OH Jr, Kligman AM. A human model for assessing comedogenic substances. Arch Dermatol. 1982;118(11):903-905. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7138047/
4. Burnett CL, Fiume MM, Bergfeld WF, et al. Safety Assessment of Plant-Derived Fatty Acid Oils. Int J Toxicol. 2017;36(Suppl 3):51S-129S. https://cir-reports.cir-safety.org/view-attachment/?id=ad62ac6b-8e74-ec11-8943-0022482f06a6 (abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29243540/)

Comedogenic grades describe single raw materials tested in a lab, usually on rabbit ears. They are a guide for acne-prone skin, not a prediction for any product or person, and this page is not medical advice. How the scale works.