The Ingredient Files
Coconut oil, and where it actually belongs.
Coconut oil is one of the few ingredients that is genuinely excellent and genuinely overused. It is superb on body skin and a poor idea on a lot of faces. Here is why both of those are true at once.
45 to 52%
Share of coconut oil that is lauric acid, a medium chain fatty acid
24 C
Roughly where it melts, which is why it is solid in the jar and liquid on skin
4 of 5
Where it typically sits on the comedogenicity scale, and the reason we keep it below the neck
Short fats, tight packing.
Coconut oil is pressed from the kernel of the mature coconut. What separates it from most plant oils is the length of its fatty acids. Around half of it is lauric acid, with capric, caprylic and myristic acids alongside, and all of those are short enough to pack together neatly.
That packing is why it sets solid in a cool room and turns to liquid the moment it meets skin, somewhere around 24 degrees. It also carries a small amount of vitamin E and polyphenols in the unrefined grades.
Functionally it does two things well. It softens, and it seals. Published work has examined coconut oil against mineral oil as a moisturiser on very dry skin and found it performed at least as well on hydration measures (Agero and Verallo-Rowell, 2004).
The face question, answered properly.
Coconut oil has a real comedogenicity problem on facial skin. It sits high on the standard scale, usually around four out of five, and plenty of people find it reliably produces congestion along the jaw and the forehead within a fortnight of using it neat.
Not everyone. Some skin tolerates it fine. But the pattern is common enough that we are not going to write around it, because the alternative is a customer who trusts one sentence on a website over what their own face is telling them.
So we use it in body formulas for a reason. Body skin is thicker, has fewer and less reactive follicles across most of its area, and is chronically under moisturised. It is the place where a rich occlusive earns its keep. On the face we reach for lighter things instead, jojoba oil among them.
Body skin, and the parts that crack.
Shins in winter. Elbows, heels, the backs of the arms. Skin that has been in hard water, chlorine or a heated room for months. These are the places where the seal matters more than the weight, and coconut oil is one of the better things you can put there.
It also plays well with the other fats. Alongside shea butter it softens what would otherwise be a heavy set balm, and it carries vitamin E and the other oil soluble ingredients through the formula evenly.
In a wash off it behaves differently again. There it is the counterweight, the thing that keeps an exfoliant from leaving skin bare, which is exactly the job it does in our body polish.
A brilliant body oil is not automatically a face oil.
Four oils, four different jobs.
Plant oils get sold as interchangeable and they are nothing of the sort. Fatty acid length, melting point and comedogenicity decide where each one goes.
| Oil | Character | Where we use it |
|---|---|---|
| Coconut oil | Short chain fats, sets solid, strongly occlusive | Body only, for seal and softness |
| Jojoba oil | A liquid wax ester, close to sebum, absorbs fast | Face and body, for a clean finish |
| Shea butter | High in oleic and stearic acids, rich and cushioning | Body balms and richer creams |
| Sweet almond oil | Light, spreads easily, low weight on skin | Wash off formats and lighter blends |
The useful test is not which oil is best. It is which oil suits the skin you are putting it on, and how much of a finish you are willing to wear. Coconut leaves the heaviest one of the four, which is a virtue on a shin in August and a liability on a cheekbone in any month.
Two products, both below the neck.
Coconut oil sits in two PureNeem formulas, and in both of them it is doing body work. That placement is deliberate rather than incidental.
Here coconut oil is the softener. It keeps the mango and cacao butters from setting too firm and gives the balm its slip on application, so a rich formula still finishes satin soft instead of waxy.
In a wash off the job flips. The charcoal and the clay lift oil away, and the coconut oil is what stops that leaving skin bare. It is the reason this one rinses off smooth rather than squeaky.
What to use on the face instead
If coconut oil has given you congestion before, the answer is not to give up on hydration. It is to move the weight somewhere else. Facial skin usually wants water held in place by a humectant, with a light lipid over the top, rather than a heavy seal on its own.
Our guide to the best snail mucin skincare in Australia covers that approach in detail, including what actually layers well under sunscreen without pilling.
Common questions
Coconut oil, answered plainly.
Does coconut oil clog pores?
On facial skin, for a lot of people, yes. It sits high on the comedogenicity scale and congestion along the jaw and forehead is a common outcome of using it neat. On body skin it is far less of an issue, which is where we put it.
Is coconut oil good for dry skin?
It is one of the better occlusives for dry body skin. It slows water loss and softens rough areas quickly. Apply it to skin that is still slightly damp, because it seals what is there rather than adding water of its own.
Can you use coconut oil on your face at all?
Some people can, with no trouble at all. If you already know your skin tolerates it, nothing here overrides that. If you are congestion prone or unsure, a lighter oil is the sensible starting point.
What is the difference between virgin and fractionated coconut oil?
Virgin coconut oil is unrefined and sets solid below about 24 degrees. Fractionated coconut oil has had the longer chain fats removed, so it stays liquid, feels lighter and carries less of the original character. Different textures, different uses.
Is coconut oil good for hair?
It has a long record as a pre wash oil, and published work has examined its effect on protein loss from hair during washing. As a leave in it suits coarser hair better than fine hair, which tends to read it as weight.
References
- Agero, A. L., and Verallo-Rowell, V. M. (2004). A randomized double blind controlled trial comparing extra virgin coconut oil with mineral oil as a moisturizer for mild to moderate xerosis. Dermatitis, 15(3), 109 to 116.
- Verallo-Rowell, V. M., Dillague, K. M., and Syah-Tjundawan, B. S. (2008). Novel antibacterial and emollient effects of coconut and virgin olive oils in adult atopic dermatitis. Dermatitis, 19(6), 308 to 315.
- Rele, A. S., and Mohile, R. B. (2003). Effect of mineral oil, sunflower oil and coconut oil on prevention of hair damage. Journal of Cosmetic Science, 54(2), 175 to 192.
- DiNardo, J. C. (2005). Is mineral oil comedogenic? Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 4(1), 2 to 3.
Coconut-Rich Rituals
