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What is Coconut Oil?
Coconut oil is fat that’s extracted from the nuts of the coconut palm fruit. It’s solid at room temperatures and is white. Coconut palm trees are native to tropical climates. Coconut oil is used in health, beauty, skincare, and more.
Today I’ll show you 9 of the most important benefits of coconut oil soap you should know.
Coconut Oil has been used as a cosmetic ingredient for centuries and is the perfect addition to any soap recipe. It is also the perfect addition to body butter recipes due to its high concentration of vitamins and fatty acids — combined with its easy-to-spread consistency. This makes it a great ingredient for soothing and moisturizing delicate skin.
Why is Coconut Oil Good for Your Skin
Naturally nourishing, shea butter soap has been used for centuries to moisturize and replenish the skin.
In South Asia, Coconut Oil is frequently used in hair products to keep it lustrous, moisturized, thick, and dark. It was used on the skin to facilitate the speedy healing of burns, bruises, cuts, and wounds and to soothe aching muscles and joint pain. In Zanzibar and India, Coconut Oil was used in the candle-making process and to provide light. Even the British explorer Captain Cook wrote favorably about the attractiveness of communities that surrounded the Pacific Ocean and that used Coconut Oil extensively.
During World War II, the coconut was responsible for saving the lives of allied soldiers – its milk was used as a saline drip.
Coconut oil may be good for the skin because it is rich in oils and very moisturizing. It is easy to apply directly to the skin.
Without clogging pores, Coconut Oil offers excellent emollience to dry, itchy skin and hair, remaining suitable for sensitive, inflamed and irritated skin. In providing hydration, it creates a protective barrier on the skin’s surface, locking in moisture to soften, lubricate, and cool skin and hair while preventing future dryness as well as fungus.
It effectively soothes sunburns and blisters, removes dead skin, and promotes the growth of newer, healthier skin for a glowing complexion.
Coconut oil has many benefits also for your hair. Many coconut oil treatments can help nourish and hydrate your hair and your scalp.
Can You Use Coconut Oil to Make Soap
The short answer is: yes! While the health benefits of coconut oil soap and coconut oil are up for debate, coconut oil has other uses, such as being a useful ingredient in homemade soap.Â
Coconut soap is good for the skin when the right amount of coconut oil is used in the soap. If the soap contains 20-30% coconut oil, it will contain enough to clean your skin without drying it.
If it contains more, it can dry skin. It will also dry skin if the oil is paired with other cleansing ingredients such as palm oil. Cleansing oil in soap should only make up 20-30% of the total soap.Â
Benefits of Coconut Oil Soap
Here are 9 reasons why Coconut oil is the best ingredient for soap making!
#1 It’s safe for all skin types
Coconut oil is technically a tree nut product, but unlike most tree nut products, it’s very low in the proteins that trigger allergies. According to the US Dept. of Agriculture National Nutrient Database, coconut oil has absolutely NO protein.
Coconut oil is appropriate for all skin types and doesn’t contain chemical irritants known to dry out the skin. Also, it doesn’t clog pores, which is particularly important for soap and deodorant products.
#2 It’s moisturizing
Coconut oil has fantastic moisturizing effects due to its fatty acid content, including linoleic, oleic, stearic, and palmitic acids.
When you apply coconut oil to the skin’s surface, these oils are rapidly absorbed into your skin.Â
They act as a “refatting” agent, restoring lipids and quickly creating moisture. This reinforces the barrier between your skin and the environment, keeping moisture in and reducing dry, chapped skin.
#3 It’s anti-inflammatory
Coconut oil has been found to have anti-inflammatory properties.
When applied to the skin, coconut oil triggers inflammatory cells to slow their production. This may help decrease irritation caused by factors such as dry weather, as well as inflammatory skin conditions such as eczema.
Studies have found that coconut oil not only has an anti-inflammatory effect but can also help to reduce pain. It appears that coconut oil can improve antioxidant levels, which then stabilize free radicals. This then neutralizes reactive atoms that cause inflammation.
#4 It’s antioxidant
Coconuts are composed of antioxidants and all sorts of vitamins and minerals like magnesium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, selenium, and fiber, to name a few. Its medium-chain is so saturated with fatty acids that it has a higher melting point, keeping much of its raw chain fatty acids.Â
Antioxidants are important anti-aging agents because they protect skin cells from free radicals that can lead to premature aging and dull-looking skin.
#5 Cleansing
Coconut oil in soap is highly cleansing, so it should only be used sparingly. Cleansing is an important quality in soap as it allows the soap to break down and wash away undesirable bacteria, dirt, and dead skin cells. Using a pure coconut oil soap bar can result in dried-out skin as the soap will be overly cleansing.Â
#6 It smooths skin
Rub some coconut oil onto your skin, and you’ll immediately feel its soft, smoothing effect. And over time, it can actually help to improve texture.
#7 It soothes irritated skin
If you’re prone to irritations or sensitivity, coconut oil can help to alleviate any discomfort and provide soothing relief.
#8 It’s good for acne
Coconut oil does not clog pores as some would think, and in fact, due to its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory abilities, can kill the bacterial strains that cause acne while also reducing inflammation. Â
#9 It helps promote cells regeneration
Coconut oil’s moisturizing and antioxidant properties work together to help your skin produce healthy new cells. The body is continuously making new skin cells and shedding dead skin cells. Dead skin cells sit on the top. New skin cells form at the bottom of the upper layer of skin (epidermis). Coconut oil aids in creating moisture balance on the skin’s surface, which means that fewer dead skin cells will be in the way of fresh cell regeneration in the epidermis.
What Makes Coconut Oil So Good?
The benefits of coconut oil soap come from its chemical makeup. Coconut oil contains:
- linoleic, caprylic, myristic, palmitic, stearic, and oleic fatty acids, ingredients that balance oils on your skin
- vitamins A, and E, antioxidant vitamins that promote circulation and healthy skin cell growth
- triglycerides, the fatty part of the shea nut that nourishes and conditions your skin
- cetyl esters, the waxy part of the shea nut butter that conditions skin and locks in moisture
