Imagine lounging on a tropical beach, shaded by a palm tree, a cool breeze in the air, and in your hand is a coconut…soap bar. If you want to bring some hot boy summer vibes into the shower with you, say aloha to all the benefits of coconut oil soap.
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Coconut Oil Soap Benefits
All The Benefits Of Coconut Oil, None Of The Drawbacks
Coconut oil has a mixed reputation. It’s a wonderful one-off moisturizer, and it smells good. But if you’re applying the oil directly to your face, there’s a solid chance it will irritate your skin or cause a breakout.
On the other hand, coconut oil soap will actually soothe your skin and combat breakouts.
That’s because combining coconut oil with the fats and cleaning agents of soap is a major win-win. By nature, a good soap should always soothe and minimize acne. Soapmakers wouldn’t add coconut oil to soap if it took away any of those benefits.
Hence, a coconut oil soap gets you all the “good stuff” that you want from coconut oil, without any of the rashy side-effects.
Get Hyper-Moisturized Without Being Weird About It
Not to sound like a pharmaceutical commercial, but if you suffer from chronic dry skin, you’re probably all-too-familiar with the awkward shuffle down the “special” moisturizers aisle of the grocery store.
Coconut oil soap is great because it counts as a heavy moisturizer, but you don’t have to get past a sea of rear-end ointment to find it. I recommend buying from a natural soapmaker, whether locally or online—they can help superfat the soap for you, giving you even more moisturizing benefits on top of the coconut oil.
And, it’s just a good idea in general to budget for natural soaps with authentic ingredients. Your skin will thank you.
Coconut Oil Keeps Your Soap Fresh
Buying natural soap is always a good idea…but it does tend to expire quickly compared to store-bought soap. (That’s mostly because of how chemical-y commercial soaps are.)
Fortunately, coconut oil is a natural preservative. So if you look for your favorite variety of natural soap, and seek out something with a little extra coconut oil thrown in for good measure, your bar will have a longer shelf life.
It’s a nice life hack if you want to try buying natural soap in bulk. I always recommend against that move because some of it is bound to go bad (unless you’re handing samples out like candy). Coconut oil can help you stretch the soap’s usable timeline.
Brag About How Eco-Friendly Your Soap Is
One of the ingredients that the skincare industrial complex loves to casually add to soaps and moisturizers is palm oil. Palm oil is one of the biggest offenders when it comes to deforestation, displacement of indigenous peoples, habitat destruction, and wildlife extinction, because it’s rare that companies find an ethical way to source it.
It’s a $40 billion industry that couldn’t care less about wiping 300 football fields worth of trees off the face of the planet every hour.
So if you need a smart-sounding talking point for your next date, there ya go. You’re welcome.
Finding a soap that substitutes palm oil for coconut oil is a good call if you want to brag about how you’re limiting your carbon footprint—or better yet, if you just want to be an environmentally-conscious, wholesome person without the gloating.
Is Coconut Oil Soap Good For Your Face?
If you have the kind of skin that could start a grease fire, nope. Stay away. Coconut oil soap is not for you.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a “normal” facial soap to help you fight dryness, psoriasis, or eczema, coconut oil soap is a pretty good supplement for your medicinal facial products.
I usually recommend something even heavier than coconut oil soap, like vitamin-packed moringa soap, but the scent is a little bit too flowery for some guys. Coconut oil soap is acceptably neutral, and you’ll still get the moisturization that you need.
Does Coconut Oil Soap Clog Pores?
Coconut oil clogs pores. Coconut oil soap won’t.
That’s mostly because a good, natural, handmade soap should never clog your pores (unless you accidentally buy something you’re allergic to). By soap’s nature, its cleaning agents are supposed to wash away debris from all the nooks and crannies of your skin.
That’s why adding coconut oil to soap is such a strong move. It helps soapmakers get rid of all the pore-clogging side effects of coconut oil, while keeping the nice scent and moisturizing properties.
So lean away from pure coconut oil, and lean toward coconut oil soap.
Does Coconut Oil Soap Remove Dark Spots?
Yes, but not as well as other natural soaps.
All natural soaps will have a nice brightening effect on your skin, since they cleanse, tone, and even your complexion, but each type of natural soap has varying degrees of success.
My personal go-to for fading dark spots is lemongrass soap, with all its scent and bodily benefits. I know some people with dry skin prefer the way oatmeal soap moisturizes, tones, and evens their complexion.
That’s not to say coconut oil soap won’t do the job. It’s simply not number one on my dark-spot-removal list.
Lots of people report that coconut oil soap helps them overcome acne scarrage, while still smelling good and giving off those subtle beach-day vibes.
Frank Edwards
Frank Edwards is a men's grooming & style expert who is "internet famous" for being able to simplify complicated grooming routines into easy, yet effective rituals any man can do. As a professional analyst, he has spent years researching the biggest brands, products, experts, best practices, and breaking news in the space. He takes this analysis, tests it out on himself, and then documents everything in his writing. As a result, his experience-based articles are considered by some to be the gold standard in men's grooming and men's style.
