Retinyl palmitate comedogenic rating: what the numbers mean

Reviewed October 16, 2026

The short answer

In a 1989 survey of skin care ingredients by Fulton, retinyl palmitate (listed in the table under its other name, vitamin A palmitate) scored 1 to 3 on a 0 to 5 comedogenicity scale and 1 to 3 on the paper's irritancy grade. The paper footnotes the entry: results depend on the source of the raw material. The test used the rabbit ear, an animal model. It does not tell you that a cream with retinyl palmitate in it will cause breakouts on your skin, or that it won't.

What is it?

Retinyl palmitate is an ester of retinol and palmitic acid: a vitamin A derivative in the retinoid family, used in skincare as an antioxidant and skin-conditioning active. On a US label it appears as Retinyl Palmitate. It is a separate ingredient-dictionary entry from retinol: the names overlap, but they are not the same ingredient, and a rating for one would not transfer to the other.

What did the safety review conclude?

The CIR assessed retinyl palmitate and retinol in 1987 and concluded they are safe as cosmetic ingredients in the present practices of use and concentration. In 2017 the Panel reviewed newer data, did not reopen the assessment, and confirmed that conclusion. It also reviewed a 2012 National Toxicology Program photococarcinogenesis study, noted methodological flaws, and determined that the findings could not be properly interpreted to suggest additional risks. That is a safety conclusion, not an acne rating.

A note on how the checker groups it

Nitavera's product checker groups retinyl palmitate with retinoids and flags that group as pregnancy-avoid. That is the checker's grouping, not a finding of this page. This page covers only the comedogenic question and does not assess pregnancy safety.

How to read it on a label

US cosmetic labels generally list ingredients in descending order of amount, but anything at 1% or less can appear in any order after those above 1%. Its position does not tell you the exact concentration. Judge the whole product, how it feels on your skin, and what changes when you add or drop it.

What not to conclude

This page does not rate retinyl palmitate as safe or unsafe for acne-prone skin, and it does not say a score of 1 to 3 means avoid. It reports what one animal-model survey found, including the paper's caveat that results depend on the raw material source, and the limits that come with that model.