Ascorbyl palmitate comedogenic rating: what the number means

Reviewed October 10, 2026

The short answer

In a 1989 survey of skin care ingredients by Fulton, ascorbyl palmitate scored 2 on a 0 to 5 comedogenicity scale and 0 on the paper's irritancy grade. That is in the low-to-middle part of the comedogenic scale and no irritation was recorded in the table. The test used the rabbit ear, an animal model. It does not tell you what a finished product will do on your face, and it does not measure how much of the ingredient is in the product.

Where do the 2 and the 0 come from?

The paper lists many ingredients with a comedogenicity grade and an irritancy grade, both from the rabbit ear. Ascorbyl palmitate is listed as 2 and 0. In the same table palmitic acid is also 2 and 0. Ascorbyl palmitate is a form of vitamin C joined to palmitic acid, and it has its own row, so a different palmitate ester's number does not carry over to it. For comparison, isopropyl palmitate is 4 and 1 in the same table.

Why a single number can mislead

The author of the earlier 1984 rabbit-ear paper describes the model as "not an ideal animal model but is the best we have." Rabbit ears are not human facial skin, the ingredient was tested at a stated strength, and a finished product mixes it with other ingredients. A 2006 study of finished products on human backs reported that products using comedogenic ingredients are not necessarily comedogenic. We found no human acne study that grades ascorbyl palmitate itself.

What to do with the rating

Treat the rating as one old data point. A 2 is not a clean bill for acne-prone skin and it is not a warning either. If a serum or moisturizer with ascorbyl palmitate works for you, one rabbit-ear score does not change that. If you are breaking out, the whole formula, how often you use it and your own skin matter more. Nitavera does not flag ascorbyl palmitate as a pore-clogging ingredient, because a 2 is below the level it flags.

What not to conclude

This page does not say ascorbyl palmitate is safe or unsafe, or that a product containing it will or will not cause breakouts. It reports what one animal-model survey found and the limits that come with it.