Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

PLEASE READ THIS REVIEW- THIS HAS AN IMPORTANT WARNING IN IT!


Coconut oil has been really trending in recent years as a miracle cure/fix all. I just want to seriously warn people about putting this on your face. Read what I have to say before you apply, please!

Years ago I tried the oil cleansing method with extra virgin OLIVE oil. Results were okay but I moved on (note that olive oil did not irritate or break me out at that time). August I got serious about clearing up my acne and I used olive oil again, but then decided to incorporate coconut oil instead. I heard so many rave reviews i did not think to research it enough.

At first it was okay. I would massage coconut oil on my skin for a minute or so and then wash with a foaming cleanser to remove it- making sure there was no residue. I did this for about 2 weeks but stopped using it because I didnt see a huge difference and it was tedious.

2 weeks later I had the worst ever acne in my life. Ever. Huge painful cystic acne all over my jawline, cheeks, chin, nose, some on my forehead- where I never break out. It hurt to just smile, because the pimples were so deep. My face was red, bumpy and awful. A coworker asked me if I was having an allergic reaction- my face was so red and gross. Every morning for 3 weeks I would wake up to my face being worse and worse. At first I didnt know what caused it, but after reading a dozen similar stories and outcomes with coconut oil I feel confident it was the main cause.

Coconut oil is wonderful for many things- I love putting some in my hair before swimming to protect from chlorine. However, it is extremely comedogenic I believe it is a 4/5 on the comedogenic scale (i did not know that at the time). It is very heavy and what happened to me, and the other people with breakouts, is that the coconut oil clogged the pores extremely deep under the skin and essentially caused a skin infection. It takes a long time to clear up, some people even needed antibiotics- I thought I was going to have to too. I rarely get more than 3 cystic pimples at time, usually around my period, so imagine having 30.

I literally cried for a week- my face had been the clearest in years and then the worst ever. Please, if you have sensitive, oily, combination or acne prone skin do not even risk this. Let me be the example. There are other amazing face products out there. Even if you have dry skin be very careful with this. It has been nearly 2 months and my skin is just finally calming down and clearing up.

Even now, i feel like my skin is different. It no longer tolerates oils. I tried using olive oil to soothe it about 2 weeks into the breakout and it hated it. Later I tried hemp oil and it didnt like that either. I let my face relax and tried a little hemp oil again and no- it just doesn't want oil anymore. My face has become more sensitive than ever. Please do your research. If you just Google "coconut oil ruined face" you can see the stories and pictures.

Coconut oil is not evil lol its great for hair, body, cooking, etc. Just dont risk your face. There are absolutely people out there whose face has no issues with coconut oil, I just dont think it's worth the risk after my experience... If you want to use it to remove makeup, it might be okay but I would reach for a lighter oil. Argan oil and hemp seed oil are 0 on the comedogenic scale.. I hope this proves helpful.

EDIT: I did end up resolving this issue and I did figure out what exactly happened to cause this reaction. Yes, I do think this clogged my pores but also I was cleansing my face with a cleanser that was fairly basic/alkaline. Mix that with the coconut oil which is very high in fatty acids and bam. My breakout from hell that looked like acne was actually caused essentially by yeast. The yeast chilled in my pores, loving the alkaline environment and the steady food of coconut oil. That's why I noticed my skin flare when I used even hemp oil- fungal acne (I know that sounds gross) loves oil, that's why very little seemed to help in the way of acne medication.

For anyone who gets this issue, what helped me the most was using a ph balanced cleanser and adding an acidic toner to my day and night routine. Making the environment acidic sent my fungal acne packing... I used 1 part Bragg's ACV to 3 parts water, which I upped to 50/50 mix for a brief time...

So yes. Coconut oil is great. It's super healthy. Definitely eat it. Add it to your hair. If you have dry skin, it could be a real saviour. Acne prone individuals just use with caution. Skin care is a delicate balance.

This stuff is alright but EXTREMELY thick. I see Youtubers pouring obscene amounts of this on their hair and saying to wash it out after a bit. It's way too thick and greasy for my hair - which is actually dry wavy hair so I'm not sure how even someone with straight fine hair could use it.

I much prefer grapeseed oil as it's lightweight and can easily be washed out yet still moisturizes my skin and hair. It's not that I think coconut oil is terrible, just that it needs to be used sparingly, and I feel like other oils (grapeseed, almond) can still hydrate without a gunky feel.

It's ok in my coffee though but this is a makeup reviews site, LOL.

**For any ladies looking to grow in their brows - USE COCONUT OIL!**

My brow saga goes something like this:

As a pre-teen, I was incredibly self-conscious of my *very* heavy brows. Being half Italian, I inherited the thick, unruly, heavy brows from my Sicilian grandfather. Going against the advice of my beauty obsession at the time - makeup artist Bobbi Brown's Teenage Beauty book, who strongly advises more than once NOT to over-pluck your brows - I ignored her advice. If only I had listened! Being the stubborn teen that I was, I just figured that this rule did not apply to me. My brows were not just thick, I rationalized; they were heavy & bushy, too! To make matters worse, the trend throughout my teenage years was pencil-thin brows. In fact, it's only been in recent years that the "full brow" look has become en vogue again.

