Why Listen To Me?
Since I am an esthetician I talk to women all the time about their skin. I hear many complaints about what is wrong with their skin and what they want to do to make it look better. I have lots of women tell me that they use coconut oil on their face and they've been using it for years.
So while I do recommend using oil on the face, I definitely do NOT recommend using coconut oil on the face anymore.
What Changed?
Yes, I used to recommend it all the time! I thought it was the greatest thing ever, it has natural sunscreen and it has so many benefits! However, I noticed that in many of my skincare classes, women of European descent (their ancestors came from Europe) would have bad reactions (rashes to redness) from using coconut oil.
I Decided to Research It
I did lots of research after that. I read in a few books that recommend never using coconut oil on the face. In fact, David Wolfe author of "Eating for Beauty" said to not put it on the nose or the forehead because it can clog pores! And if there was one thing I didn't want, it was clogged pores.
So one day I was actually reading "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" by Weston A. Price, I had my epiphany about coconut oil. Weston Price was a Canadian dentist who researched the diets of indigenous people all over the world. He found that the people who only ate food native to their region with and didn't eat refined sugars didn't experience any tooth decay.
I applied this theory to skincare products. Coconuts didn't grow native to where my ancestors lived, or to where I lived now. So maybe coconut oil wasn't the best option for me? It seemed to do really well for people whose ancestry was from around the equator, but just not for anyone that had European ancestry.
I did more research and found that coconut oil has a larger molecular structure, and people that live around the equator tend to have darker, thicker skin, and that can more easily handle and absorb coconut oil. That's why my skin couldn't handle it!
What Oils Are Better?
I also looked at what oils grow naturally in European areas, and I've found that many people of European descent do really well with sweet almond, olive, and apricot.
My skin does really well with Jojoba oil that grows in the U.S. which is where I live. That's why we use it in all of our serum products!
But I Still Use Coconut Oil... Sometimes
It's not that coconut oil is bad, I will sometimes use it as a sunscreen on my arms & legs in the summer. Or I'll sometimes use products that have coconut oil and my skin does well. But as an "everyday" face oil, I've found that Jojoba works wonders! And I don't have to set it on a window sill to warm it up if it gets cold.
What's even worse is fractionated coconut oil (which makes it stay as a liquid) which is refined oil, should never be used on the skin.
I get a lot of surprised looks when I tell light-skinned women to not use coconut oil on their face! In fact, many argue with me. But try it for yourself! See if another oil works better on your skin.
Also, experiment with oils to see which one your skin does best with!
Also, try our Salis Salt Scrub Face wash! It's in the Shop section. The scrub has Jojoba in it, which again, seems to be very beneficial to my skin - amazed at the vast difference from using coconut and other oils. Check it out!
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189 comments
Umm.. Possibly. What is your email address?
[…] 1 am in the morning. Same with Coconut Oil. I love it for cooking (not so much for skincare see my Coconut Article) but I finally figured out a few months ago (after YEARS of thinking I had serious sleep […]
I was happy to see and read this. I have suffered with Rosacea for years and have tried coconut oil twice. Once in the winter and I had burning on the face after applying it and throughout the day. When I talked to the person at the pharmacy who makes the organic facial moisturizers, she did not think it would do that, so I attributed the burning to the heater in the car and quit using the coconut oil topically. I tried it one more time now that it is summer, and it burned again. I live in Western NY-very cold winters, and my ancestors are from Sweden and Germany. Thank you for the information!
You are welcome!!
I am from Northern European decent mostly Norwegian and was really liking the coconut oil on my skin. However after about 2 to 3 months of using coconut oil after being in the sun and using a skin product line with the oil in it my skin broke out like never before. I went to see an acne specialist who informed me of the pore clogging effects of coconut oil. Also jojoba oil is pore clogging for acne prone skin too. So I believe this article is right on but I would add beware if you have light skin AND have adult acne. It will take several months of not using coconut oil to get your skin back. If you are light skinned and pores are not clogging then you probably don’t have acne prone skin.
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