Coconut oil is used in many natural beauty products, and for good reason: It's naturally antibacterial and antifungal, coconut oil for skin is an excellent moisturizer, it can penetrate hair better than other oils, and, well, it smells like cookies. However, it does not suit all the skin types and certainly can not substitute a good moisturizer.
Curious to know why? Keep reading.
There are several issues with using coconut oil on your face, while not an issue on other areas of the body, the face is a very different story. The Lauric/ myristic acids found in coconut oil cause the cohesiveness of keratin to take place. This is a huge issue for acne prone skin (although I have seen it cause issues in other skin types as well). It causes your oils to become much more "sticky" and accelerates the shedding of cells. This is what makes it comedogenic (pore clogging). Imagine all those cells flaking off, sticking together and causing a plug. Not an issue on our feet or even our hair but on facial skin, it has a whole other effect and can lead to problems. Myristic acid is also known to be irritating to the follicle.
The other issue is the amount of oleic acid in it. Our skin has a specific balance of oleic and linoleic acid (many people are deficient in linoleic, especially if they are prone to acne). By disrupting this balance we are disrupting the barrier of our skin leaving it vulnerable which can eventually lead to things like irritation, dryness, redness and a whole slew of other issues. The best oils for your face are sunflower, safflower or jojoba as they are most closely related to the natural oil our skin produces. However, you do want to ensure that you get these oils organic as GMO versions of the same oil will contain higher amounts of oleic acid. While these oils are much better for you, your skin needs more than just oil to stay moisturized and battle signs of aging or specific issues such as acne or eczema. So I definitely recommend saving oil for your body / hair/ kitchen and getting professional skin care products.
