Coconut vs Palm Oil-allergies

by Anonymous

I want to say thank you for your website/blog.


It has been a tremendous resource and I am always learning something new every time someone posts another question. You are an inspiration!

I have always used coconut oil in my cp and hp soaps. My father seems to break out on his face when using my soap and I have noticed that I have increased breakouts (it only happens on our faces not the rest of our bodies). I am wondering if we have an allergy to the coconut oil and if I should try making some bars with palm oil in place of coconut oil. Have you ever heard of anyone having or developing an allergy to coconut oil? Do you know if Palm oil would be a good alternative to try? Any recommendations you have would be much appreciated.

The current recipe contains Olive oil, Coconut oil and castor oil. I am thinking of making a castile bar but want to make sure it has lots of lather.

Thanks again.

Answer:

It may not be an allergy to the coconut oil. The face often reacts very differently compared to the rest of the body when it comes to cleansing. Coconut oil is a very cleansing oil and it will strip the oils from your face. This can cause your face to over produce it's natural oils which can result in breakouts.

You could try reducing the coconut oil and using more olive oil.

Cathy

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Comment AND question
by: Donna Davis

Your comment about face break outs may tie in to one of my own unanswered questions about soap making. I have always had "problem skin" and am very concerned about comedogenic ingredients. "Comedogenic" means likely to clog your pores. There is a scale of 0-5: 5 being the MOST pore-clogging. Coconut is a 4 on that scale. I have been using babassu oil ( which scores a 1 ) instead of coconut in the recipes I intended to use for face soap. It seems to be common wisdom not to use substances that score higher than 2 if you are sensitive. I have not been able to find out if the "pore-clogging" propensities of an oil survive saponification? If anyone knows I would be delighted to find out!!

Answer:

Fabulous information!! Thanks for sharing. I'm on a quest now for non-comedogenic oils (or at least low level ones). You've got me excited about creating a facial bar.

Thanks,
Cathy

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Thank you
by: Anonymous

Thanks Cathy! I will try what you suggested.

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