Is Coconut Oil Good for Oily Skin on Your Face?
Coconut oil is good for skin, but is it also good for oily skin on your face? Will applying coconut oil make your already oily face even oilier and more acne-prone?
Our body is a very sophisticated entity. We have millions of microscopic sensors all over our body, inside and outside.
When our skin goes dry, our body knows it and it will produce sebum to moisturize it. Once it detects that the skin is moisturized, it’ll automatically reduce the secretion of sebum. Or even stop the production altogether, depending on how moisturized your skin has become.
Unlike other plant-based skin oils, coconut oil carries compounds that can mimic sebum. These compounds are called MCTs (medium-chain triglycerides). Our sebum contains them too.
When you apply coconut oil to your face, your body will sense that. This triggers a reduction in sebum production.
However, the overall sebum-reduction effect of coconut oil on oily skin may require a few days or so for your body to learn, adapt and adjust accordingly.
Which means, your first application of coconut oil to your skin may make your face even oilier. But stay on. Your face will get less greasier as your body makes the appropriate adjustment.
Of course, you might even begin to notice a very mild decrease in sebum at your initial application. That’s a good sign showing that your body is responding to the effect of coconut oil on your skin.
How to Use Coconut Oil to Reduce Your Oily Face
Of course, you don’t simply pour coconut oil over your already oily skin. That will make your face super “shiny”. Here are the 3 steps that show you how you should apply coconut oil to reduce your oily skin.
Step 1 – Wash your face thoroughly to remove the excess oil, dirt and soft plugs that clog the pores. This will help your skin to absorb coconut oil better. Any makeup on your face? If yes, use liquefied coconut oil to remove the makeup before facial wash. Coconut oil is a good makeup remover.
Step 2 – Apply a thin layer of coconut oil to your face. No need too much. Just a dab and spread it evenly to cover your entire face. Our skin saturates easily, so a dab is good enough.
Step 3 – Wash your face twice a day. Once in the morning and once at night. If you decide to leave coconut oil on your face overnight, put a towel over your pillow to prevent the oil from smearing your pillow.
Yes, it’s just that simple. Your face should get less oily over time. Once your skin oil reduces, your skin will become less acne-prone. Which is why some acne sufferers use coconut oil to treat acne and find it quite useful.
A reminder though. You should use coconut oil for skin in such a way that it works hand in hand with your natural self-producing sebum. Coconut oil should not replace your sebum as a moisturizer.
I’ve come across some people getting so obsessed with applying coconut oil to their oily skin until their skin becomes excessively dry without coconut oil. It may seem good at first because your skin is not oily anymore. But you’ll have to keep relying on coconut oil to moisturize your skin.
That’s an over reliance on coconut oil as a moisturizer for oily skin.
Bottom line, coconut oil is good for oily skin on your face, no doubt. But use it wisely.
Last but not least, eat more fruits and vegetables. These superfoods will complement the use of coconut oil on your skin and naturally help reduce the sebum on your face.