So all throughout high school, I attacked my brows, plucking them into a shapeless tadpole mess and then to pencil thin. Finally, before starting college, I got them waxed at a salon. Although they were still too thin, at least the shape was correct. From then on I have worked at becoming an expert at shaping & filling them in. Within the last few years I quit getting them waxed entirely, as the technician *always* made them too thin, no matter how many times I insisted I did not want them thinner, I just wanted shaping & to clean up the stray hairs... so now I just tweeze them myself. Brows are the one thing on your face that is non-negotiable - if your brows don't look good, *you* don't look good, period. I've gotten pretty good at grooming & filling them in, but I want my natural brows back!

I was talking about this with a friend of mine & she suggested I try coconut oil - she swears by it helping her brows grow back, even though she says it's too oily to use as an all-around facial moisturizer. I have heard various talk about the miracles of coconut oil, but this was the first time I heard that it would help with brow growth. I was skeptical. Since I have oily/acne prone skin, I never bothered to try coconut oil for anything because, from what I've read, the jury is out as to whether it helps or hinders oily, acne-prone skin.

A few months ago, I was waiting on line at the drugstore & there was a display of various products, one of them being a small container of Shea Moisture's Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. (I'm sure there are many less-expensive, quality coconut oil brands available, but I bought this one on a whim, not knowing whether or not I would like it.) Remembering my friend's suggestion, I picked it up, figuring that it couldn't hurt to try it out. I put a small amount - a little goes a long way - on my brows/brow area every night before bed.

Low & behold - it really works! My brows are still in the process of growing back (it's been about 3 months since I started using coconut oil on them), but they are noticeably thicker & fuller. My mother noticed this as well, saying that my brows looked really good. Now when I do my makeup, I only need a tiny bit of brow pencil and/or powder to even them out. I have not yet tried coconut oil's other uses - I am interested in the oil pulling/teeth whitening method, among others. It's too hot & muggy now to even dare try using this on my oily skin, but during the winter months maybe I will try it out. I will continue to use it & update on my brow growth as well as other uses when I get around to trying them.

All time desert island product. The only thing that takes off waterproof mascara with just a swipe. The best hair mask. The best bath oil. Completely softens dry skin. Not a bad shaving cream. Smells amazing. Started using coconut oil on a holiday in Fiji years ago and have always had a steady supply on hand ever since.

I haven't had the courage to use this on my acne prone skin, but my hair loves it!! I used other hair oils before (argan, jojaba, castor, avocado), but nothing compares to the amazing power of coconut oil, which leaves my hair in shiny, smooth, touchably soft, bouncy and healthy. I ran out a few months ago and just noticed that I have more split ends than in the past, so I'm going to run out to the store and pick some up ASAP. It's also great for a ton of other things - cooking, massage oil etc.

3-24-18 So after using this a week, it did help with my breakouts but it was drying me out too much. Stopped using it

I have been using this for a week now. Lots of hormonal breakouts lately and this is really helping. I have super sensitive skin. Not causing breakouts and even unclogging my pores! i am using this at night and a little in the morning prior to my moisturizer. Nothing has helped with my breakouts but this!

A must have. I use it to remove my makeup. It dissolves my water proof mascara without wrecking my lashes. It does not sting my eyes or irritate my skin. I haven't had any breakouts from this. I keep a small tub in the shower to remove my makeup. Then I wash my face with cleanser and my clarisonic. No oil is left behind. Make sure you buy extra virgin coconut oil. A medium sized jar probably lasts me about a year. I like to buy them at T.J Maxx. I can get a jar for about $10. I'll never use anything else. This is works so well and is so cheap I cannot justify buying any another cleansing balm.

I love fancy, elegant beauty products, but more often than not, the plain jane, unexciting, common, and inexpensive ones work the best. Coconut oil is one of the latter.

After discovering the double cleanse method for my skin, I tried a number of products for the first step. None worked better for me than coconut oil. Nothing soothes my dehydrated , sensitive, rosacea prone skin better than this oil. No other product removes makeup more effectively.

At night, when I do my first step of the double cleanse, I massage this oil into my skin and let it dissolve my makeup. I remove it with a Kleenex, and move onto my second step using CeraVe foaming facial cleanser. My skin feels clean and soft and ready for the next treatment steps in my nighttime routine.

One thing I didn't realize when I purchased my first jar of coconut oil is that it is solid and hard if the room it is in is on the cooler side. When this occurs, I run my blow dryer over the surface for a couple of seconds and pour out the resulting liquid in my hand and use it.

Coconut oil may not be a glamourous beauty product, but it is one of my favorites.

GIRL I put this in my bath to hydrate my skin and it gave me a UTI, never again.

I use coconut oil to remove eye makep. I use other products for my face but it works wonderfully on my eyes. Its gentle and thorough, even when I’ve used a primer or cream eyeshadow, both seem to be immune to regular cleansers. I put it into a small jar cause I don’t have room for a full jar in the bathroom, and it lasts forever.