Ingredient sourcing note: Some ingredients mentioned in this article are available from The Skin Science Company (theskinsciencecompany.com.au), an Australian cosmetic raw materials supplier. We recommend them based on the quality and availability of their products. We have no commercial, affiliate, or sponsorship relationship with them and receive no payment or commission for these mentions.
I was so excited. I’d seen a dozen recipes on Pinterest, and the idea of replacing my expensive face serum with a simple, pure oil was thrilling. I grabbed the organic coconut oil from my pantry—it’s good for everything, right?
I lovingly applied it that night, feeling so clever and natural. A week later, my skin was staging a full-scale rebellion with breakouts in places I hadn’t seen since I was a teenager.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve been there. You start a DIY project with the best intentions, only for it to go completely sideways. It was so frustrating, and for a while, I almost gave up on making my own skincare.
So, where did I go wrong? It turns out, not all oils are created equal. The secret, I learned, lies in understanding one simple concept that changed everything: the list of comedogenic oils.
Here’s the Thing: What ‘Comedogenic’ Actually Means
I know, “comedogenic” sounds like a complicated, science-y word. But the concept is actually very simple. It’s just a way of measuring how likely an oil or ingredient is to clog your pores.
Think of it like this: skin experts rate ingredients on a comedogenic scale for oils from 0 to 5. A ‘0’ means it has virtually no chance of clogging your pores, while a ‘5’ means it’s very likely to.
Knowing where an oil sits on this scale is the absolute key to creating a DIY face oil for acne-prone skin that your face will actually love.
The Comedogenic Scale in Practice: A Cheat Sheet
Once I had this cheat sheet, it was like a lightbulb went off. Here’s a simple breakdown of how I think about it now.
Rating 0–1: The ‘Safe Zone’ for Your Face
These are the real gems—the oils that don’t clog pores. They are your go-to ingredients for any facial creation, especially if your skin is oily, combination, or prone to breakouts. They sink in beautifully and get to work without causing congestion.
My personal favourites in this group are:
- Hemp Seed Oil (0): Incredibly balancing and helps with inflammation. It’s a game-changer for calming down angry skin.
- Argan Oil (0): So nourishing but surprisingly light. I find it gives my skin a soft, dewy glow without any greasiness.
- Rosehip Oil (1): My holy grail for helping to fade old marks and even out my skin tone. It just feels so restorative.
Rating 2–3: The ‘Use With Caution’ Crew
Now, these oils aren’t “bad”—not at all. In fact, they are beautiful and nourishing, but you just need to know your skin. If your skin is quite dry and not prone to breakouts, you might find these are perfectly fine for your face.
For everyone else, I’d suggest keeping these for your body butter and lotion bar recipes. A couple of popular ones in this category are Sweet Almond Oil (2) and Jojoba Oil (2). Jojoba is a funny one, as its structure is very similar to our own skin’s sebum, so some people absolutely swear by it.
Rating 4–5: The ‘Red Flag’ Oils (For Your Face, Anyway!)
Okay, this is where I had my big “aha!” moment. This category includes the pore-cloggers that are best kept far away from your facial skin.
The main one, of course, is Coconut Oil (4). Yes, the infamous coconut oil for face breakout problem is real. While it’s an incredible moisturiser for your body and a miracle worker for hair, its molecular structure is just too large and it sits on the skin, blocking pores.
Another one to watch is Wheat Germ Oil (5). It’s wonderfully rich in Vitamin E, but it’s just too heavy for the delicate skin on your face. My advice: don’t banish these oils! Just reassign them to a different job.
Your Foolproof Face Oil Formula
Ready to try again with confidence? It’s truly simple. Just start with 30ml of any oil from the ‘Safe Zone’ list above. That’s it! You have a perfect, basic face oil. If you want to get a little fancier, you can add 2-3 drops of an essential oil that suits your skin goals.
That frustrating breakout wasn’t a sign that DIY skincare isn’t for you—it was just a lesson in choosing the right ingredient for the right job.
When you understand the properties of comedogenic oils, you get to be in complete control.
Now you have the knowledge to create a face oil that is perfectly, beautifully tailored to you. I’d love to hear about your own experiments and discoveries in the comments below!
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